I have milkweed in my garden. It's not the orange butterfly weed, or one of the white-flowered hybrids. It's plain old common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca.
It showed up a few years ago from some wind-blown seeds, first in a perennial garden, then in a border against the house, then in a strip of daylilies. It grows tall and gangly and looks a bit out of place amid the shorter daylilies. When it flowers, the tiny dark pink pearl-like buds pop open into pale pink flower heads. They smell good, and butterflies flock to the plant.
Milkweed got its Latin name for the Greek god of healing because the plant had medicinal uses. But the milky sap is toxic in some milkweed varieties, and not everyone likes it. The New York Times had a story last week on the decline of milkweed in rural areas, partly because of the increasing use of genetically modified crops. You can read the story here:

www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/science/12butterfly.html


In Edina, the city's new public works building features a rain garden with impressive stands of swamp milkweed. But the native plantings around the building have stirred controversy, partly because native grasses that are supposed to cut maintenance on the site haven't filled in as fast as some people would like.
That story is here:

www.startribune.com/local/west/125276579.html


Goldenrod is another much-maligned native plant. Contrary to common belief, it does not cause allergies. And it's a magnet for tiny beneficial wasps and flies that attack bad bugs in the garden. Mine has self-seeded throughout my big perennial border and some of those seedlings are far bigger and shaggier than the parent plant.
What I don't want, I tear out. But for me, sacrificing aesthetics for a little spontaneity in the garden that attracts butterflies and other native species is worth it.

What do you think?