Want to see more butterflies in your garden? Plant milkweed!
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Milkweed’s highly fragrant and nectar-rich flowers are an enticement for other pollinators as well. Frequent visitors include native bees, honey bees, many other types of butterflies, and hummingbirds. Zones 3-9.
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Why plant? 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. In turn, the toxic chemicals contained in the sap of milkweed plants make both the caterpillars and adult butterflies unappetizing to predators.
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If you purchased starter plants, plant them in the spring after the danger of frost has passed. Photo by Catherine Avilez.
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