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Native Plants
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The Monday Garden
July 20, 2003, issue no. 69
Great Americans: Monarch's Milkweed
by Sue Sweeney
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How about contributing to the monarch butterfly survival fund? Plant a
milkweed today. |
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To grow milkweed, you need at least half-day sun. Also, many varieties prefer
their roots a bit damp. What's in it for you? Dramatic flowers, interesting
foliage, great seedpods, and nectar-seeking butterflies. If you're really
lucky, you'll also be delighted by holes in the leaves and ragged edges, the
sure-fire sign of baby monarchs. Look for fat caterpillars resembling tiny,
horned tigers.
The curious thing about milkweed is not that monarchs are crazy about it and
won't eat anything else; it's that no one else can stand it. So, if someone's
munching on your milkweed, you can be certain that you've hit the monarch
jackpot.
Other animals, regardless of species, think milkweed tastes awful and get sick
from eating it. It is life threatening in large quantities but tastes so bad
that you have to be starving to eat that much of it. Native Americans did eat
the young asparagus-like shoots but had to boil them twice to get out the bad
juices. Technically, the bad juices are said to be cardiac-active steroids
(whatever they are). In many parts of the Americas, milkweeds are (very
carefully) used for medicinal purposes.
Monarchs, as you've probably read, also taste bad. In fact, so bad that once a
bird has tried one, it will shun the species for life. And as you've probably
also read, Viceroy butterflies look like monarchs to fool birds into thinking
that they taste bad too. Viceroys, though, get the best of both worlds: defense
against birds and something tastier to eat. The monarchs, of course, get the bad
taste by storing the yukky cardiac-active steroids in their bodies.
The milkweed pictured about is the North American "common" milkweed (asclepias
syiaca), now in flower along the Mill River near where I live in
Connecticut. There are about 200 native milkweeds, about 100 of them from
North America, and countless garden hybrids. Most milkweed nectar will attract
humming birds as well as butterflies.
If you want to foster baby monarchs (a very good thing, indeed), note that
monarchs only like some milkweeds. The butterfly web sites recommend the common
milkweed (above), and another perennial North American native called the swamp
milkweed (asclepias incarnata). If you really want to roll out the red
carpet, monarchs' all-time favorites are reported to be certain tropical
milkweed hybrids.
The fluffy milkweed seeds are good for stuffing things like pillows and
floatation devices. The seedpods, which are silky inside like seashells, look
wonderful in the garden and in dried arrangements. The milkweed stems contain
fiber which can be used like hemp or flax.
For baby monarch pictures, see
home.neb.rr.com/monarchrose/milkweed.htm.
Sites for more information, pictures, and plant sources:
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