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The Milkweed Lands: An Epic Story of One Plant: Its Nature and Ecology
Delve into this fascinating appreciation of milkweed, an often-overlooked plant, and discover an amazing range of insects and organisms that depend on it as the seasons unfold, with this collaboration between a noted ecologist and an award-winning botanical illustrator. Ecologist Eric Lee-Mäde r and noted botanical artist Beverly Duncan have teamed up to create this unique exploration of the complex ecosystem that is supported by the remarkable milkweed plant, often over-looked or dismissed as a roadside weed. With stunning, up-close illustrations and engaging text, they trace every stage of the plant's changes and evolutions throughout the seasons, including germination, growth, flowering, and seed development. Simultaneously, they chronicle the lives of the many creatures whose lives are intertwined with the monarch butterflies; soldier and queen butterflies; milkweed tussock moths; large and small milkweed bugs; milkweed weevils; bumble bees; goldfinches; and more. The delightful illustrations and illuminating text give the reader the feeling of browsing an avid naturalist's sketchbook, while also learning about different milkweed species, how to propagate milkweed in the garden, the industrial uses of milkweed, interesting milkweed relatives, and more.
120 pages, Hardcover
Published September 26, 2023
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823 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
February 11, 2024
This book is a wonderful ode to milkweed. And it will find a permanent place in my collection.
It is a field guide in itself. There are detailed illustrations of many types of the plant, what lives, on it, and all of the life it supports.
It also gave me good memories of milkweed seed collecting and all of my friends near and far who I have shared this with.
Native landscaping is important and this book can be a good start to that endeavour.
It is a field guide in itself. There are detailed illustrations of many types of the plant, what lives, on it, and all of the life it supports.
It also gave me good memories of milkweed seed collecting and all of my friends near and far who I have shared this with.
Native landscaping is important and this book can be a good start to that endeavour.
October 28, 2023
I recently attended a birthday party at a house newly landscaped with different milkweeds and native plants in its front yard. Monarch butterflies greeted arriving guests and showed us the way to the party. Many of us hear milkweed mentioned in the same breath as Monarchs, but little did I know what a party those milkweed plants host for so many different organisms and ecosystems!
After reading this book, I know quite a bit more and am inspired to plant milkweeds in my own front yard. The contents are an overview of milkweeds through the four seasons paired with beautiful scientific illustrations. The writing touches on science, history, memoir, and hope for the future.
This book would be an informative and inspiring gift for any ecologically minded person in your life, even a child (maybe 8 and up). I wish it had been published before the birthday party at the suburban milkweed haven, because it would have made the perfect gift!
I received an advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley and Storey Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
After reading this book, I know quite a bit more and am inspired to plant milkweeds in my own front yard. The contents are an overview of milkweeds through the four seasons paired with beautiful scientific illustrations. The writing touches on science, history, memoir, and hope for the future.
This book would be an informative and inspiring gift for any ecologically minded person in your life, even a child (maybe 8 and up). I wish it had been published before the birthday party at the suburban milkweed haven, because it would have made the perfect gift!
I received an advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley and Storey Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
August 27, 2024
I wept at the end of this book, a rarity for me when reading non-fiction. But the milkweed plant is just so resilient!!! Look at it popping up in roadside ditches and abandoned parking lots!! The prairie is alive!! One time a shark swam to Illinois!!
Only thing I disliked about this book was the complete lack of citations... Not a single footnote to be found??
Only thing I disliked about this book was the complete lack of citations... Not a single footnote to be found??
April 28, 2023
I’ve read a fair few nature books but I’ve never read anything quite like this. As the title proclaims, this is not about milkweed alone, but ‘milkweed lands’. The milkweed is a starting point and a point to which we keep returning while meandering past the various habitats and creatures across North America. This simple and prolific plant is used to tell a much bigger story, considering not just the natural world, but the history of America and the places of its people today, the ecological and nature writing blended with personal essays.
The writing is simple but enchanting and melodic, and I found myself rereading each paragraph several times. This book is a paean to a single plant - “humble and handsome milkweed, with its multitude of lost titles” - and, by extension, to the natural world. Lee-Mader approaches the milkweed with reverence and wonder. When discussing efforts to eradicate milkweed, he describes it as “gorgeous, minimally toxic, [and] native”. Even when he refers to milkweed’s “feral populations”, his tone is one of love.
