Milkweed and Monarch...

...being the name of this poem by Paul Muldoon. From Dispositive, via Crescat Sententia.

The poem's not really about monarch butterflies or Asclepias plants, but hey--it's February--anything that turns my thoughts in that direction is more than welcome. My first-grader and I have a deal--he wants an Asclepias planted in the garden for his birthday (late April), with the hope of attracting monarch butterflies (and, more importantly, the wondrous monarch caterpillar). A clay-friendly cultivar of Asclepias tuberosa is on order, and I'll be starting some seeds of Asclepias curassavica later in the season. Check out this site for a list of the various Asclepias species that monarchs and monarch relatives find especially nosh-worthy.