Milkweed is a drought-tolerant and deer-resistant perennial plant named for its milky latex sap. It is a great host plant for many beneficial insects including Monarch butterflies, bees, beetles, and lady beetles (ladybugs).
Other native milkweed species that are suitable for our climate are California milkweed (A.californica), woolly milkweed (A.vestita). woollypod milkweed (A. eriocarpa), and heartleaf milkweed (A. cordifolia), which is better suited to the Sierra foothills (2000 ft. elevation). The native milkweed species are not invasive.
Milkweed is the only plant on which the Monarch butterfly will lay eggs. If larvae hatch on your milkweed you might notice the plant's leaves being devoured by the caterpillar. Do not cut it back or pull it up. Once the caterpillar morphs into a butterfly the leaves will grow back.
Home gardeners can aid the Monarch population by adding milkweed to their landscape, pollinator garden, herb garden, or even a patio container. If you own a larger plot of land you might consider letting some of it remain wild, so that the wild nectar producing flowers are available not only for butterflies, but for other pollinators as well.
Milkweed commonly attracts a yellow aphid known as Oleander aphid. This aphid will not destroy the plant and will not infest nearby roses or vegetable gardens. It is plant specific: think of the Oleander aphid as food for the lady beetles. Avoid using pesticides or herbicides that might damage these breeding and feeding areas.
Milkweed is bitter flavored and unpalatable. It is recommended that you do not plant it near livestock as it can be toxic.
UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu or leave a phone message on our Hotline at (530) 538-7201. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're an entomologist, an agriculturist, a gardener or an insect enthusiast, you've probably seen the life cycle of a lady beetle, aka ladybug: from the egg to the larva to the pupa to the adult.
You may have missed the pupal stage when the adult emerges--or mistaken the pupal case for something dead (what's that carcass?) or something regurgitated.
Fascinating to watch!
Lady beetles, from the family Coccinellidae, are beneficial insects (some 5000 species) that feast on aphids and other soft-bodied insects. Entomologists call them lady beetles because this insect is not a true bug.
Scores of lady beetles visit our little pollinator garden in Vacaville. They especially like the narrow milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. Want to see a video on the life cycle? Watch The Stunning Life Cycle Of A Ladybug | The Dodo on YouTube.
Fascinating to watch!
![Welcome to the world! A lady beetle, aka ladybug, emerges from its pupal case. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Welcome to the world! A lady beetle, aka ladybug, emerges from its pupal case. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/85907.jpg)
![The lady beetle, aka ladybug, heads up the leaf, leaving its pupal case behind. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The lady beetle, aka ladybug, heads up the leaf, leaving its pupal case behind. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/85908.jpg)
![A newly emerged lady beetle, aka ladybug, peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A newly emerged lady beetle, aka ladybug, peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/85909.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Picture this during National Pollinator Week: five monarch caterpillars and assorted honey bees sharing tropical milkweed.
It was love at first bite. Or love at first sip.
The 'cats kept munching and the bees kept foraging. Neither species seemed interested in the other.
But the adult monarchs definitely showed more interest in the tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), a non-native, than the other two species, both natives, that we planted: the narrow leaf (A. fascicularis) and showy milkweed (A. speciosa).
They laid eggs only on the tropical milkweed, and so far, have produced five caterpillars.
The score to date:
Tropical milkweed: 5 caterpillars
Narrow leaf milkweed: 0
Showy milkweed: 0
Reminder: Folks planting the tropical milkweed in temperate zones (like here in Vacaville,Calif.) must remove or cut back the tropical milkweed by winter. "A protozoan parasite of monarch butterflies, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha or OE for short, can travel with monarchs visiting the plants and become deposited on leaves," explains the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
Yes, indeed. But meanwhile, we're witnessing untold sharing on the wildly popular tropical milkweed by not only monarch caterpillars but honey bees, syrphid flies, bumble bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees and sweat bees.
We gardeners and photographers are also drawn to the spectacular red, orange and yellow flowers that add both beauty and color to a cherished pollinator patch in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic...and National Pollinator Week.
![Peek a bee! A honey bee forages on tropical milkweed blossoms while a monarch caterpillar chows down. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Peek a bee! A honey bee forages on tropical milkweed blossoms while a monarch caterpillar chows down. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/71892.jpg)
![Sharing during National Pollinator Week: a honey bee and a monarch caterpillar on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Sharing during National Pollinator Week: a honey bee and a monarch caterpillar on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/71893.jpg)
![Two honey bees go about their Two honey bees go about their](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/71894.jpg)
![Close quarters: a honey bee and a monarch caterpillar on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Close quarters: a honey bee and a monarch caterpillar on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/71895.jpg)