His attitude is one of care to the flora and fauna around us, expressed to us by focusing on a single plant: when discussing weeds, he describes the word’s original meaning as “speak[ing] of meadows themselves, places of pastures and wildflowers, places of life.” We are encouraged to notice the minutiae of life around us: the milkweed itself, but also those wholly or partially dependent on it, like the monarch butterfly and the white-footed mouse, and those who live around it, including fly larvae, fungi and bacteria - “beautiful, fragile” things “mostly either ignored or maligned” who “lead interesting, secretive lives”. What others have criticised as “Tumblr blog post writing,” I found to be the writings of someone deeply entranced with and in love with the natural world, who wanted to share the simple, everyday magic he sees around him. He wonders if insects in “stationary torpor” during the winter “are dreaming of summer”. We are encouraged to change the way we see humanity’s place amongst the natural world. At times, the loosely linked short essays can seem a little disjointed, but I think this expresses the author’s excitement about milkweeds and the vast worlds they represent, their shortness encouraging the reader to research further.
The reasons behind Lee-Mader’s love of milkweed become apparent as the book progresses. Not only is he a passionate ecologist, but he grew up “as a child of poverty” in precisely the rundown American environments in which milkweed thrives, playing in the “old dumping ground used by the town road crew… a place of box elders, thistles, and common milkweed amid piles of heaped concrete slabs, jagged in shape and halfway embedded in the ground.” At other times, he played amongst the braided tributaries of the Mississippi River and “discover[ed] beautiful, otherworldly fish in the toxic waters, amid the regal glory of summer swamp milkweed… a kind of Technicolor childhood experience, a secret church of mud, butterflies, and pink flowers.” The reader gets the sense that he feels an affinity to swamp milkweed, a “muck plant”, as he writes that he, too, “lived out much of [his] childhood in mucky places”. The “gritty, perverse perseverance” the author attributes to milkweeds and other “ditch weeds” could also apply to him. He later describes the fish known as “rough fish… the equivalent of ditch weeds” as “survivors” of a hostile environment, another description which could apply to him, too.
Rather than outgrowing this environment and coming to dismiss it, however, Lee-Mader instead shares the love he learned to have for it. He tells us that “despite [milkweed’s] pedigree as ditch weeds… or odd botanical outcasts of harsh and dismal places, even the most commonplace milkweed flowers have a complexity comparable to that of rare orchids. They are among the most elaborate flowers in the plant kingdom.” Just as we shouldn’t dismiss ‘ditch weeds’, we shouldn’t dismiss the people living in these environments. Lee-Mader clearly remembers his origins and the company of the natural world he had there - “a half century on, I’ve managed to stumble with dumb luck into a better life for myself. Unfortunately, the milkweeds haven’t” - and now wants to share the beauty of these forgotten and dismissed places. As another person who grew up in poverty, this time on the other side of the Atlantic, this is something I have written about, too (https://moxymagazine.org/essay-the-ol...). Even when we move on to better places, we still get homesick from time to time. For Lee-Mader, at least he has the company of the ubiquitous milkweed wherever he goes across America. Just as the milkweed has followed Lee-Mader throughout his life, we now follow it through this book.
The book is, of course, also gorgeously illustrated. The illustrations are not only beautiful to look at, but genuinely aid understanding of the book’s text. Just when you think it would be useful to know what something looks like, you turn the page and there it is. The section on the structure of milkweed flowers, in particular, was absolutely fascinating, and highly aided by the illustrations. My only real criticism of the book is that the placement of some of the illustrations could have been better; but perhaps this placement will make more sense in the print version of the book.
Reading this also made me realise just how different America really is, in all aspects, from the UK, despite our apparent similarities.
I highly, highly recommend this book. It is a gorgeous, loving symphony, and, when so much nature writing abounds, it is something a little different, and a little more personal.
The writing is simple but enchanting and melodic, and I found myself rereading each paragraph several times. This book is a paean to a single plant - “humble and handsome milkweed, with its multitude of lost titles” - and, by extension, to the natural world. Lee-Mader approaches the milkweed with reverence and wonder. When discussing efforts to eradicate milkweed, he describes it as “gorgeous, minimally toxic, [and] native”. Even when he refers to milkweed’s “feral populations”, his tone is one of love.
