More than your common milkweed is native in Illinois
I don't think I need to explain this process to most however, to catch everyone up a butterfly life cycle is: egg > caterpillar > chrysalis > butterfly Milkweed. Native to the USA. This is not just the Monarch caterpillar's favorite food. It is the only food for them. They will only eat plants that are of the milkweed family. This is not a situation unique to the Monarch caterpillar. Certain bugs and critters will only eat certain plants that developed in the same area as them over millions of years of existence. Unfortunately, our tendency to want to control the land and tame the landscape has resulted in humans unearthing plants native to the area and putting down grass seed and exotic plants to imitate English landscape gardens. Exotics (Any plant that is not native to the area you are planting it) are interesting to people and well... exotic. They are not native to the area and therefore, stand out against the backdrop of the na...