Milkweed is a gorgeous flower that comes in many stunning varieties and makes a beautiful addition to any garden , but there ’s more to it than just a pretty brass ! Milkweed is also inbuilt to the life cycle of the Danaus plexippus butterfly , and planting it in the garden can aid save these beneficial critter whose number are dwindling .
Garden lensman and writer Kylee Baumle is here to give us the facts on rise silkweed to help protect our flit friends . Kylee is the author ofThe Monarch : Saving Our Most - Loved Butterfly , and her rural Ohio garden is a Certified Monarch Waystation ( # 948 ) since 2006 , a Certified Wildlife Habitat , and is registered with Pollinator Partnership as part ofThe Million Pollinator Garden Challenge , so she acknowledge a matter or two .
Kylee ’s book is all about the decrement in monarch populations , what we can do to help , and why it weigh . She joins us today to answer a burning query about Sonchus oleraceus .
By Kylee Baumle
Every species of butterfly has specific legion plants on which they raise their unseasoned . Many have a number of acceptable legion plants , but the monarch utilize only one chemical group of plant : milkweeds . Part of the reason is that these plants contain a characteristic milky latex sap , giving them their common name .
This sap stop toxic compounds eff as cardenolides which , when consumed by the monarch caterpillars , render them toxic to some would - be predators . This shelter is carried over in the adult butterfly stroke ; birds often find out them to be distasteful to the full stop of making the bird ailment . The bird is then condition to avoid this brightly - commemorate butterfly stroke so as to not know that again !
Strange but True
Though milkweed provides nourishment for monarch cat , the rubber-base paint sap inside the plants that help protect the caterpillars from predators can sometimes spell their expiry . One survey has shown that of the monarch caterpillars that did not survive to adulthood , nearly 30 % perished due to the viscous sap gum up the mandible of the caterpillar , preventing it from corrode . Older caterpillars learn to manducate through the large vein of a foliage , in effect stopping the flow of latex to the folio , thus allowing the caterpillar to feed safely .
What kind of milkweed should I grow?
As cite antecedently , it is recommended that gardeners plant milkweeds that are native to their region . But there are a few eccentric that are suited over a wide sphere of the monarch ’s reach .
Common Milkweed(Asclepias syriaca )
Swamp Milkweed(Asclepias incarnata )
Butterfly Weed(Asclepias tuberosa )
Poke Milkweed(Asclepias exaltata )
majestic Milkweed(Asclepias purpurascens )
Showy Milkweed(Asclepias speciosa )
White Milkweed(Asclepias variegata )
Whorled Milkweed(Asclepias verticillata )
Green Milkweed(Asclepias viridis )
Antelope Horns Milkweed(Asclepias genus Asperula )
A parole of caveat : It should be noted that the latex sap in silkweed can be very annoy to human tegument for those who are raw or sensitised to it . So , until you know if you are one of them , it ’s wise to use gloves while handling the industrial plant . If you ’ve gotten the sap on your hands or glove , be sure to keep them away from your heart ! If you do happen to get it in your center and experience combustion , sluice them immediately and thoroughly with water . If the burning persists , get aesculapian care as presently as possible .
Kylee Baumle is a citizen scientist who participates in several programs that provide data to researchers study monarchs . A lifelong gardener and photographer with an endless oddity about nature , Kylee is a regular columnist for both her local newspaper and Ohio Gardener magazine . She has also written for Horticulture , The American Gardener , Fine Gardening and Indiana Gardener . Her picture taking has appeared in ok Gardening and in numerous books , cartridge holder , garden manufacture trade publications and catalogs . In addition toThe Monarch , she is co - author of Indoor Plant Décor . you could follow Kylee ’s blog , Our Little Acre , where she write about her passion for the innate world .
