With each passing year, more Georgia gardeners are planting milkweeds in hopes their efforts will bolster the dwindling monarch butterfly population. The University of Georgia’s Cooperative Extension Program recommends we do not plant the common milkweed in our gardens (Asclepias syriaca) in the state.
This reason they want us to defer from planting this particular milkweed is it is not native to Georgia. This recommendation is based on the fear that this milkweed could potentially become invasive and usurp habitats currently occupied by Georgia’s native milkweeds and other wild plants.
Common milkweed is native to many parts of the U.S. There is such a huge lack of milk weed in Georgia, in my opinion, any concern about planting common milkweed would be greatly outweighed by its benefits as providing host plants for monarchs. On the other hand, the concern about growing tropical milkweed is certainly an issue, particularly in those areas of south GA where tropical milkweed plants may not die back to the root in winter.
Ted,
I understand your feelings regarding the matter. It is my understanding that some folks say it is native to Georgia. Who knows? I am sure that if evidence proves it is here, perhaps the UGA will change its stance.