New acreage in southern IL near St Louis – have a few of these growing where my kids and animals play. Anything to worry about? And if not, any point in keeping them?
Something to be happy about! It’s a native plant and is essential to the survival of monarch butterflies along with several other beautiful insects
forwardseat
Milkweed sap is toxic, you especially don’t want to get it in your eyes. But generally dogs won’t bother it, and the biggest attraction for kids is playing with the seed pods.
That said this is a critical plant for the ecosystem, monarch butterflies can only lay their eggs on milkweeds, and a whole host of other insects depend on the plant. The flowers attract and sustain hordes of pollinators. If this was my property, I’d take this area and turn it into a meadow. Plant tall native grasses, coneflowers, goldenrod, asters, stuff that grows tall and fills in pretty densely, and in a few years you will a really neat ecosystem.
This particular milkweed is common milkweed. There are other varieties that are a little more garden friendly, but this one really is an ecological powerhouse. To keep it looking neater you can cut it back hard a few times during the growing season, and it will put up nice new growth pretty quickly. Additionally, if you get a good sized patch of it going, the flowers smell AMAZING in early summer.
NasreenSimorgh
You have gold!!! Keep the milkweed! Hopefully you’ll see some monarchs in the future
Mockernut_Hickory
You can cut those seed pods off and mail them to me if you want.
dorkyfarmerjay
Absolutely important to monarch butterflies (and others)! This year, I’ve devoted a whole field to nothing but milkweed, New England aster, and joe-pye for next year. I expect purple, and I expect some monarch magic.
If you let those pods crack themselves open, the seed will spread to where they’re meant to go, and you too could have magic next year!
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Milkweed – Asclepias genus
Something to be happy about! It’s a native plant and is essential to the survival of monarch butterflies along with several other beautiful insects
Milkweed sap is toxic, you especially don’t want to get it in your eyes. But generally dogs won’t bother it, and the biggest attraction for kids is playing with the seed pods.
That said this is a critical plant for the ecosystem, monarch butterflies can only lay their eggs on milkweeds, and a whole host of other insects depend on the plant. The flowers attract and sustain hordes of pollinators. If this was my property, I’d take this area and turn it into a meadow. Plant tall native grasses, coneflowers, goldenrod, asters, stuff that grows tall and fills in pretty densely, and in a few years you will a really neat ecosystem.
This particular milkweed is common milkweed. There are other varieties that are a little more garden friendly, but this one really is an ecological powerhouse. To keep it looking neater you can cut it back hard a few times during the growing season, and it will put up nice new growth pretty quickly. Additionally, if you get a good sized patch of it going, the flowers smell AMAZING in early summer.
You have gold!!! Keep the milkweed! Hopefully you’ll see some monarchs in the future
You can cut those seed pods off and mail them to me if you want.
Absolutely important to monarch butterflies (and others)! This year, I’ve devoted a whole field to nothing but milkweed, New England aster, and joe-pye for next year. I expect purple, and I expect some monarch magic.
If you let those pods crack themselves open, the seed will spread to where they’re meant to go, and you too could have magic next year!
https://youtube.com/shorts/qEls_XEiZj4?si=Qi5TY43jJ72MDGUP
Don’t eat it!