NGB declares 2025 Year of the Asclepias
Each year, the National Garden Bureau (NGB) designates specific crops to honor and promote at all levels of the industry. As part of its “Year of” program, the organization selects one annual, perennial, bulb crop, edible, houseplant and shrub — and offers downloadable literature, presentations and graphics that industry members can share.
NGB has declared the Asclepias as its featured perennial for 2025. To learn more about this crop category, I reached out to some industry experts for their insights into Asclepias development, production and sales successes.
Joining me in this conversation are: Diane Blazek, National Garden Bureau; Nancy DuBrule-Clemente and Diane St. John, Natureworks; Donald Gerber, Pollinatives; and Jessica Romer, Applewood Seed Co.
Lawn & Garden Retailer: We are big supporters of the NGB’s “Year of the” program, and we look forward to finding out which crops are selected each year. Why do you think Asclepias was chosen for 2025?
Diane Blazek: I think it’s because of the interest in natives and the interest in assisting the declining population of monarch butterflies. They go hand in hand, and this program is meant to inspire home gardeners to use this genera, with good reason!
Nancy DuBrule-Clemente and Diane St. John: We both have heard of it, but are not that familiar with it. Asclepias is known by so many as the larval food plant of monarch butterflies. Monarch butterflies are in danger of disappearing some day and one reason is lack of Asclepias.
Donald Gerber: I am not familiar with the NGB “Year of” program, but I am new to the industry and we are a specialized, niche native plant business that would not carry many of the previously featured plants. I expect that it was selected at least in part due to skyrocketing consumer demand. Media coverage of monarch butterflies and pollinators in general has really shined a light on milkweed species.
Jessica Romer: We are seeing increased interest in native plants among consumers, combined with growing awareness about declining monarch populations; this makes Asclepias a great and timely genus to highlight! Since the 1990s, monarch populations have declined anywhere from 80% to 95% depending on the population and overwintering area. Monarchs are currently under consideration by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be listed under the Endangered Species Act, with a decision expected in December, so this is a critical moment for monarchs and, therefore, Asclepias as a required host plant for monarch caterpillars. The loss of milkweed habitat is considered to be a significant factor in monarch decline. Other insects benefit as well from the nectar and shelter provided by Asclepias spp. including bees, wasps, flies, several beetles, other butterflies beyond monarchs — and hummingbirds, too!
L&GR: What are your personal favorite attributes of Asclepias? What makes it appealing?
Blazek: As always with our “Year of” program, I love learning about all the unique types and cultivars of a plant. Asclepias is no exception. We worked with our member Applewood Seed, who is an expert on native and wildflower seeds. They provided a great education, including which types of milkweed to use in various regions.
DuBrule-Clemente and St. John: We love it because it is the larval food plant of monarchs. Common milkweed is very fragrant. Orange butterfly weed is a really good perennial garden plant for full sun and well-drained soil. Swamp milkweed is especially useful for partial shade. All of the Asclepias species are also really good nectar flowers. Asclepias is a great teaching plant, showing people how butterfly lifecycles work. It also demonstrated how important organic growing methods are because any Asclepias treated with any pesticides will kill the caterpillars.
Gerber: I think that Asclepias have really pretty flowers in a wide range of colors. Besides being a host plant for the famous monarch butterfly and various other butterflies and moths, it’s also a terrific nectar plant for all species of nectaring insects. In fact, the primary pollinator for several Asclepias species here in Texas is the tarantula hawk wasp. It’s an enormous wasp that has the power to pull the pollinia from the flowers and transport them to another plant. Truly fascinating — and a bit scary to watch up close.
Romer: For anyone seeing a milkweed pod opening for the first time, it is a wonder to the eye! Pods are filled with seeds and floss, a light silky hollow material that helps the seeds spread through wind dispersal. When the mature pods split open, the seeds and floss burst into a perfectly geometrical array, reminding us of the wonders of nature, and providing much interest to homeowners growing these plants. The waxy-coated floss presents challenges when cleaning seed, but it is so plentiful that it was used in life preservers during WWII and more currently as a hypoallergenic filling for pillows.
L&GR: Have you seen any changes or breeding innovations in Asclepias in recent years?
DuBrule-Clemente and St. John: A bit, but most people who shop at Natureworks want the straight species. Period. It is the Tallamy effect.
Gerber: We have started to see some of the cultivars that are mentioned in the NGB writeup. As a native plant specialty retailer, our customers tend to avoid cultivars and we do not sell any.
