Popular common name:
Utah milkweed
Botanical Nomenclature:
Asclepias labriformis
Asclepias labriformis, commonly known as Utah milkweed, is an exceptional native plant that plays a vital role in the restoration of Utah's unique ecosystems. Endemic to the region, it thrives in dry creeks and alluvial soils, making it an ideal choice for stabilizing and revitalizing these areas. With its striking foliage and clusters of delicate flowers, Asclepias labriformis enhances the visual appeal of the landscape while providing essential habitat and nourishment for a variety of pollinators and beneficial insects. Incorporating Utah milkweed into restoration projects can improve soil health, promote biodiversity, and support the overall resilience of local ecosystems. Its adaptability to arid environments further ensures that it can thrive despite climate variability, making it a valuable asset in efforts to restore and sustain the natural beauty and ecological integrity of Utah's landscapes.
Unique Attributes of
Asclepias labriformis
1 Flower Color
Cream, Yellow, Green
2 Plant Height
2-3 feet
3 USDA Zones
4b-9a
4 Bloom Timing
May, June, July August
5 Light Preference
Full Sun, Part Sun
6 Soil Moisture
Cosnsistant Subsurface Moisture
7 Soil Substraite
Aluvival Slopes, Dry Creek Bottoms
8 Ecoregion I/II
9 Soil Moisture
Cosnsistant Subsurface Moisture
10 Difficulty Rank
🟡 Moderate
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Little Monarchs
by Jonathan Case
A ten-year-old girl may be the only person who can save humanity from extinction in this exciting graphic novel adventure.
It’s been fifty years since a sun shift wiped out nearly all mammal life across the earth.
Towns and cities are abandoned relics, autonomous machines maintain roadways, and the world is slowly being reclaimed by nature. Isolated pockets of survivors keep to themselves in underground sites, hiding from the lethal sunlight by day and coming above ground at night.
10-year-old Elvie and her caretaker, Flora, a biologist, are the only two humans who can survive during daylight because Flora made an incredible discovery – a way to make an antidote to sun sickness using the scales from monarch butterfly wings. Unfortunately, it can only be made in small quantities and has a short shelf life.
Free to travel during the day, Elvie and Flora follow monarchs as they migrate across the former Western United States, constantly making new medicine for themselves while trying to find a way to make a vaccine they can share with everyone. Will they discover a way to go from a treatment to a cure and preserve what remains of humanity, or will their efforts be thwarted by disaster and the very people they are trying to save?
Little Monarchs is a new kind of graphic novel adventure—one that invites readers to take an intimate look at the natural world and the secrets hidden within. Elvie and Flora’s adventures take place in real locations marked panel-by-panel with coordinates and a compass heading. Curious readers can follow their travel routes and see the same landscapes—whether it be a secluded butterfly grove on the California coast or a hot-springs in the high desert. Through both comic narrative and journal entries, readers learn the basics of star navigation, how to tie useful knots, and other survival skills applicable in the natural world.
Creator Jonathan Case acquired the fact-based portion of Little Monarchs through intensive research and several expeditions to study monarchs across the western United States. Scientific support also came from the Xerces Society, the world leaders in monarch preservation.