I will be honest with you. I don’t like Narrowleaf Milkweed. It’s a great plant for habitat, it’s a great plant for Monarchs (OK, literally its the ONLY plant for Monarchs) but from a fancy pants designer perspective, I just… don’t really like the way it looks. I still plant Narrowleaf Milkweed in every yard I design, and there’s eight Narrowleaf Milkweeds in my front yard, east of the Toyon, but I like them as background or hidden plants, quietly saving the Monarchs from extinction.

Woollypod Milkweed, on the other hand, I DO REALLY LIKE as a Milkweed. It supports Monarchs just like Narrowleaf Milkweed but I think it’s better looking. It’s leaves are fun to touch, they’re big and droopy and expressive, the flowerheads on this plant are HUGE. Woollypod milkweed is local to the Burbank/Pasadena area, so while this plant is out of its range in my yard, it’s far more local than say, the Bush Anemone. Plant this Milkweed if you want to feature Monarch butterflies along pathways, like I have. Expect this plant to form a colony over time; I found some growing in the middle of the driveway and the pathway, and when I dug it up, they were from rhizomes and not from seed, so it does spread. But I don’t mind it spreading because I think it’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s beautiful, it’s flowers smell like vanilla, and it supports biodiversity. Maybe it’s a sin to be planting this in the coastal area but hopefully it’s just a small one.

Calscape