HORT REPORT
9 July 2001
REMEMBER WHEN
President George Bush (No. 41) told us to, "Read my lips..."? Well, he fibbed. Today, I'm telling you to READ MY SHIRT...and this is the truth: Common Milkweed, the plant we see in roadside ditches & other waste spaces, is the One & Only food source for Monarch Butterfly larvae. Common Milkweed leaves contain glycosides which are related to digitalins in treating some heart disease. These glycosides, when absorbed by the Monarch Butterfly larvae, make both larvae & adult butterfly toxic to birds & other predators.COMMON MILKWEED (Asclepias syriaca) is not to be confusedwith Swamp Milkweed whose juice is less milky than the above, or White Milkweed which is hardy only to Illinois so we don't have to worry about it. Common Milkweed is related to Butterfly Weed or Pleurisy Root whose brilliant orange flowers attract Monarchs & other butterflies. Butterfly Weed grows wild in open fields, blooms late summer so it's late to emerge in spring. Put a marker next to the plant so nobody yanks it as a "weed" in early spring. Its tough tap root makes it difficult to transplant. Indians (Native Americans) used to chew this root to cure pleurisy & other pulmonary ailments, hence the second common name. The botanical name is: Asclepias tuberosa. Butterfly Weed is not to be confused with Butterfly Bush which, incidentally, is also a weed. Butterfly Bush is commonly referred to as Buddleia. B. davidii is one of the most popular, but there numerous species & hybrids.Inside Outisde Gardens, on Raldwin Rd., has flowering Butterflly weed tubers in one-gallon pots for $8.50. Before I knew they would be stocking it, I bought tubers & milkweed seed from Prairie Nursery at http://WWW.PRAIRIENURSERY.COM .
SPEAKING OF DOT COM: We had 21 copies, now five, of the Springfield Township "Native Vegetation Enhancement Project" CD-ROM. That's a long name for a little disk that is a mountain of information, not only for native plant enthusiasts, but for anybody interested in our area's natural vegetation. They are $3 each, but worth 10 times that amount. It contains a native plant listing, descriptions, color photos, local retail sources, general information, & so forth. Buy it. You'll love it.
BEFORE WE FEED BUTTERFLY BABIES, we have to attract some responsible parents. These tend to be wandering souls who stop in now & then for a sip of this or that, especially if it's red, yellow, orange, pink or purple booms that are flat-topped or clustered and have short flower tubes. These are nectar producting plants to get you butterfly garden started: Aster spp., Rhododendrom spp., Eupatorium spp., Monarda spp., Asclepias spp. (discussed above), Rudbeckia hirta, Phlox spp., Liatris spp., Echinacea purpurea, Rhus spp., Lobelia cardinalis, Lobelia siphilitica (I can supply some, free), Helianthus spp., Clethra alnifolia, Solidago spp. Avoid hybrid plants. Some butterflies are plant specific, that's why the Latin names. This list is from the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program, 8925 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22184-0001 * HTTP://WWW.NWF.ORG//.
RECOMMENDED READING: Handbook for Butterfly Watchers, by Robert Michael Pyle; The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies, the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers. -------- Linda Meadors,
Hort chair