Milkweed Plants For Monarch Butterflies. Many butterflies have a single plant required as a food source for their larval form called a host plant. Without it they cannot complete their life cycle and their populations decline.
These beautiful butterflies feed exclusively on milkweed as caterpillars. Milkweed is the host plant for the monarch butterfly. Without milkweed the larva would not be able to develop into a butterfly.
Learn how to plant milkweed get care tips and recommendations for which types to grow.
Media marketing shutterstock a monarch butterfly lands on a swamp milkweed plant. Some insects such as monarch butterflies have evolved a resistance to the poison and can safely consume the plants. For those of us who love bees and butterflies this is devastating news. Milkweed is the host plant for the monarch butterfly.