Depends on how big your garden is and its purpose. IMO it isn't very decorative, and it might be worth growing in a garden where you have a sunny spot that's mostly out of sight or a wildflower meadow or if you have a butterfly bed that isn't specifically for decoration. There are milkweeds that provide food for monarchs that are more decorative IMO as RyseRyse mentioned, like butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa. In the link below, there are some nice photos from Mulchmama and Terrene of butterfly weed. In addition to the regular orange and the yellow selections in their photos, there are also some deeper red (on the orange side of red) selections. If you want a more decorative milkweed in the pink to white range, check out Asclepias incarnata, swamp milkweed, which doesn't need to be in a swamp, but does need consistent moisture. It has a somewhat more delicate aspect than A. speciosa and can get somewhat taller. Here is a link that might be useful: milkweed discussion

Randy, I'd love to have some, too. I have several species I've planted, so can send you some seeds in fall. I know for sure that my A. asperula is up (2 plants). This is also commonly called Antelope Horns. It is native to Oklahoma, as are the other species I'm growing. You'd probably have about as good a luck just tossing them out in the field. The seeds I grew didn't seem to like the potting soil very well. Once I got them in the ground, they took off like a house afire. I will have A. syriaca (common), A. viridiflora (green milkweed), A. incarnata (Swamp--heehee, we can really use that now!); A. verticillata (whorled milkweed), and A. purpurescens (purple milkweed). You're too kind! I hope we have increased the desire in other Oklahomans to grow milkweed and enjoy these beautiful butterflies. Seen anymore moths, lately? Are you raising the Walnut Sphinx? I keep checking my saplings (some are about 5' tall) in hopes of finding one. I also check the Elderberry to see if I ever get a Cecropia. Susan

"COULD WE LOSE THE MONARCH MIGRATION IN OUR LIFETIME? YES Monarchs need your help NOW! This year AGAIN marks the lowest number of over wintering Monarchs in the Mexican mountains in the last 20 years...and we have only known about their over wintering sites for a little more than 20 years!. There are 97% fewer than at their recorded height and 50% less than there were last year. This is a back to back 50% decline in their overwintering numbers. Researchers are worried we may lose a large part of their migration this year if immediate action is not taken and severely threaten all Monarchs if the pattern continues. This is a crisis situation! In 1991, over 75% of the wintering Monarchs from North America froze to death in Mexico as a result of three days of rain and sub-freezing conditions. Their numbers showed some recovery but now there is a nationwide shortage of milkweed. Freak weather patterns destroy habitat and kill millions of helpless Monarchs. But these natural events are not the only challenges that face the Monarch. Widespread pesticide application and genetically modified crops cover important parts of the Monarch's migratory path and serve as killing fields for any Monarchs that pass through these millions of acres of toxins and biological agents that kill them and their young. They are unintended casualties in a war to protect crops. Are our Monarchs worth our efforts to protect? Do we even know the total effects on our environment from the use of these agents? Monarchs and Milkweed are obvious signs that we need to take action to protect our environment. They show us the fragility and interconnectedness of our world and that the actions of some can have impacts on all of us. We are all part of the problem through the global effort to harness and control Nature in the search for profit. We must research the origins of all our wants and needs to ensure that the products and organizations we support are a true benefit and not a source of misery to the resources used to create them. Our choice to know the source of our purchases gives us the real power to decide what types of people we support and together control over the manner of production used. Please promote the opening of information so that we can make informed choices and change the world with every one. The Monarch habitat must be protected now to ensure their survival, before we see the day when this miracle of nature is only a memory. The Monarchs need your help NOW. Please plant seeds and help to ensure their survival. A Milkweed in every yard! You have the power to instantly change the world ! Plant a seed today and change your backyard." Very good cause. I will be ordering seeds for my region. Thanks for posting! A link that might be useful: www.livemonarch.com/free-milkweed-seeds.htm

They've been offered for years...just not in prominent places. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with probably only incarnata being a happy perennial milkweed with my new house. It's too wet for anything else (esp while dormant)...and probably too dry to keep perennis happy in summer unless i watered it frequently (no experience with perennis though...anyone?).