The One Plant You Need in Your Eco-Friendly Ontario Garden
- Edward Phillips
- Jun 10
- 2 min read
How one plant can get monarch butterflies rushing to your garden
It is such a common experience to wonder how our eco-conscious decisions really affect the world around us. Most ecological things we do to improve our environment change things that are basically invisible and leave us wondering if any change is really happening.
One way to feel an immediate impact on the Earth is to plant a native plant garden, and this one plant that will make you see the change right away.
That plant is butterfly milkweed.
What is butterfly milkweed?
Butterfly milkweed is a cheap, low maintenance and beautiful flowering plant that looks amazing and most importantly is one of the most attractive plants to monarch butterflies!
Parks Canada reports that “a number of different insects feed exclusively on milkweed”, meaning that if we want to keep Ontario filled with all the pollinators we need, milkweed is the go to plant to provide the nutrients needed to get these insects spreading nature's best friend, pollen.
Once we plant butterfly milkweed in your garden, the endangered adult monarch butterflies will be strongly drawn to your yard.
What is it like to plant?
When planted in an area with 6+ hours of sun, the Butterfly milkweed will grow to a healthy size and spread on its own in a contained area. Then, be ready for mid-summer when the plant blooms into a beautiful orange flower.
Planting milkweed is not as simple as throwing seeds around, however. Butterfly milkweed separates itself from the Common Milkweed as it does not spread seed through its rhizomes. Rhizomes are underground stems that new plants sprout from, whereas the Butterfly Milkweed spreads through seeds dispersing in the wind. This means that the Butterfly Milkweed stays in contained areas.
How does it help the butterflies?
Butterfly milkweed is a major attractor of the monarch butterfly. The monarch butterfly is currently endangered while also being one aspect of important pollinator networks in North America. It is imperative that we plant gardens that foster the growth of the Monarch Butterfly population.
Interestingly, monarch caterpillars do not prefer the Butterfly milkweed, instead opting for the common milkweed. However, many other native insects feed on the butterfly milkweed, meaning that the ecosystem will thrive even further by supporting greater biodiversity and strengthening the ecosystem through natural nutrient cycling.
Are you ready to start helping the monarch butterflies by planting butterfly milkweed?
Reach out and we can get you sorted with all sorts of Native Ontario plants that will give you a leg up on climate change while looking spectacular.
Sources:
AI DISCLAIMER: I used AI to check grammar as well to help fact check and confirm the biological/scientific aspects of this post.
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