Milkweed plant

Want to support your local pollinators and attract a wave of butterflies to your garden? It's time to plant some milkweed. Learn how now on Gardener’s Path.

Thousands of wildflowers grow on our national forests and grasslands, in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Celebrating Wildflowers periodically features a different wildflower plant found on our national forests and grasslands.

Milkweed is a “must have” for butterfly gardening, but the right plants are good for people, too. We answer questions on growing (including starting from seeds) and using this native beauty.

Growing Milkweed plants can bring pollinators and butterflies to your yard, and in particular the beautiful and colourful Monarch butterfly.

Plant these types of milkweed to support monarch butterflies.

Plant these types of milkweed to support monarch butterflies.

Plants that thrive in dry sandy soils are often low-growing species that have adapted to the lack of moisture & nutrients in very dry, well-drained conditions

Grow Perennial Swamp Milkweed to save the Endangered Monarch Butterfly Monarch numbers and milkweed plants are down 90% from what they were. Milkweed plants are the only source of food for the monarch caterpillar. Make a difference by planting milkweed! Also called Rose Milkweed, its pink flowers attract many pollinators. Plants grow 36-60". Direct sow in late fall or spring. Cold stratify for 30 days before seeding. Start 7-9 weeks before last frost. Transplant into 4" pots after 3-5 weeks…

This poster highlights the unique relationship between the Milkweed Plant and the Monarch Butterfly. Besides being commonly recognizable to many people these have also become symbolic lifeforms warranting the interest in and protection of wildlife. For young people especially, they are a simple focus point of both nature's fragility and uniqueness. Allowing anyone to help conserve nature by planting a Milkweed seed in their backyard/schoolyard, for example, or simply just sparking a new…