How many of you know what the plant is above? I’ll admit it’s one that I didn’t embrace in my yard until several years ago when I learned what it was and how important it is.
The plant above is milkweed. 
While many people believe it to be an invasive weed it’s actually a beautiful wildflower and a really important one for many species, especially the Monarch butterfly.
How many of you are familiar with the Monarch butterfly? It’s probably one of the best-known butterflies that we have. Did you know that its population is in danger? Part of the reason for that is the decline in milkweed. Milkweed is the only food for Monarch butterfly larvae which is why the decline of Milkweed is so important. Monarch butterflies will only lay their eggs on milkweed.
We currently have a small area of our yard dedicated to milkweed now. It started out a few years ago and has grown to an area right by the house that is now a very healthy patch of it. We were incredibly excited this year to find tons of caterpillars happily munching on the bottom of the leaves. Right now we are enjoying a healthy population of Monarch butterflies in our yard. They are beautiful to watch.
I would love to tell you that we intentionally grew the milkweed but we didn’t! Once we discovered what it was though we made sure the area that it was in was clear so it could spread. You can see one of them going to seed in the picture above.
There are several varieties of milkweed that you can plant allowing you to make a diverse area for your butterflies if you wish. In fact, there are over 100 varieties. Milkweed isn’t just for the Monarch Butterflies. Other varieties of butterflies enjoy it as well as bees and moths. It’s an incredibly beneficial wildflower to grow.
Milkweed can be toxic to some animals and humans if consumed in large quantities. Luckily it doesn’t taste good to them. You should use care when working with it like wearing gardening gloves and washing your hands when you are done. If you have animals that love to graze it’s probably best to not plant the flowers where they are.
I have a great article for you from the Fish and Wildlife Service that will give you more information.
Spreading Milkweed, Not Myths
In that article, you will find there are a lot of links that will help you to explore and get more information.
Have a magickal day!
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jasmeine Moonsong
Saving Monarch Butterflies