His attitude is one of care to the flora and fauna around us, expressed to us by focusing on a single plant: when discussing weeds, he describes the word’s original meaning as “speak[ing] of meadows themselves, places of pastures and wildflowers, places of life.” We are encouraged to notice the minutiae of life around us: the milkweed itself, but also those wholly or partially dependent on it, like the monarch butterfly and the white-footed mouse, and those who live around it, including fly larvae, fungi and bacteria - “beautiful, fragile” things “mostly either ignored or maligned” who “lead interesting, secretive lives”. What others have criticised as “Tumblr blog post writing,” I found to be the writings of someone deeply entranced with and in love with the natural world, who wanted to share the simple, everyday magic he sees around him. He wonders if insects in “stationary torpor” during the winter “are dreaming of summer”. We are encouraged to change the way we see humanity’s place amongst the natural world. At times, the loosely linked short essays can seem a little disjointed, but I think this expresses the author’s excitement about milkweeds and the vast worlds they represent, their shortness encouraging the reader to research further.
The reasons behind Lee-Mader’s love of milkweed become apparent as the book progresses. Not only is he a passionate ecologist, but he grew up “as a child of poverty” in precisely the rundown American environments in which milkweed thrives, playing in the “old dumping ground used by the town road crew… a place of box elders, thistles, and common milkweed amid piles of heaped concrete slabs, jagged in shape and halfway embedded in the ground.” At other times, he played amongst the braided tributaries of the Mississippi River and “discover[ed] beautiful, otherworldly fish in the toxic waters, amid the regal glory of summer swamp milkweed… a kind of Technicolor childhood experience, a secret church of mud, butterflies, and pink flowers.” The reader gets the sense that he feels an affinity to swamp milkweed, a “muck plant”, as he writes that he, too, “lived out much of [his] childhood in mucky places”. The “gritty, perverse perseverance” the author attributes to milkweeds and other “ditch weeds” could also apply to him. He later describes the fish known as “rough fish… the equivalent of ditch weeds” as “survivors” of a hostile environment, another description which could apply to him, too.
Rather than outgrowing this environment and coming to dismiss it, however, Lee-Mader instead shares the love he learned to have for it. He tells us that “despite [milkweed’s] pedigree as ditch weeds… or odd botanical outcasts of harsh and dismal places, even the most commonplace milkweed flowers have a complexity comparable to that of rare orchids. They are among the most elaborate flowers in the plant kingdom.” Just as we shouldn’t dismiss ‘ditch weeds’, we shouldn’t dismiss the people living in these environments. Lee-Mader clearly remembers his origins and the company of the natural world he had there - “a half century on, I’ve managed to stumble with dumb luck into a better life for myself. Unfortunately, the milkweeds haven’t” - and now wants to share the beauty of these forgotten and dismissed places. As another person who grew up in poverty, this time on the other side of the Atlantic, this is something I have written about, too (https://moxymagazine.org/essay-the-ol...). Even when we move on to better places, we still get homesick from time to time. For Lee-Mader, at least he has the company of the ubiquitous milkweed wherever he goes across America. Just as the milkweed has followed Lee-Mader throughout his life, we now follow it through this book.
The book is, of course, also gorgeously illustrated. The illustrations are not only beautiful to look at, but genuinely aid understanding of the book’s text. Just when you think it would be useful to know what something looks like, you turn the page and there it is. The section on the structure of milkweed flowers, in particular, was absolutely fascinating, and highly aided by the illustrations. My only real criticism of the book is that the placement of some of the illustrations could have been better; but perhaps this placement will make more sense in the print version of the book.
Reading this also made me realise just how different America really is, in all aspects, from the UK, despite our apparent similarities.
I highly, highly recommend this book. It is a gorgeous, loving symphony, and, when so much nature writing abounds, it is something a little different, and a little more personal.
