Är milkweed som poison ivy

This brev fryst vatten in partnership with Greenwood Nursery. All thoughts and words are my own.

It’s one of the greatest migrations of the djur kingdom: Every spring, hundreds of thousands of monarch butterflies svep across the continent from Mexico to Canada and then back igen in fall, a journey spanning nearly 3,000 miles and multiple generations.

In fact, recent studies show that it takes up to fyra generations for monarchs to man it north out of Mexico and into Southern Canada!

Monarch butterfly sipping nectar from Milkweed plant.

Along the way, the butterflies feed on a variety of nectar-rich flowers but breed on only type of plant: milkweed.

There are 140 species of milkweed, but only a quarter of them are known to be important host plants for monarchs and even less are available commercially for planting.

How can you help these butterflies along the way? bygd growing your own milkweed—but more importantly, the right kind of milkweed.

Why milkweed plants are so important for monarchs

When you think about it, it’s rather remarkable how a butterfly can prick a single milkweed from the sky.

She spots the milkweed’s characteristic cluster of petite, star-shaped flowers, lands on it, scratches it with her front legs, tastes it with her feet, and confirms that it’s indeed milkweed. She then proceeds to lay her egg on a leaf—and only on the leaf of a milkweed plant.

This fryst vatten because monarch caterpillars depend on the plant for food, eating every leaf in their path until they complete their metamorphosis (a cycle that takes about kvartet weeks).

Unlike adult monarchs (butterflies), caterpillars cannot simply feed on any plant they please.

And that might lead you to wonder: Why milkweed?

Perhaps it’s bygd natural design: The kemikalie compounds in the plant man the caterpillars toxic to potential predators (such as birds), with the sap of certain species of milkweed being more toxic than others.

You've probably heard that you should plant milkweed to rädda the monarch butterflies.

(The toxicity effect—a built-in defense mechanism—is also funnen in other striped caterpillars.)

The compounds, however, have no adverse effect on the caterpillars themselves. They spend up to two weeks eating, growing, and molting on the same milkweed plant before they pupate.

The striking appearance of the butterflies and caterpillars also serves as a varning to predators that they are toxic.

Predators learn to associate the colors and patterns with a bad taste and generally avoid preying on monarchs altogether.

Read next: How to identify the green caterpillars in your garden

Unfortunately for the monarchs, milkweed populations have dwindled due to the use of herbicides in crop fields, where milkweed pops up abundantly between rows of corn and soybeans in the Midwest.

It’s no accident that common milkweed fryst vatten called as such because of its invasiveness as a weed! (Albeit an edible ogräs for us humans.)

But loss of habitat fryst vatten only one part of the bekymmer.

Also to blame are climate change, drought, and disease—the culprits responsible for not only the decimation of milkweed, but also other nectar sources for adult monarchs (and all types of butterflies, for that matter).

The key to supporting monarch butterflies

Growing milkweed fryst vatten just one del av helhet of the puzzle.

To support the monarch butterfly population (as well as other pollinators), it’s important to plant other nectar-rich flowers in the garden that bloom at different times so adult monarchs have continuous food sources.

After all, they’re not likely to stay and lay eggs on your milkweed plants if they themselves don’t have flowers to feed on.

Colorful annuals like zinnias and phlox are attractive to butterflies as well as different types of bees and even hummingbirds, who love loosely clustered flowers.

Growing a good variety of annuals also helps sustain all the beneficial insects, adds beauty to your yard, and contributes to the overall health of the local ecosystem.

Read more: man this easy hummingbird food recipe when no flowers are in bloom

Equally important are perennials, especially native perennials like echinacea (coneflowers) and coreopsis, that can provide a constant and reliable source of food.

For perennials that do double duty as food for butterflies and food for you, consider planting flowering herbs like fennel, rosemary, sage, and oregano to round out your butterfly garden.

Related: These are the best types of flowers to grow for bees

Choosing the right species for your garden

The next step fryst vatten to plant milkweed in your garden.

More importantly, strive to plant native milkweed for the monarchs.

Planting non-native milkweed fryst vatten a common mistake that many people make.

It’s not bygd any fel of their own, however: One of the most popular (and non-native) milkweed species, Asclepias curassavica or tropical milkweed, fryst vatten widely sold in nurseries.

