Milkweed for Monarchs

The best choice for monarchs is milkweed that is native to your region! There are over 100 species of milkweed that naturally occur throughout North and Central America, but not all of these will be native to where you live in the country.

Four milkweed species are native to much of the United States making them a good choice for many regions. They are also readily available at many plant nurseries.

Common milkweed
(Asclepias syriaca)

Swamp milkweed
(Asclepias incarnata)

Butterflyweed
(Asclepias tuberosa)

Showy milkweed
(Asclepias speciosa)

Read our blog to discover which milkweed species are native to your state!

If you live in the United States, we recommend you do not plant this species of milkweed. Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), which is sold at many retail nurseries, is not native to the United States. Plus, research is showing that its long bloom time may have some negative effects on monarch migration and can even be a source of disease spread within monarch populations. For these reasons, we recommend avoiding tropical milkweed and instead opting for milkweed species that are native to your region. Read more here and learn to identify this species.

While there isn’t currently a simple answer to this question, the more milkweed you plant, the better!

In general, the number of milkweed plants is less important than the fact that you are planting milkweed in the first place!

CREDIT: LISA SOWA-DOWNS

If you’re looking for some other tangible goals to help monarchs, you can:

• Set a goal of having your garden be 70% native plants.
• Plant milkweed in clumps so that monarch caterpillars can crawl between them to forage.
• Plant with an eye for multi-season blooms of native plants so that monarch butterflies have nectar sources throughout the growing season!

Many local plant stores that specialize in native plants will carry a few milkweed species for purchase. Please ensure that these species are native to your region and avoid tropical milkweed which is commonly sold at retail nurseries. Xerces Society’s Milkweed Seed Finder tool can be a good resource for finding milkweed vendors nearby.

You can also purchase milkweed plants or seeds online from many retailers.

There are many different organizations like nonprofits or even international organizations that have provided their own status to the monarch butterfly so the answer to this question can actually vary. Importantly, not all of these listings carry legal weight.

Often what people mean when they ask this question is whether the monarch butterfly is listed as endangered or threatened by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Endangered Species Act.

As of December 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a listing of the North American migratory monarch butterfly as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Protecting the monarch as a threatened species could be great news for the monarchs! It will provide increased funding, coordination, and focus on the work to save this iconic butterfly species. Read more about this listing and what it means here.

If you live in the United States, the answer is most likely “yes”! You can see a map of monarch butterfly’s breeding range and their migration paths here.

Planting milkweed is a great first step to help monarch butterflies, but you can take more action too! You can:

1. Provide a water source in your garden like a butterfly puddling dish.
2. Plant other native plant species which can provide blooms that serve as nectar sources for monarch butterflies throughout the growing season.
3. Avoid pesticides and make sure the plants you are buying are not treated with any systemic pesticides (like neonicotinoids).
4. Support action in your local community by encouraging your local leaders to take the Mayors' Monarch Pledge!
5. Take action by urging Congress to pass the Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat Act.

Check out all of our monarch resources from the past decade here.