Want to Save the Monarchs? Start Planting Milkweed

By Philip Murphy, Citizens Committee Co-President

Milkweed is a wildflower that’s a primary food source for monarch butterflies. Aside from being nutritious, milkweed contains enzymes that when digested by monarch caterpillars make them toxic to predators like birds. However, the population of Western monarchs has been in steep decline for decades. They are now in danger of becoming extinct due to climate change, increased development and pesticides that have destroyed vast amounts of milkweed.

Propagating milkweed for our own backyards can help reverse this trend and bring back the monarchs!

It’s important to know which types of milkweed are native to Southern California and beneficial for monarchs. We start with two kinds of native milkweed seeds: Narrow Leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) and Kotolo, or Indian milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa), which I purchased from the Theodore Payne Foundation.

(Disclaimer: I do not work for this foundation, nor am I on their board. However, they are a great source for native plants and I urge you to use them as a resource!)

Beware of other kinds of milkweed, such as tropical milkweed. Tropical milkweed is non-native and not good for monarchs: it blooms all year, disrupts monarchs’ migration patterns and attracts a harmful protozoan parasite.

Philip’s Milkweed Propagation Guidelines

Step 1: Using two trays with 72 one-inch cups each and a bag of potting soil (also purchased from Theodore Payne) I labeled one tray Narrow Leaf and the other Kotolo.

Step 2: Put about half-inch of soil in each cup then drop two to three seeds in each cup and cover them with another half-inch of soil.

Step 3: Place the trays outside in the sun and water with a watering can.

Step 4: Keep an eye on your trays and don’t let them dry out too much. Depending on the weather, you may need to water every day, every other day or every third day. After about two-and-a-half weeks, you’ll see green sprouts popping up in your Narrow Leaf tray.

The Kotolo takes longer to germinate, so keep an eye on it and water when necessary. In another week or two you’ll see sprouts there, too!

Step 5: Give the sprouts another week or two to grow and fill out their one-inch cups. (Keep in mind that some of your seeds may never sprout. I had a much higher success rate with the Narrow Leaf than the Kotolo, which yielded only about 20 plants.)

Step 6: Once the seedlings are filling the one-inch cups (after six to eight weeks) transplant them into four-inch square plastic pots, which will allow the sprouts to grow large enough to be successfully transplanted. (In some cases, two or three sprouts may appear in a pot, which you can separate into different four-inch pots or keep them together and let them grow.) After three or four weeks growing in the four-inch pots, your milkweed should be big enough to be successfully planted in the ground. 

Milkweed likes full sun and once established does not need a lot of watering, so keep that in mind when you do plant the milkweed in your garden. Then, you can look forward to monarch butterflies dropping by for a picnic! 

The Citizens Committee is planning on planting highly beneficial milkweed at two locations in Elysian Park: The Victory Memorial Grove and the Marian Harlow Grove. Make sure you’re following us on social media to hear about the latest planting activities and volunteering opportunities.