The different types of milkweed, and which is best for your yard

Añadido: 2026-06-07

[00:00:00]So, we have four species of milkweed in this region that are native.

[00:00:04]I when I think of milkweed, the first thing I think of is the big tall stuff and it can get up to 9 ft tall, often 3 to 6 ft tall. It gets the big bulbs of maroonish flowers in the summertime and um they smell wonderful.

[00:00:19]And that's ones and they spread aggressively and that's one species of milkweed that we have. But, butterfly weed is another one that's become common in landscaping and that is a milkweed.

[00:00:28]And it it's orange, which is rare.

[00:00:31]It gets to be about 3 ft tall and grows as it spread spreads, but not too aggressively. So, it's a wonderful uh ground cover option.

[00:00:39]And uh it handles dry soil. Now, I'm talking about dry right now, but um it's one of it's those are two of four species that we have. And for shade, we have poke milkweed.

[00:00:49]Poke milkweed grows in shaded woodland and uh other areas that you have that are comparable, little bit of dappled sunlight and it can be moist soil. We're not talking about the standing water here, but moist soil. And um it's just kind of dainty. So, it's kind of like a a finer version of the common milkweed.

[00:01:07]It doesn't spread aggressively and it gets these dangling ball bulbs of white flowers.

[00:01:13]And so, they can be a a nice option. Deer do not eat milkweed. Um rabbits do, interestingly, I've found out the last couple years at my place.

[00:01:23]But, the deer do not eat it. Um it's kind of noxious to them, which is why the monarchs eat it so that other things don't eat them, right?

[00:01:31]Yeah, they taste bad to birds.

[00:01:33]And um it's that sap. It's the milky sap when you break the leaf or the stalk or whatever and you get it on your hands.

[00:01:40]That's the thing that keeps ma- most mammals from eating it, but uh I have unfortunately firsthand experience with very cute little rabbits that eat it.

[00:01:48]The joke is on them though because well, they there's no joke. They get to eat and they get their bellies full, but the milkweed doesn't really mind. It actually makes it bushier. So, instead of getting 9-ft tall plants, uh you might get 5-ft tall plants and they're huge. Um because every time the rabbit eats the stalk, it grows in two. And they come back and do it again and now all of a sudden you have all these stalks. So, it can get interesting. But, um yeah, poke milkweed in the shade. So, and then the other species of milkweed we have is swamp, which we mentioned earlier, appropriate for wet sunny spots.

[00:02:23]And uh those are the four milkweed species. There's been studies done. All four of those species feed the monarchs just fine. They're all perfectly fine.

[00:02:32]Um all native to this region.

[00:02:39]>> Hi everyone. I'm Lindsey Watson. Thanks for watching the WKBN 27 First News YouTube channel. If you want more video news, subscribe to our channel and don't forget to download the WKBN 27 First News app for breaking news alerts.