Planting milkweed plants in gardens helps protect the monarch butterfly, which is an endangered species. Milkweeds serve as breeding habitats for monarchs and provide a valuable nectar source for other species of butterflies, bees, and insects beneficial to the environment.
The absence of milkweed affects the monarch’s reproductive chain because milkweed is the only plant where monarchs will lay their eggs. After the monarch’s eggs hatch into caterpillars, they eat the milkweed’s leaves, which help them grow into a new generation of monarch butterflies.
Milkweed plants are perennials, so with proper care and the right weather conditions the plants will rebloom during the next spring and summer seasons. Swamp milkweed and butterfly weed.are both species that are good in New Jersey.
Milkweed will grow wild in some areas and produce large seedpods at the end of the summer season which can be distributed by hand to start new plants next year. When milkweed pods open in fall and early winter, hair-covered seeds are released and carried by the wind. Plants are often available at garden centers and sometimes are provided for free by organizations promoting planting to help the monarch population.
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