March 4, 2023
A book containing everything you have ever wanted to know about milkweeds and some things you didn’t know that you wanted to know too! Beautifully illustrated this book explores the life cycle and uses of the plant as well as the importance of the ecosystem and not destroying plants for the sake of extensive farming. While this book could have taken a sad angle at what has been lost it instead takes a hopeful one showing the versatility of this plant and that it can be possible to reverse some of the damage done. I especially liked learning about the uses of milkweed in the USA during the Second World War.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 22, 2023
Rating: two stars
*My thanks to NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review
This book is a gorgeously illustrated volume on Milkweed and its ecology. I simply cannot praise the illustrations enough, almost every other page was a delightful, engaging and accurate representation of the subject matter. The charming watercolors reminded me of a lot of books from my childhood, and maybe that made me nostalgic (?) but I stand by my assessment. Sadly, in spite of the excellent illustrations, the text itself was lackluster; being prone to unnecessary and unsupported digressions and never delved into the Milkweed, its history or ecology in depth.
This book is geared towards casual readers of ecology (such as myself), and accordingly the text was dumbed down quite a bit. However, more than one page read as a slightly glorified Instagram or Tumblr post, complete with vapid and insipid descriptions and analyses. I picked up this book expecting to learn about Milkweed and its ecology, not about the ‘plight’ and ‘malignment’ of the species. While this can be a valuable piece of information, the author never extended the discussion beyond casual emotional appeals and poorly executed argumentation. The usage of such language, while it most certainly could be justified, wasn’t, and appeared as little more than surface tribute to the verbiage of virtue signaling. As a successful fusion of good writing, ecology, environmental and social commentary, see Dr. Suzanne Simard’s excellent book Finding the Mother Tree.
Cross-posted on my blog
*My thanks to NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review
This book is a gorgeously illustrated volume on Milkweed and its ecology. I simply cannot praise the illustrations enough, almost every other page was a delightful, engaging and accurate representation of the subject matter. The charming watercolors reminded me of a lot of books from my childhood, and maybe that made me nostalgic (?) but I stand by my assessment. Sadly, in spite of the excellent illustrations, the text itself was lackluster; being prone to unnecessary and unsupported digressions and never delved into the Milkweed, its history or ecology in depth.
This book is geared towards casual readers of ecology (such as myself), and accordingly the text was dumbed down quite a bit. However, more than one page read as a slightly glorified Instagram or Tumblr post, complete with vapid and insipid descriptions and analyses. I picked up this book expecting to learn about Milkweed and its ecology, not about the ‘plight’ and ‘malignment’ of the species. While this can be a valuable piece of information, the author never extended the discussion beyond casual emotional appeals and poorly executed argumentation. The usage of such language, while it most certainly could be justified, wasn’t, and appeared as little more than surface tribute to the verbiage of virtue signaling. As a successful fusion of good writing, ecology, environmental and social commentary, see Dr. Suzanne Simard’s excellent book Finding the Mother Tree.
Cross-posted on my blog
April 2, 2023
I was charmed by this book which takes one group of plants and explores everything about its ecosystem - habitat, uses, pollinators, and so on.
As milkweed is a plant found mainly in the Midwest, it's not one that was familiar to me (although other members of the Apocynaceae/Dogbane family, such as Vinca Minor, are common in UK gardens).
Alongside the text are beautiful illustrations - of the plants, of the fascinating monarch butterfly, which feeds on milkweed, of the stunning cobalt milkweed beetle and much more.
*
I received a copy of The Milkweed Lands from the publisher via NetGalley.
As milkweed is a plant found mainly in the Midwest, it's not one that was familiar to me (although other members of the Apocynaceae/Dogbane family, such as Vinca Minor, are common in UK gardens).
Alongside the text are beautiful illustrations - of the plants, of the fascinating monarch butterfly, which feeds on milkweed, of the stunning cobalt milkweed beetle and much more.
*
I received a copy of The Milkweed Lands from the publisher via NetGalley.
April 19, 2023
This was a fun and easy to read book about the ecology of milkweeds! The author is a member of the Xerces Society so there’s a notable emphasis on insects which was fascinating as I don’t know a ton about them. The book addressed things like milkweed life cycles, insects that feed on milkweed and depend on it as a larval host, diseases that impact the plants, historical ranges and uses by humans, and conservation projects that have incorporated milkweed. Lovely little book with great illustrations as well!
May 22, 2024
It's a good book about Milkweed. It's not long. I can tell the author feels a bit jaded about life. It's sort of funny having life commentary in a book about Milkweed.
January 26, 2025
Loved the beautiful and hand drawn illustrations. It was like I was out in the field and seeing everything first hand. It reminded me of reading a nature journal. Great information presented and I loved how it showcased the milkweed . Very easy read and finished the book with a deeper appreciation and understanding of the plants that and creatures that make up the milkweed community.
January 31, 2025
The illustrations are stunning and I really enjoyed the positivity throughout. Milkweeds are such awesome plants and deserve to be highlighted beyond their association with monarchs, the book did a wonderful job at that
August 22, 2025
This is a lovely book, and one I would recommend to anyone interested in natural history. It’s a comprehensive look not at monarch butterflies but at the plant they need to survive. With the watercolor illustration, it feels a bit like a nature journal or a scientist’s sketchbook.
August 11, 2025
Beautiful illustrations, fascinating story of milkweed.
August 29, 2025
Ahh what a lovely book about plants.
September 16, 2024
Beautiful little guide to milkweed.
March 10, 2025
Please, please, please everyone read this book.
I have never had art and words convey science and philosophy so well!
I also appreciated the author’s respect and understanding of his Midwest roots. As someone who also grew up in the rural Midwest and moved west in adulthood, it resonated deeply.
Also, the art was absolutely breathtaking!! I want prints of every illustration!!
I have never had art and words convey science and philosophy so well!
I also appreciated the author’s respect and understanding of his Midwest roots. As someone who also grew up in the rural Midwest and moved west in adulthood, it resonated deeply.
Also, the art was absolutely breathtaking!! I want prints of every illustration!!
January 20, 2025
While it covers a wide range of topics, from springtail morphology and aphid shepherding to the rewilding of California’s Central Valley, nothing in this short novel feels out of place. The art is elegant and the writing both practical and a bit profound. One of my favorites: “Seeing these shelterbelts now, with noble tangles of native milkweed contained within them, is to see places full of wild exuberance. Perhaps not the nature we would have imagined, but the nature we have.”
July 17, 2023
First off, I made a good decision to read this on my iPad. Don't even attempt to read this on anything as old as a Kindle Paperwhite. The illustrations are both beautifying and an integral part of some of the story. Not being able to see the beautiful botanic diagrams and sketches of the life cycle of the plant, the variations in seed casing, or the effect of certain parasitic wasps on the milkweed aphid would be to lose half the content. Best of all, buy the paper copy.
The books sweeps through the impact of milkweed on the environment. And the farming environment's, especially of middle America and the plains of California, on the milkweed - and the rest of its ecosystem. Anyone sensitive to the pollution and toxic chemicals sprayed over vast areas of the country should wake up to the truth of the matter. Most farmers don't care.
Milkweed is one of the survivors, thanks in part to native plant enthusiasts like the author. He works with like-minded people to cultivate and reintroduce useful native species with a long history of providing health benefits. Hedgerow Farms (near that intensive farming desert of California) is one such organisation. It sounds like an oasis of ecosystem management for healthy and balanced growth.
Since I know very little about the ecosystems of Middle America, I found all this fascinating. I loved the way the author started in the winter, when the ground is mostly snowcovered for months. Who would have thought there was so much life below the blanket? He examined the different animals of all types that depend on this plant, despite its sap being toxic to most. It makes them toxic too, which is a handy way of warning off their predators. Some information he goes into in some detail, like the fate of the milkweed aphid, which is to be eaten from within by the parasitic wasp larva. There are several of examples of this in the UK, too. The approach is much used by gardeners to control slug and snail populations (a nematode, but same result.
The author also goes into detail about the peculiarities of the milkweed pollination system, which is very similar to that of orchids.
I found it a little uneven in its approach to its subjects, though. Some seemed to be dismissed with a mere mention, often when I would have liked to have known more, especially when talking about the Upper Mississippi area. This uneveness also applies to the voice: some is authoritative (and he obviously knows his stuff) but some seems to be addressing high school students. Maybe he is unsure who exactly will read his book?
It is also a quick read. Even though I paused to study most of the illustrations, although not necessarily those with just keys, I finished it in around two hours. Did the publisher think it would not keep our attention longer? I would happily have had a more detailed approach to many other aspects he glossed over. Maybe the publisher is sensitive to the nuances of the middle America reading public. I hope it at least finds a place in their libraries.
The books sweeps through the impact of milkweed on the environment. And the farming environment's, especially of middle America and the plains of California, on the milkweed - and the rest of its ecosystem. Anyone sensitive to the pollution and toxic chemicals sprayed over vast areas of the country should wake up to the truth of the matter. Most farmers don't care.
