currents. Cultivation A. incarnata is cultivated frequently, and a number of cultivars are available. They are used especially in gardens designed to attract butterflies (see Butterfly gardening). The nectar of the plant attracts many other species of insect as well. The plants are also sold as freshly cut flowers, mostly for their long-lasting flower display, but sometimes, for the distinctive follicles. Monarch Watch provides information on rearing monarchs and their host plants. Efforts to increase monarch butterfly populations by establishing butterfly gardens and monarch migratory "waystations" require particular attention to the target species' food preferences and population cycles, as well to the conditions needed to propagate and maintain their food plants. The seeds of some milkweeds need periods of cold treatment (cold stratification) before they will germinate. To protect seeds from washing away during heavy rains and from seed–eating birds, one can cover the seeds with a light fabric or with an layer of straw mulch. However, mulch acts as an insulator. Thicker layers of mulch can prevent seeds from germinating if they prevent soil temperatures from rising enough when winter ends. Further, few seedlings can push through a thick layer of mulch. Breeding monarchs prefer to lay eggs on A. incarnata. The species is therefore often planted in butterfly gardens and "Monarch Waystations" to help sustain monarch butterfly populations. However, A. incarnata is an early successional plant that usually grows at the margins of wetlands and in seasonally flooded areas. The plant is slow to spread via seeds, does not spread by runners and tends to disappear as vegetative densities increase and habitats dry out. Although A. incarnata plants can survive for up to 20 years, most live only two-five years in gardens. The species is not shade-tolerant and is not a good vegetative competitor. Images References External links Asclepias incarnata at Evergreen native plant database. incarnata Butterfly food plants Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Garden plants of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus