Want to have a beautiful garden AND help the monarch butterflies? Plant Milkweed! Milkweed is both a food source and a host plant on which the monarch lays its eggs, depositing them on the underside of the leaves. The larvae then feed on the leaves after hatching, but cause no permanent damage to the plant.
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Here are a few design tips:
– Create a stylized prairie garden by planting milkweed along with other rugged sun-loving native plants such as goldenrod, Arkansas blue star, prairie dropseed, and black-eyed Susan.
– Plant swamp milkweed along with other water-loving plants in a pond or rain garden.
– For an eye-catching contrast, pair the vibrant orange flowers of butterfly weed with blue, lavender, or rose-colored flowering perennials such as asters, Joe Pye weed, balloon flower, and meadow sage (Salvia nemerosa ‘Caradonna’).
Pictured: Green milkweed (Asclepias viridis) Photo by MaryAnne Campbell
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