When most people think of milkweeds,  they usually envision Asclepias syriaca, even though there are over 100 other species to imagine! Native to the great plains of North America, common milkweed is now rarely found in midwestern prairies and is more at home in croplands, pastures, roadsides, and old fields. In spite of the fact that milkweed produces toxic cardiac glycosides to deter pests, over 450 insect species feed on some part of the plant. The endangered monarch butterfly is dependent on the milkweed for its larval development. Monarch Watch, a pro-monarch nonprofit, maintains that we need to plant one billion common milkweed plants to save the butterflies from functional extinction. The plant is a hardy and resilient addition to any native pollinator garden in the eastern United States. If you plant it, you may be lucky enough to see some monarchs making their multi-generation migrations north and south. At Glenstone, it can be found all through our native meadows and on the Pavilions green roof. One final note on this species' scientific name: in 1753, Carl Linnaeus gave milkweed the name "syriaca" thinking that it came from Syria. He was wrong. The name remains.

–Tim Curley