Northeast Native Milkweeds: Five beautiful ways to sustain the monarch butterfly

Milkweeds in my monarch way station #5687

I see so many people wanting to plant a pollinator garden but in most cases they leave out the milkweed. Maybe it's the "weed" part of the name? I've also heard landscapers say that it's hard to grow, or you can't transplant it because of the delicate tap root.

I do not know why milkweed gets left out when gardeners readily buy non-native butterfly bushes, which can't sustain any native butterfly larvae. So here are five milkweeds that are beautiful, native to the northeast, easy to grow and both swamp and butterfly weed are readily available at most local nurseries here north of Boston. And remember: milkweed is the only plant monarch caterpillars can eat. You have no more excuses. Go out and plant one of these natives this spring:

BUTTERFLY WEED: Asclepias tuberosa

"Hello Yellow" butterfly weed

This has a bright orange flower, grows to about 2 feet tall, prefers part to full sun, flowers until late September in my garden and is drought tolerant. I've never had monarchs lay eggs on it in my garden, they always go for the taller swamp milkweed. But near the Ipswich MA Public Library there's a beautiful pollinator garden with only butterfly weed representing the milkweeds and I've found eggs and caterpillars on it.  Butterfly weed also doesn't mind bad soil, I plant it along my road where the road salt and dogs don't seem to bother it like my other perennials.

Butterfly weed

SWAMP MILKWEED: Asclepias incarnata

Ice ballet swamp milkweed

The native form of this plant has a pink flower, but there is a cultivar called Ice Ballet that is white. I have both in my garden and have found monarch eggs on both colors. Swamp milkweed gets about 36" to 48" tall, prefers part to full sun and can tolerate standing water. Yet, the name is a bit of a misnomer, once established it's actually completely drought tolerant as well.

Swamp milkweed

WHORLED MILKWEED: Asclepias verticillata

Whorled milkweed

This is a white milkweed, grows to about 24" tall, prefers part to full sun and I have it for the first time this spring in my garden. It's not as easily found in nurseries. I started mine from seeds but they are doing well and I'm looking forward to adding these to my monarch way station.

POKE MILKWEED: Asclepias exaltata

Poke milkweed

I am very excited about this native milkweed! It's a tall white milkweed often found growing at the edges of woodlands so is shade tolerant. Many gardeners tell me they can't grow milkweed because they have no sun. Well now you can. I have never seen this at a nursery so I ordered 3,000 seeds and they're sprouting now. My plan is to establish this in my backyard where it's all shade and invasive garlic mustard is always popping up.

COMMON MILKWEED: Asclepias syriaca 

I don't recommend this for a small garden, it will not behave and will send its rhizomes everywhere. But if you have a big space or a meadow plant it!

Project "Neighborhood Milkweed"

A month ago I ordered a flat of 32 swamp milkweed plugs from the Monarch Watch Milkweed Market. They were supposed to be 3" tall. When I opened the box they were nearly a foot tall! I had planned on growing them up and using them for clients next year but these were just begging to go in someone's garden right away.

I thought about my neighborhood and how so many people already had lovely gardens, they were just lacking milkweed. I typed up a letter explaining I had these 32 plants, that monarch caterpillars can only eat milkweed, why the species is declining and that everyone can help by adding this beautiful plant to their gardens. And the best part? They could take one for free. How extraordinary would it be if the whole neighborhood were a giant Monarch Waystation?

Before my kids and I even got back from delivering the 49 letters a plant was already taken. By the end of the week 20% of the neighborhood had milkweed in their yards. By this writing 20 houses, or 41% of the neighborhood now has milkweed!

I still have a few plants and I'm really hoping I can convince more neighbors to take them. I'm not worried about finding the milkweeds homes, I actually have a waiting list of friends all around Essex County who want a plant!

Monarch Waystation Plant List

A Monarch Waystation needs at least one species of milkweed to sustain monarch caterpillars as well as nectar sources to sustain the adults as they migrate. Native plants are best as they're almost always drought tolerant and also provide habitat for other butterfly species to propagate. Most insects will only use certain native host plants on which to lay their eggs.

Why you won't see butterfly bush on this list: Nurseries love to push the non-native butterfly bush to clients wanting a "butterfly garden". While I do have one in my yard (it was here when we bought the house) I would not purchase another one. No insect can actually use butterfly bush to reproduce. They will attract butterflies to your yard, but there are many even more beautiful native options becoming readily available at nurseries.

The following is a short list of easy-to-grow native options for your monarch garden or certified monarch waystation. They are all available at most local nurseries. The milkweeds and New Jersey Tea can be trickier to find, contact me for help if you can't locate any.

THE NATIVE MILKWEEDS: Necessary for monarch reproduction. Milkweeds are the only plants monarch caterpillars can eat.

Swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata
24" to 48"
Moist to wet, even flooding, but tolerates drought once established.
Partial shade to sun.
Cultivars also available with a white flower. 
To prevent this from sprouting up all over your yard just remove seed pods before they open up (or save the seeds and make more!)

Butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa
12" to 36"
Thrives in dry, sandy, even gravelly soil. Great for planting along a road, doesn't mind bad soil.
Full sun, will tolerate a few hours of shade.














NATIVE NECTAR SOURCES: These flowers sustain the monarchs on both their spring and fall migrations. Plant a variety to ensure something is always flowering.

Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatorium maculatum
36" to 96" tall. Can be trimmed back to keep shorter and will still re-flower. Flowers all summer.
Moist to wet, but drought tolerant once established.
Sun to partial sun.
Spreads by rhizomes, can be easily divided and shared with others. Neighbors are always asking me for clumps.










White Chocolate Snakeroot, Eupatorium rugosum
24" to 36"
Striking dark foliage with clusters of small white flowers in late summer into autumn, providing nectar during the monarch's fall migration.
Moist, but tolerates drought when well established.
Sun to partial shade.

 Blanket flower, Gaillardia sp.
Up to 24"
Blooms July through fall.
Drought tolerant once established.
Full sun, will tolerate a few hours of shade.

Summer Phlox, Phlox paniculata
36" to 60" tall
Moist soil, drought tolerant once established.
Sun to partial sun.
Flowers mid summer.
This newly emerged monarch female spent an hour on my phlox this past summer before it took off north.

Tickseed, Coreopsis lanceolata
 18" to 30" tall.
Moist to dry, drought tolerant once established.
Sun to partial sun.
Flowers early to mid summer.
Will produce more blooms if deadheaded regularly.

 Ox-eye Sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides
36" to 60" tall.
Moist to dry, drought tolerant once established.
Sun to partial sun.
Flowers mid-summer.

 Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
18" to 24"
Well drained soil, drought tolerant.
Full sun.
Blooms late spring to mid summer.

 New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus
A dense shrub up to 3 feet high and wide.
Does well in poor, dry soil, good for planting along a road side.
Flowers in June and July

Blazing Star, Liatris spicata
24" to 48"
Moist to wet, drought tolerant once established.
Sun to partial sun.
Flowers mid summer.
Also attracts hummingbirds.

Sweet Pepper Bush (Summersweet), 
Clethra alnifolia
Up to 8 feet tall and wide. Dwarf cultivars are available called "Hummingbird Summersweet" and are up to 4 feet tall and wide.
Moist to wet acidic soil, tolerates flooding. Slightly drought tolerant once established. 
Partial shade to sun.
Flowers July and August.
Also attracts hummingbirds and is a great alternative to butterfly bush.



NATIVES FOR ATTRACTING HUMMINGBIRDS: add some of these and hummingbirds won't be able to resist your monarch waystation.

Cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis
24" to 48"
Moist to wet, even flooded, but drought tolerant once established.
Sun to partial shade.
Tall stalk of crimson flowers in mid to late summer. Irresistible to hummingbirds.
Self seeds, you will find tiny ones popping up all over the place. They are easy to dig up and relocate as the parent plants don't often last more than a year or two.

Beesbalm (Oswego Tea), Monarda didyma
16" to 30"
Moist to dry.
Full sun, will tolerate a few hours of shade.
Flowers in summer, irresistible to hummingbirds.
Spreads by rhizomes, easy to divide and use to fill in areas of your garden or share. I am always digging this up and giving it away!

Recommended Plants for New England Monarch Gardens:

Milkweeds - the only plant monarch caterpillars eat:

Swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata

Butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa

Whorled Milkweed, Asclepias verticillata

Tropical milkweed (annual), Asclepias curassavica

Common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca (not recommended for small gardens)

Native Perennial Nectar Sources:

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

Bluestar, Amsonia tabernaemontana

Tickseed, Coreopsis lanceolata

Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea

Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatorium maculatum

White Chocolate Snakeroot, Eupatorium rugosum

Blanket flower, Gaillardia sp

Sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale

Ox-eye Sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides

Blazing Star, Liatris spicata

Beesbalm (Oswego Tea), Monarda didyma

Summer Phlox, Phlox paniculata

Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia sp.

Eastern foamflower, Tiarella cordifolia

Asters

Goldenrods

Native nectar shrubs and host shrubs for other butterflies:

New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus

Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis

Sweet Pepper Bush (Summersweet), Clethra alnifolia

Redtwig Dogwood, Cornus sericea

Itea virginiana, Virginia sweetspire

Spicebush, Lindera benzoin

White meadowsweet, Spirea alba

Steeplebush, Spirea tomentosa

American cranberry bush, Viburnum trilobum

Annuals to attract butterflies and hummingbirds:

Cosmos

Lantana

Marigold

Mexican sunflower

Petunia

Salvia

Verbena

Zinnia

(Ascelpias incarnata)

(Ascelpias incarnata)

What's popping up in the Monarch Waystation?