Romer: While we don’t have a breeding program for Asclepias, we are proud to produce five of the 72 milkweed species native to the U.S. and Canada, with additional species under consideration for future production. It is important to us that customers have options for native species in their specific region.
L&GR: Does the production or sale of Asclepias present any challenges for growers or retailers?
Blazek: Knowing the right Asclepias for their region and/or the right Asclepias for the home gardener’s purpose.
DuBrule-Clemente and St. John: Yes. The plants get really ugly as they age. They are covered with aphids, sooty mold and different insects that are native but perceived as bad or ugly, such as the red milkweed beetle and the red milkweed bug. Asclepias is essentially an ecosystem on a plant and requires a very different mindset by garden center workers and customers if you want it to perform the ecological function it is meant to perform!
Gerber: There are so many challenges. At least in our area (south Texas) the native Asclepias species can be very difficult to cultivate; most species are not able to be vegetatively propagated, and most seeds require cold moist stratification. Then if you do get it started, many species have deep root systems requiring a deeper container, and they don’t like to have their roots disturbed so you have to minimize transplanting. Add to that, it appears that Asclepias have important relationships with soil mycorrhizal fungi that we don’t yet understand. Assume you’ve overcome all of that and you have a nice plant, now you have to deal with the fact that Asclepias plants attract a lot of bugs, specifically oleander aphids and milkweed bugs. I know one commercial grower who no longer grows Asclepias just because of the aphid issue. Finally, they seem to be very sensitive to all types of change. We received an order of A. tuberosa from a grower 30 miles away, and experienced about 25% mortality after the order got here — not sure if it was related to sun, water or what. Customers also experience loss once they take them home and become frustrated with how difficult they can be.
Romer: Asclepias seeds are typically high in dormancy, meaning it can be challenging for seed and nursery growers alike who are unfamiliar with how to break the dormancy. The most common way to break dormancy is stratification either naturally by direct sowing in the fall, artificially in a refrigerator by moist stratification (4 to 6 weeks), or chemically with kinetin and gibberellic acid (not as economical as stratification methods). Yet another method to try would be gently nicking their coats with a pin or blade and storing them between moist paper filter paper at 40 °F for 1 to 2 weeks, then germinating in substrate at around 80 °F.
L&GR: How can growers capitalize on Asclepias?
Blazek: Use our fact sheets, logo, POP, posters and PowerPoint presentations! Make your lives easier to help educate your customers and consumers.
DuBrule-Clemente and St. John: As customers understand what is happening to the monarch, the demand for Asclepias will increase. Growing it organically will be a big challenge on a large scale.
Gerber: I think if growers can navigate the many challenges above, there is a great demand and limited supply. The plants command premium prices, so in my opinion it can make it worth the extra trouble to grow them. We have one wholesale plug supplier (Southwest Perennials) that is now growing seven species of Asclepias. They have the advantage of being 100% indoors and the small plants are less attractive to bugs. We are going to experiment with selling the plugs directly to consumers this year.
Romer: The monarch butterfly is one of the most recognized pollinators, and with consumers eager for native and pollinator-friendly plants, growers can focus on marketing and promoting Asclepias in garden centers. It is a great opportunity for growers to add to their production lines and provide customers with options to support their local pollinator populations.
L&GR: What makes Asclepias appealing at the consumer level, and how has that changed over the past few years?
DuBrule-Clemente and St. John: Monarch awareness and native plant awareness has changed the consumer’s opinion of milkweed. Orange butterfly weed was always accepted as a garden flower. Common milkweed can be such a vigorous spreader that growers should be sure their customers know the habits of the different Asclepias species so they can match the species with the homeowner’s needs. Milkweed isn’t considered a weed for nothing!
Gerber: I think that consumers initially learned about Asclepias from the many organizations focusing on the monarch butterfly population. People started planting milkweed and rearing monarchs at home. This led to a proliferation of A. curassavica in the trade, as it was easy and fast growing. Over the past few years, more information has come out describing the possible downsides of A. curassavica, so now consumers are looking for their locally native milkweed species, which are harder to find for sale.
Romer: I think consumers are increasingly more open-minded about what types of plants are considered ornamental and acceptable for their home gardens, including more wild-appearing natives. This is fueled by the desire for more purposeful landscape usage. Asclepias spp. fit nicely into this trend having noteworthy and ornamental flowers and significant ecological benefits.
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