By Jade Greene
Monarch laying eggs on milkweed plant.
As development continues in the Bucks County area and beyond, reducing forests and farms to strip malls and neighborhoods, the plants in YOUR yard, garden, or local farm are more important than ever. The spaces that you tend can be both beautiful and enrich the environment. You can make a difference just by the plants you choose in your garden. Choose natives!
A great native to incorporate into your spaces is common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Milkweed is famous for its host relationship with monarch caterpillars but over 450 species feed on it, making it a pollinator superstar. Milkweed also has strong and deep penetrating roots which help stabilize soil and prevent erosion. Hollow-stems make for great homes for over-wintering insects.
Indigenous people have used milkweed for a variety of purposes, the Lenape word for milkweed is pitukëna. The plant boosts many medicinal properties, young shoots are edible (be careful, older leaves are not edible!), the stem fibers can be made into string, robe, and fabric! The fluffy seeds were used to stuff life-preservers in World War II. The Dr. Seuss-esque flowers smell divine.
Planting tips:
Once established, common milkweed can be rather aggressive. Include it in meadows and edges. Make sure to manage if you plant it in a bed as it can take over!
Milkweed loves full sun and can handle poor soil. Once established, milkweed does not need much water. You can “chelsea chop” the plant before it puts on flower buds to keep it smaller, if you prefer that in your garden.
Remember, like all native perennials, do not cut them back in the winter. Insects will overwinter in milkweed’s hollow stems and birds can eat the seed pods.
Consider adding this beautiful plant to your garden! Some local native plant nurseries include:
Archewild Native Nurseries, Quakertown (wholesale)- Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, New Hope
- Gino’s Native Plant Nursery, Newtown
- Divine Earth Gardens
- Kind Earth Growers, Ottsville (wholesale)
- My Backyard at Nectars, Titusville NJ
- Peace Tree Farm, Kintnersville
- Toadshade Wildflower Farm, Frenchtown NJ
- Wild Ridge Plants, Alpha NJ
Archewild Native Nurseries, Quakertown (wholesale)
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