This is my milkweed plot at the end of the year, on October 10th. After one summer in the ground, I thought it might be helpful to share my observations about each variety, even though I'm sure I'll be more milkweed savvy in a couple more years.
The milkweed are around the outside of this garden with flowers and grasses on the inside. Contrary to what I read online, rabbits do enjoy eating milkweed, so I had to put them inside a rabbit-proof fence. Directly in the front (with the fence posts to support them) are the honeyvine milkweed (Cynanchum leave). Going counterclockwise around the garden are: showy milkweed (Asclepius speciosa), whorled milkweed (Acslepias verticillata), prairie milkweed (Asclepias sullivanti), poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata), common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), tall green milkweed (Asclepias hirtella), and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa).
Part of the research I did with my plot, was to keep a weekly record of how many monarch eggs and larva each plant & variety had on it. So, each week for the next 9 weeks I will be sharing my observations about a different variety of milkweed, beginning next week with the milkweed variety that totaled the most eggs and larva in my garden his year, Asclepias incarnata, or swamp milkweed.
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