Swamp milkweed

According to Journey North Monarch butterflies have been spotted as close to Massachusetts as New Jersey. Although my neighbor swears he saw one in a nearby field last weekend. Whether or not that's true I've been out daily checking my rapidly growing swamp milkweed for eggs. It's only about six inches tall, but tall enough for a monarch to find, if they really are here already.

While awaiting the monarchs I've been busy digging up little swamp milkweed seedlings sprouting up under their larger parent plants. I've potted them up and they'll be planted in new monarch gardens I'm building for friends and family. If you don't want your milkweed to sprout up in your garden where you don't want it just simply remove the seed pods before they open up.

Swamp milkweed seedlings "found" in the monarch waystation

Butterfly weed and New Jersey Tea seeds were also planted earlier in the spring and have been growing up in the greenhouse. They're getting big enough to plant. The butterfly weed is going up along the dry wall of my big rain garden.

Butterfly weed and New Jersey Tea seedlings

The Monarch Waystation last summer.

Everyday the Monarch Waystation is more and more green. Even though the only things flowering right now are violets I've let naturalize, before I know it it will be a riot of the pinks, oranges, whites and purples of swamp milkweed, butterfly weed, joe pye weed, echinacea, blanket flower, garden phlox, chocolate snakeroot, ox-eye sunflowers and yarrow. Last year I didn't see our first monarch until July, I sure hope this year they turn up sooner. My whole family is patiently awaiting eggs and caterpillars!

The Monarch Waystation

Originally published June 4, 2012 on slowtheflowgardenmakover.blogspot.com

I hadn't planned on creating a monarch waystation. Last weekend I rescued a few daylilies from the backyard where our fence was going in and quickly stuck them in a sunny spot near our mailbox, and I hit more plastic. This is an area of the yard that I hadn't planned on landscaping this summer, it's a border of dense beach roses (Rosa rugosa) where the rest of the yard was just bare mulch. At least it had plants, so it could wait. And I assumed since it had plants there wasn't any plastic sheeting, I was wrong.

 Of course I couldn't leave the plastic in and in tearing it out I discovered all the plants in this area, including the four foot high beach roses, were growing on top of the plastic. In getting out the plastic I ended up taking out a lot of the beach roses and suddenly had a nice patch of empty, sunny dirt.

Monarch on butterflyweed

That night I read an article in the summer edition of Country Gardens entitled "Of Milkweeds and Monarchs" (if I could find it online I would include the link) and its message about declining monarchs really struck home. The article sites many facts from monarchwatch.org, and I instantly went online and poured over their website. Simply put, monarch butterflies are in crisis for the following reasons:

• Roundup resistant crops now dominate the midwest, meaning about 100 million acres of corn and beans are now sprayed with the glyphosate, creating milkweed-free fields. Monarchs making their way from the north to overwinter in Mexico now navigate a 1000 mile near-nectarless, flowerless, waterless landscape from Kansas through Oklahoma, Texas and into northern Mexico. 
• Development of subdivisions, shopping centers, etc. now tops 6,000 acres a day. That's 2.2 million acres a year where there was often milkweed and other butterfly supporting plants. 
• Roadside management practices of mowing and herbicides now often creates monocultures of grass, not native wildflowers. 
• Illegal logging in the monarch's wintering forest in Mexico has diminished their former 23 acre habitat to a mere 5. 

Monarch on blazing star (Liatris)

It was clear what I had to do.  That nice, newly-cleared and plastic-free sunny patch was destined to be a monarch waystation (places that provide resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration). In fact, the whole yard could qualify. I already planted nectar plants like blanket flower, sedum, beesbalm, blazing star and black eyed susans. I started a milkweed strain called butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) from seeds this winter and they're about 4 inches tall now and will be amazing in a few years. I just needed at least one more milkweed species to qualify as a certified "monarch waystation" with monarchwatch.org.

A few days ago I went out and purchased swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and tomorrow a friend with a farm in Rowley is letting me take a few common milkweed plants (A. syriaca) from his unmown fields and then I will have all three species of native milkweed. Where there was once a monoculture of introduced beach rose there will now be milkweed, blanket flower, blazing star, yarrow, echinacea, cardinalflower, and Joe-pye weed. My three-year-old is now eagerly awaiting the appearance of those stunning little yellow and black caterpillars. She's already learned all about monarchs in her preschool and told me one day last fall that she just couldn't eat lunch because she was a monarch and was busy migrating to Mexico. I thought for her sake I would certify our new monarch waystation with monarchwatch and she could proudly display this sign.

As far as I can tell from the International Monarch Waystation Registry our waystation is the first certified in Ipswich, MA. I sure hope it's not the last. Stay tuned for photos of the finished, and flowering, monarch waystation.