6-17-2024 8:43am

Park Commission Giving Away Milkweed Plants at Leonard J. Buck Garden

Donnella Tilery Editor

FAR HILLS, NJ – Get free milkweed plants for your garden at the “Milkweed for Monarch Giveaway” beginning Wednesday, June 26, at 10 a.m. The event will take place at the Somerset County Park Commission’s Leonard J. Buck Garden, located on 11 Layton Road, Far Hills, NJ. Each household can receive a maximum of four plants (two of each species), which include swamp milkweed and butterfly weed. Plants will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and while supplies last.

Milkweed Protects the Monarch Butterfly Population

Planting milkweeds in gardens helps protect the monarch butterfly, which is an endangered species. Milkweeds serve as breeding habitats for monarchs and provide a valuable nectar source for other species of butterflies, bees and insects beneficial to the environment.

The absence of milkweed affects the monarch’s reproductive chain because milkweed is the only plant where monarchs will lay their eggs. After the monarch’s eggs hatch into caterpillars, they eat the milkweed’s leaves, which help them grow into a new generation of monarch butterflies.

Perennials
Milkweed plants are perennials, so with proper care and the right weather conditions the plants will rebloom during the next spring and summer seasons.

For more information, call 908-722-1200, ext. 5621, or visit www.somersetcountyparks.org.

About Leonard J. Buck Garden
Leonard J. Buck Garden is considered one of the premier rock gardens in the eastern United States. The land consists of a series of alpine and woodland gardens situated in a 33-acre valley with woods and a stream. The garden, which has reached a breathtaking point of maturity, was developed by Leonard J. Buck in the late 1930s and was donated to the Somerset County Park Commission in 1976 by Mrs. Helen Buck.