Contributed photo

After seeing an 80% population decline in the eastern monarch butterfly the past two decades the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium is working on strategies for recovery including planting milkweed.

Horticulturists with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach state some milkweed species are attractive in landscapes and appeal to monarch butterflies. They recommend swamp milkweed or butterfly weed, which is a native Iowa perennial that has orange or yellow flowers from June to September, for landscaping. Butterfly weed is easy to grow, with little maintenance, few pest problems, and a heat and drought tolerance.

These milkweed types can be established by sowing seeds or planting bare-root or potted plants. They have deep taproots which makes it difficult to transplant, so choose sites carefully. Monarch butterfly larvae feed on the foliage.