Common Milkweed

Milkweed, a vital native plant on Long Island, is a captivating wonder for anyone interested in pollinators. This remarkable perennial plays a crucial role in supporting monarch butterflies, providing them with essential food and shelter. With its vibrant flowers, enchanting seed pods, and easy maintenance, milkweed adds beauty and magic to any garden or natural habitat.

By planting milkweed, we support our local ecosystems, the survival of monarch butterflies, and witnessing the incredible wonders of nature firsthand.

Native milkweed is vital for supporting monarch butterflies, as it has co-evolved with them, providing essential habitat and food sources. Planting non-native tropical milkweed can disrupt monarchs' natural reproductive and migratory patterns and can lead to increased parasite loads and disease spread among monarch populations. Native milkweed aligns with monarchs' natural cues for breeding and migration.

Quick facts

• Monarch caterpillars store the plant's cardiac glycosides, which makes both caterpillar and adult butterfly toxic to most birds.
• The fragrance of a milkweed patch in June can carry across a whole yard.
• Long Island also has swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) for damp spots and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) for dry, sandy soil.

How to grow it

• Full sun.
• Give it room; it spreads by underground runners.
• Do not spray. Aphids are normal and feed ladybugs; monarch eggs are on the leaf undersides.