Iowa’s Native Milkweed Species

Iowa’s Native Milkweed Species

by | Sep 5, 2024

Milkweed is important! Not only do they provide beautiful flowers, but they are the host plant of Monarch Butterflies. Monarch caterpillars feed on the milky sap and leaves as they grow. Iowa has 18 native species of Milkweed, but I am going to cover the 4 most common.  They are perennial plants and can grow in a wide variety of habitats. Milkweed make up the Asclepiadaceae family. This scientific name comes from the Greek God of healing and medicine; Asclepius. 

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is probably what you think of when you hear the name milkweed. They have beautiful large blooms of pink flowers, typically from June until August. When under the right conditions, they can grow up to 6 feet tall! You can find common milkweed almost anywhere including fields, prairies, ditches, and disturbed areas.

Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) have vibrant orange flowers. These beautiful plants only grow up to 3 feet tall and stay tidy. They are a perfect option for your gardens! They bloom from June until August and their leaves are rough and narrow. They establish in dry open habitats like old fields and prairies. Unlike the rest of the milkweed on this list, butterfly milkweed does not have milky white sap. 

Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) is one of the Monarch Butterfly’s favorite types of milkweed. You might also hear it referred to as rose milkweed. They have narrow leaves and bright pink flowers. Swamp milkweed blooms from July to August. They also smell just like bubblegum, so if you see one in the wild make sure to give it a sniff. Just make sure you don’t accidentally startle any stinging insects! These plants like to grow in wet soils on the edges of prairie potholes and marshes. They can grow to over 5 feet tall.

Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) spreads via seeds and rhizomes. Their leaves are thin and narrow and can look like needles. A monarch caterpillar can eat several plants. They can grow up to 3 feet tall, but most of the time they are much shorter. They bloom from July to September and have little white flowers. Whorled milkweed are one of the last blooming milkweed, which makes it a particularly important source of food for monarchs.

Milkweed have seed pods. You may have seen these pods cracked open in the fall or individual seeds floating gracefully in the air. If you plan on harvesting your own and planting them, the time to plant is now! Planting in the fall is exactly what milkweed needs to germinate. They require a cold period of weather followed by a warm period of weather; this is called cold stratification.

So now that you know all about milkweed, it is time to go grow some! Plant them everywhere! Plant them in your front yard, in your back yard, in all of your gardens, in your parent’s gardens. I love milkweed and so will you.

Say No to Neonics: What They Are and Why We Should Care

Say No to Neonics: What They Are and Why We Should Care

by | Aug 5, 2024

Neonicotinoid pesticides are detrimental to not only monarch health, but all pollinator health. If you have never heard of Neonicotinoids, or Neonics for short, and aren’t sure why you should care, I urge you to keep reading.

What are Neonicotinoids?

Neonics are a type of pesticide that attacks insects on a neurological level. This means “the way they work is by permanently binding to the nerve cells of insects, overstimulating and destroying them. Exposed insects often exhibit uncontrollable shaking and twitching followed by paralysis before eventually dying” (Lindwall, 2022). These pesticides are used in a variety of ways including on agricultural land, golf courses, lawns, gardens, and even in tick and flea repellents for our pets, making Neonics the most used pesticide in the USA since its development in the 1990s (Lindwall, 2022). I know how they affect insects and I’m not sure I’d want my little furballs anywhere near it.

 

Why should we care?

Neonics are applied to soil around a plant’s roots or, even worse, as a coating on a plant seed (Lindwall, 2022). If it is applied as a coating to a seed, the plant absorbs it as it grows. This means that the whole plant is now toxic to any insect that tries to have lunch (Lindwall, 2022). The sweet nectar, pollen, leaves, stems, and even fruit are not safe for insects to pollinate or munch on. “In large-scale studies in the UK, agricultural applications of seed-coated neonicotinoids were found to be associated with decreased abundances of bees and butterflies” (Van Deynze et al., 2024). Even when neonics are applied at nonlethal doses, they can weaken critical functions, such as an insect’s immune system, navigation, stamina, memory, and fertility (Lindwall, 2022). So if the chemical doesn’t outright kill the insect, it prevents it from reproducing and significantly decreases its quality of life.

 

Neonics are also extremely harmful to pollinators. They are non-selective, which means that all insects are affected by them. “Since their introduction, neonics have made U.S. agriculture nearly 50 times more harmful to insect life” (Lindwall, 2022). “Almost 45% of the 3374 articles on neonicotinoids published to date … addressed the issue of negative interactions of neonicotinoids with bees and other pollinators” (Jactel et al., 2019). There are so many articles on the internet that address neonics and call for a change in pesticide use. During a 17 year study on butterflies and neonics, it was found that the diversity of butterflies and abundance were negatively affected and declined (Van Deynze et al., 2024). It is thought that these pesticides may have triggered the decline of butterflies in 2003, when treated soybeans became available in the Midwest (Van Deynze et al., 2024). Butterflies aren’t the only pollinator affected by this nasty pesticide. Beekeepers have reported that more than 45% of their honeybee colonies have been lost between 2020 and 2021; this is the second highest colony collapse rate on record (Lindwall, 2022). That’s not all, Iowa is the home of over 4,000 native bee species including the already endangered Rusty Patched bumblebee. This means that all pollinators are at risk due to these chemicals.  

 

This graph from Van Deynze et al. shows the correlations between pesticide use and the decline in monarch butterfly (D. plexippus) populations throughout the years.

So maybe you don’t care about some bugs. Well, it’s affecting people too. When applied to the soil around a plant, only about 2% – 5% actually get on the target plant, with the rest becoming residue on the soil outside of the plant’s root system’s reach. This residual pesticide then gets washed away by irrigation or rain into our waterways. These are areas we let our children swim and play in. These are areas we are fishing in. These are areas we live by and see daily. A 2015 study by the U.S. Geological Survey found neonic pollution in more than half of the streams it sampled nationwide (Lindwall, 2022). 

Don’t worry, we can still do something to help! 

In 96% of cases, neonics can be replaced by alternative pest control and even better, in 78% of cases, at least one non-chemical alternative method can be used (Jactel et al., 2019). You can buy organic seeds to plant or check that the seeds you are using haven’t been coated in this liquid death for our insect friends. Planting more safe gardens with plenty of blooming plants is a great way to support pollinators. Growing milkweed is not only essential to monarch survival, but will attract bees and other insects as well. Even if you are in an apartment, you can help out! Growing some beautiful native plants like Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) or Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) in a container garden on your balcony or patio are great options if you don’t have lawn space. Making sure that you have blooming plants in Spring, Summer, and Fall is essential to pollinators survival.

Citations

Jactel H, Verheggen F, Thiéry D, Escobar-Gutiérrez AJ, Gachet E, Desneux N,  (2019, August). Alternatives to neonicotinoids. Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019302351?via%3Dihub

Lindwall, C. (2022, May). Neonicotinoids 101: The effects on humans and bees. NRCD. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/neonicotinoids-101-effects-humans-and-bees

Van Deynze B, Swinton SM, Hennessy DA, Haddad NM, Ries L (2024, June) Insecticides, more than herbicides, land use, and climate, are associated with declines in butterfly species richness and abundance in the American Midwest. PLoS ONE 19(6): e0304319. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304319