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Transcript
Perennial Plant Association Names 2017 Perennial Plant of the YearTM Butterfly Milkweed www.HenryDomke.com (Asclepias tuberosa) This stunning jewel of the prairies makes a bold statement for the home garden. Bruce Schuete A monarch caterpillar feeds on butterfly milkweed, which, like other milkweed species, is a host plant for monarch butterflies. ® Noppadol Paothong M O N A R C H B U T T E R F LY L I F E C YC L E With its brilliant orange flower umbels, few other native plants make quite the visual impact as butterfly milkweed. In addition to its beauty, this compact, shrub-like herbaceous perennial is a host plant, like other milkweed species, of the monarch butterfly caterpillar. While its foliage and flowers provide food for monarch larvae, the blossoms attract many insects, from abundant butterflies to a wide variety of wasps and bees seeking nectar. Including butterfly milkweed in your garden helps you help pollinators! ™ Keeping Nature Near ™ Concern for the conservation of monarch butterflies has increased demand for, and supply of, butterfly milkweed. To help consumers in the lower Midwest locate this plant at garden centers and nurseries, the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Grow Native! program has created a butterfly milkweed Monarch Café plant tag, which native plant growers and sellers use to highlight the plant on their shelves. Asclepias tuberosa: The genus name honors the Greek god Asklepios, the god of medicine, and the specific epithet refers to the roots. Culture: Butterfly milkweed grows easily in dry to average, well-drained soils in full sun. Native to upland prairies and glades, butterfly milkweed is drought tolerant. Plants emerge in mid- to late spring. With its deep and tuberous roots, butterfly weed does not transplant well due to its deep taproot, and is probably best left undisturbed once established. Brooke Hamilton Characteristics: Butterfly milkweed typically grows 18 to 24 inches tall and two feet wide. The plant has hairy stems with narrow, lance-shaped leaves. Unlike other milkweeds, butterfly milkweed does not have milky sap. Flowers typically bloom June to July. Pollen in milkweeds is contained in packets called pollinia, which must be transferred from flower to flower on the legs of insects as they collect nectar. Three to 6-inch long seedpods develop over the course of the summer. Silky “parachutes” send seeds aloft. Scott Woodbury above: Butterfly milkweed blossoms attract many butterflies, including tiger swallowtails like the one shown here,as well as a wide variety of wasps and bees seeking nectar. At Right: Compact, showy butterfly milkweed contrasts nicely with fine-textured native grasses, as well as the bold leaves of prairie dock as shown here. Susan Lordi Marker Every spring as the growing season unfolds through the U.S. and Canada, monarch butterflies migrate northward from their overwintering grounds in the oyamel fir forests near Mexico City in search of milkweed species. Milkweed is the only plant monarchs use for egg laying and is the sole food for monarch caterpillars. In the fall, as milkweed declines in Canada and the U.S., monarch butterflies that have emerged during the growing season make a spectacular southward migration to Mexico to overwinter there. Preserving this enchanting two-way migration means ensuring the survival of these iconic insects, whose populations have plummeted in recent years. You can help sustain and increase monarch butterflies by planting butterfly milkweed and other milkweed species native to your region. Visit www.grownative.org for more information.