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All of this excitement led me to search for some more information on the monarchs and milkweeds on the web. It was quite interesting to find out that monarchs prefer the tropical milkweed when given a choice of varieties. The females lay their eggs only on milkweeds which their offspring will eat as they develop. The bloodflower also contains the highest cardenolides content, which is a toxin metabolized by the monarch and renders it toxic to all but two of its predators.
Any of the milkweeds mentioned in this article can be grown in your garden, and all prefer full sun. Common milkweed is fragrant and a favored nectar source for monarchs, but has a spreading tendency, so it needs lots of room. Swamp milkweed is a beautiful rose-pink form, but needs “wet foot” conditions, meaning lots of moisture around its roots. You’ll find it growing in low-lying boggy areas, often where ironweed, joepye, boneset and cardinal flower grow.
Butterfly weed, a bright orange midsummer asclepias is easy to grow in drier garden conditions. The green milkweed is less familiar than the others and may look a bit weedy to some eyes, but it also prefers drier conditions.
The tropical milkweed is easily adaptable to garden sites and has a bit more showy form and color. Although it is an annual, while the others are perennial, it will easily re-seed once established.
Beware, however, that the privilege of hosting monarchs with bloodflower means that some or
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