DNR Announces Milkweed As 2025 Plant Species Of The Year

DNR Announces Milkweed As 2025
Plant Species Of The Year

Wisconsin is home to 13 species of native milkweed, and five of these are considered rare. Adding a common species, like swamp milkweed, to your home garden can help pollinators. 

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announces milkweed as the Rare Plant Monitoring Program’s 2025 Plant of the Year and encourages planting milkweed to help monarchs.

Milkweed is an important plant for monarch butterflies and a beautiful addition to any home garden. When combined with a few native plants that bloom throughout the spring and summer, your garden can support an even wider variety of pollinators.

Of the 13 native milkweed in Wisconsin, five are listed as endangered, threatened or special concern. Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is the state’s only nonnative milkweed.

“Monarch butterflies face several major threats, including habitat loss, pesticides and climate change,” said Jay Watson, DNR insect ecologist. “Planting milkweed can help create habitat for monarchs, other butterflies and bumble bees.”

Monarchs breed in Wisconsin throughout the spring and summer, and they need milkweed to survive. It’s the only plant that monarchs lay their eggs on, and it’s the only food that monarch caterpillars eat. Once a monarch reaches adulthood, they may still use milkweed for nectar, but a variety of native plants that bloom from spring to fall are also important.

In late fall, monarchs migrate south to Mexico, where they overwinter in tight clusters. Each year, scientists estimate monarch populations by how much space they occupy, measured in hectares, while overwintering. While 2024-2025 numbers found 1.79 hectares up from .99 hectares the prior season, both are part of a decades-long decline in their population.

The Rare Plant Monitoring Program is a group of trained volunteers who work with the DNR to locate, record and update the presence of rare plants throughout the state. The plant of the year becomes a focus for volunteers who can request rare milkweed surveys and contribute to a statewide status update on these species.

To find native milkweed plants near you, visit the lists of native plant sales and native plant nurseries around the state on our Native Plants webpage.

Learn more about the Rare Plant Monitoring Program in the 2024 report.