09/03/2026
🦋 MONARCHS IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
One of the most recognizable visitors to the garden — the monarch butterfly. 🧡 Here in Southeast Texas, we're in an incredibly important location along their migration route, and October is when we really get to watch the magic happen as monarchs make their way south toward Mexico.
And that's an important distinction: we want them moving through — not sticking around all year.
You may see beautiful photos of monarchs in Southeast Texas gardens during other times of the year, especially during the summer, but seeing a monarch doesn't necessarily mean we're helping monarchs.
Those summer butterflies may be part of a non-migratory resident population — something we don't want to encourage here. Our goal shouldn't be to keep monarchs in our gardens year-round; it should be to support their natural life cycle and migration.
Sometimes the most beautiful thing we can do for a monarch isn't convince it to stay — it's help it continue its journey. 🦋
🌿 THIS IS WHERE MILKWEED MATTERS.
Milkw**d is the only host plant monarch caterpillars can eat, but that doesn't mean every milkw**d is equally appropriate for our gardens.
I strongly encourage planting native milkw**d species rather than tropical milkw**d.
Native milkw**ds evolved with monarchs and the seasonal conditions of our region. They naturally grow, bloom and go dormant according to our climate — helping keep the monarch life cycle connected to the seasons.
Some native milkw**ds appropriate to our region include:
• Swamp milkw**d (Asclepias incarnata)
• Aquatic milkw**d (Asclepias perennis)
• Green milkw**d (Asclepias viridis)
• Antelope horns (Asclepias asperula)
• Butterfly w**d (Asclepias tuberosa)
Several of these are actually pictured in this post from my own garden over the years, including swamp milkw**d, Arizona milkw**d and the bright orange butterfly w**d (Asclepias tuberosa) — that's the one with the giant praying mantis hanging out on the flowers. 🌿
📸 All of the photos shared here were taken in my own garden over the years — a little look back at where my love of growing flowers first began. 🦋🌿
🚫 BE CAREFUL WHEN BUYING MILKWEED
This is something I really want people to know: just because a nursery sells a milkw**d doesn't mean it's native to our area.
Many regular garden centers and nurseries sell tropical milkw**d. Nurseries that specialize in Texas native plants are generally a better place to look for true native species.
And don't rely only on the common name printed on the sign or tag.
Tropical milkw**d can be sold under different common names or cultivar names, so check the Latin name. The species you're looking to avoid is:
🌿 Asclepias curassavica — tropical milkw**d
If the tag says Asclepias curassavica, it's tropical milkw**d regardless of what common name is printed above it.
Learning to check the botanical name is one of the easiest ways to know what you're actually bringing home.
🚫 SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH TROPICAL MILKWEED?
Tropical milkw**d (Asclepias curassavica) is native to tropical portions of the Americas and is not native to Southeast Texas.
Unlike our native milkw**ds, tropical milkw**d can remain green and available much longer in our warm climate. That can encourage monarchs to continue breeding instead of migrating.
You may have heard the advice to simply cut tropical milkw**d back during the year. Cutting it back can help reduce disease buildup, particularly the monarch parasite OE, but it doesn't turn tropical milkw**d into a native plant or eliminate all of the concerns surrounding its use.
Research has also raised concerns about the different concentrations of cardenolides — naturally occurring chemicals in milkw**d — in tropical milkw**d and how they may influence monarch biology and migratory behavior.
For my garden, the answer is simple:
🌱 Native milkw**d is always the better choice.
Native plants evolved as part of our local ecosystem. They provide our insects and wildlife with plants that follow the natural rhythms of this region rather than introducing a plant from a different climate.
And milkw**d isn't only about monarchs.
When you plant native milkw**d, you're planting an entire little ecosystem. I've watched aphids arrive, predators follow, caterpillars grow, pollinators feed on the flowers and an incredible amount of life happen on just a few plants.
And actually, butterfly gardening is where my entire flower-growing story started. 🦋
Long before I was growing flowers to cut and arrange, I was growing plants for butterflies and other pollinators. That love of growing flowers eventually led me into cut flowers — and ultimately to what you see today with Meg's Backyard Blooms. 🌸
So while my garden looks a little different these days, butterflies will always be part of the reason I fell in love with growing flowers in the first place.
This fall, when you see that flash of orange floating through the garden, enjoy it. Give them nectar-rich flowers for fuel. Plant native milkw**d for the next generation.
This October, when you start to see them begin moving through Southeast Texas, I hope you'll look at them a little differently.
🦋 Watch them stop to refuel on our flowers, appreciate the incredible journey they're making, and know that a butterfly garden doesn't need to keep monarchs year-round to be a successful butterfly garden.
Sometimes being a good gardener means understanding when a visitor is supposed to visit — and when it's supposed to keep going. 🧡
🦋🌿 AND THERE'S MORE COMING...
If you'd like to create a garden that supports butterflies here in Southeast Texas, I'm working on something just for you.
My Butterfly Garden Guide will be coming this fall, with more about host plants, nectar plants and creating a garden that supports our local butterflies throughout their life cycles.
Stay tuned. 🦋🌸