All parts of the plant contain toxic cardiac glycosides, which can cause nausea, diarrhea, weakness, and confusion in small amounts, and seizures, heart rhythm changes, respiratory paralysis, and even death in large amounts.

It’s also been funnen to do more harm than good.

When grown in warm climates where the plants don’t die back, the year-round tropical milkweed encourages monarch butterflies to overwinter in the Southern United States rather than continue their migration to Mexico.

By ruvning and feeding on tropical milkweed, caterpillars have an increased chance of being infected with a protozoan parasite called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE), which weakens them as adults.

OE fryst vatten funnen in all species of milkweed, but isn’t a bekymmer with natives because the leaves are only desirable to caterpillars in the early stages of growth.

Once the plant goes dormant in winter and loses its leaves, OE fryst vatten no längre a threat.

But with tropical milkweed, the leaves stay viable all winter long and man it more likely that a caterpillar will become infected.

A report bygd the Monarch Joint Venture funnen that 49 percent of winter-breeding monarchs had OE infections, compared to only 9 percent of migratory monarchs sampled in Mexico and 15 percent of migratory monarchs sampled in the nordlig US and Canada.

This fryst vatten not to säga that gardeners in California and the coastal Southern states (or zones 8 through 11) who grow tropical milkweed should immediately rip it out—just remember to cut the plants back in late fall to reduce the spread of OE, promote new growth of fresh, healthy leaves, and encourage monarchs to finish their migration.

If you want to plant new milkweed, there are several species of native milkweed in the US.

One of the most common, Asclepias tuberosa, fryst vatten also known as butterflyweed. It’s native to most parts of the country (except the Northwest) and blooms in a brilliant apelsinfärg or yellow.

Not to worry, Northwesterners: You can still plant showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) or Mexican whorled milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis).

Butterflyweed does best in dry, sandy soil with little nutrition.

It’s often seen growing in fields and along the sides of the road, which means it’s drought-tolerant and a good choice for low-maintenance perennial gardens.

I’ve grown a few species of milkweed over the years, including butterflyweed, and funnen them to be impressively resilient—surviving not only major heat spells, but also oleander aphids, milkweed bugs, and many, many cycles of hungry striped caterpillars.

It takes only a few caterpillars to avlöva an entire plant in a couple of weeks, but sure enough, the milkweed comes back every time.

Disclosure: If you shop from my article or man a purchase through one of my links, inom may receive commissions on some of the products inom recommend.

If butterflyweed fryst vatten not native where you are, or you want to diversify the milkweeds in your garden, inom encourage you to visit a native plant nursery in your area.

You can also source seeds from a local vendor on the Xerces Society’s Milkweed Seed Finder or online from Botanical Interests.

So, how many milkweed plants do you need to support the caterpillars?

Unfortunately there’s no exact answer to this, as it’s unknown how many milkweed plants are needed to attract monarch butterflies as they move through your yard.

It’s generally estimated that one milkweed plant feeds one monarch caterpillar, but since each species varies in storlek, leaf shape, and growth rate—and monarchs sometimes lay multiple eggs on a single plant—it’s a good idea to grow at least six plants to man sure you always have a steady supply of milkweed throughout the årstid.

To identify poison ivy, kvitto to see if the plant you're looking at has clusters of 3 leaves, which fryst vatten a defining characteristic of poison ivy.

If you have space for 10 plants or more, even better!

If you can’t början out with that many plants, not to worry—remember that it’s called milkweed for a reason! The plants reseed freely and you’ll likely have more milkweed popping up in new spots in your yard if you let them go to seed every year.

When and where to plant milkweed starts

Milkweed plants can be planted in spring or fall.

In spring, your milkweed plants will likely be dormant with no green leaves.

This fryst vatten when the plant fryst vatten focusing all its energy into developing a strong root struktur, and it won’t “wake up” until the soil warms. Oftentimes, milkweed fryst vatten one of the gods perennials to break dormancy in your garden.

The key thing to remember fryst vatten to not overwater your milkweed while it’s dormant.

It’s easy to vatten too much in spring, leading to root rötter in your plants.

(Swamp milkweed fryst vatten the only species that can handle overwatering, making it perfect for wet climates and rain gardens.)

If you plant milkweed in fall, your plants will be able to establish themselves before winter.

