One of the Wild Prairie Seeds we’ll be offering soon will be Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. In doing so, we’ll be helping you re-build the Monarch butterfly’s habitat. Asclepias foliage is THE singular food source for hungry Monarch larvae (juvenile Monarchs) that will eventually become Monarch butterflies. As the essential life-cycle plant for the stunning Monarch (think Monarch maternity ward), this strong, upright, easy-to-grow, perennial plant reaches about 40 inches tall with 4-inch clusters of rosy pink, fragrant, star-shaped blooms, also an abundant source of pollen and nectar for hummingbirds, bees, and other beneficial insects. Showy Milkweed is a native flower in central and western US and Canada, zones 3 through 9. Showy Milkweed is durable, adaptable, drought tolerant, and not a favorite of deer, although we’ve seen the occasional deer nibble on a handful of our plants, but never to the point of destroying the plant, also called “Deer Resistant” in the plant nursery world. It seems as if they take a bite, find it undesirable, and walk away.