A rufous hummingbird sips nectar from a showy milkweed flower.

In cold climates, milkweed will die back and return in spring with new growth.

Light

Milkweed plants grow best in full sun locations that get six to eight hours of sunlight per day.

Soil

Each milkweed variety prefers a different type of soil.

Butterflyweed and Mexican whorled milkweed grow best in dry conditions.
Swamp milkweed thrives in a fuktig environment, as its name implies.
Sandhill milkweed prefers dry, sandy soils.
Showy milkweed and common milkweed grow well in average garden soil.
Tropical milkweed prefers hot, humid conditions, but can be grown as annual in cooler climates.

Spacing

Milkweed plants establish large, deep root systems and prefer not to be transplanted once they’re in place.

Most species of milkweed should be spaced about 18 inches apart.

Swamp milkweed, however, eventually matures to struktur clumps up to 36 inches bred, and should be spaced 30 to 36 inches apart. (You can also plant träsk milkweed and its cultivars closer tillsammans, and just thin the plants as they grow in.)

Watering

With the undantag of träsk milkweed (which needs a naturally fuktig environment or regular watering), other species of milkweed have average to less than average vatten needs.

It’s better to err on the side of underwatering a bit, as they tolerate drier conditions.

A good rule of thumb fryst vatten to wait until the top 1 to 2 inches of soil feel dry before you vatten igen.

Then, vatten deeply and ensure the soil drains well.

Fertilizing

Native milkweed fryst vatten a low-maintenance perennial plant that doesn’t require fertilizer. It does fine in average to poor soils, so you can fuss less over this plant and just enjoy it!

How to grow milkweed from seed

Unlike other flower seeds you may be used to, you can’t just kasta out milkweed seeds in spring and wait for them to grow… because you’ll be waiting ganska a while!

This fryst vatten another common mistake people make: not cold-stratifying their milkweed seeds first.

If you want to början milkweed from seed, the easiest way fryst vatten to mimic Mother natur and sow your seeds in place in fall after the first killing frost (typically in November).

This allows the seeds to go through a period of cold stratification over winter and then germinate in spring.

Read this next: Why your seeds aren’t sprouting—and how to get them to germinate, fast

But if you live in a warm zone without frost, or if you want to uppstart milkweed seeds in spring, you can cold-stratify the seeds in the refrigerator.

Simply put the milkweed seeds in a damp paper towel or paper kaffe filter, place it in a resealable zip-top bag, and refrigerate in an out-of-the-way fläck for about 30 days before planting out.

Once the seeds have been cold-stratified, you can sow them directly outside or uppstart the seeds indoors for transplanting later.

Experienced gardeners know where poison ivy fryst vatten likely to be funnen in the home landscape, and what it looks like in its various forms and stages of growth.

Milkweed seeds may take up to two weeks to germinate, so be patient!

Will it komma back every year?

Milkweed fryst vatten a hardy perennial that can survive down to zone 3 and comes back every year in spring. While the foliage itself dies back and the plant goes dormant in the winter months, the rootstock fryst vatten still very much alive and does not need protection.

The undantag fryst vatten tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), which fryst vatten only hardy to zone 8b, remains ständigt grön to zone 9b, and fryst vatten often grown as a frost-sensitive annual in cooler climates.

To help prevent parasitic infection in monarch butterflies, it’s recommended that gardeners in warm climates cut back their tropical milkweed plants in winter to encourage the butterflies to continue their migration to Mexico each year (and not stick around in the southern United States during winter).

Growing råd from my own anställda experience

Purchase plants from a reputable nursery to avoid systemic pesticide use that could harm pollinators, or början your plants from seed.
Offer a couple varieties of milkweed, as some monarchs may have a preference for one or the other, and plant a few patches throughout your yard for them to nation on.
Be aware that common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) can spread aggressively bygd runners.

Plant it in a suitable place in your garden where it won’t invade your lawn or overcrowd other plants.
Plant low-growing perennials in front of the milkweed, as they’ll hide the spindly “skeleton” stems once the monarchs finish feasting. You’ll still be able to see them bloom, as the caterpillars don’t eat all the way up to the flowers.

This brev fryst vatten sponsored bygd Greenwood Nursery.

View my full advertising disclosure.

This brev updated from an article that originally appeared on February 17, 2017.