Milkweed is one of the survivors, thanks in part to native plant enthusiasts like the author. He works with like-minded people to cultivate and reintroduce useful native species with a long history of providing health benefits. Hedgerow Farms (near that intensive farming desert of California) is one such organisation. It sounds like an oasis of ecosystem management for healthy and balanced growth.
Since I know very little about the ecosystems of Middle America, I found all this fascinating. I loved the way the author started in the winter, when the ground is mostly snowcovered for months. Who would have thought there was so much life below the blanket? He examined the different animals of all types that depend on this plant, despite its sap being toxic to most. It makes them toxic too, which is a handy way of warning off their predators. Some information he goes into in some detail, like the fate of the milkweed aphid, which is to be eaten from within by the parasitic wasp larva. There are several of examples of this in the UK, too. The approach is much used by gardeners to control slug and snail populations (a nematode, but same result.
The author also goes into detail about the peculiarities of the milkweed pollination system, which is very similar to that of orchids.
I found it a little uneven in its approach to its subjects, though. Some seemed to be dismissed with a mere mention, often when I would have liked to have known more, especially when talking about the Upper Mississippi area. This uneveness also applies to the voice: some is authoritative (and he obviously knows his stuff) but some seems to be addressing high school students. Maybe he is unsure who exactly will read his book?
It is also a quick read. Even though I paused to study most of the illustrations, although not necessarily those with just keys, I finished it in around two hours. Did the publisher think it would not keep our attention longer? I would happily have had a more detailed approach to many other aspects he glossed over. Maybe the publisher is sensitive to the nuances of the middle America reading public. I hope it at least finds a place in their libraries.
August 14, 2023
When I saw this book advertised in Booklist I knew I had to read it. I love native plants, but I especially love the pollinator host plants like Joe Pye and Milkweed. I immediately squealed when I saw it on Net Galley, where I received it for review for free.
I have to say, it did not at all meet my expectations.
It exceeded them in every way possible. From the amazing botanical drawings, to the information presented I was absolutely delighted while I read. And I did read this in a single night, the first time. Vowing I would read it for enjoyment before I took down notes. I blew through it, hungry for more information. I was hoping to learn about my favorite variety, Swamp Milkweed, to which I was excited to see a section dedicated to just that, but I also walked away with the burning desire to look up so many more varieties listed in the book.
I read it the next night, taking notes for my Botany Studies, found myself marveling again, as though it was the first time I read it.
I would love a physical copy of this title, and it is going to be on my Christmas List for my husband or kids to pick up for me. As a mom in her 30’s they never know what to get me, and this is absolutely perfect.
I recommend to anyone who loves botany, or entomology, or who just loves flower gardening with native plants.
Note to the Author: this style of book and writing is perfect, easily digestible for the laymen or the beginner/intermediate scholar. I learned so much from this title, and even imparted knowledge to my history obsessed husband. Thank you for this work, it is both timely, considering the need, and well done.
I have to say, it did not at all meet my expectations.
It exceeded them in every way possible. From the amazing botanical drawings, to the information presented I was absolutely delighted while I read. And I did read this in a single night, the first time. Vowing I would read it for enjoyment before I took down notes. I blew through it, hungry for more information. I was hoping to learn about my favorite variety, Swamp Milkweed, to which I was excited to see a section dedicated to just that, but I also walked away with the burning desire to look up so many more varieties listed in the book.
I read it the next night, taking notes for my Botany Studies, found myself marveling again, as though it was the first time I read it.
I would love a physical copy of this title, and it is going to be on my Christmas List for my husband or kids to pick up for me. As a mom in her 30’s they never know what to get me, and this is absolutely perfect.
I recommend to anyone who loves botany, or entomology, or who just loves flower gardening with native plants.
Note to the Author: this style of book and writing is perfect, easily digestible for the laymen or the beginner/intermediate scholar. I learned so much from this title, and even imparted knowledge to my history obsessed husband. Thank you for this work, it is both timely, considering the need, and well done.
July 19, 2023
The first thing which struck me about the book was the concise information covering the history of Milkweed, its environmental contribution to the land, and how this is not simply about butterflies, but about the ecology on a much larger scale.
Filled with beautiful illustrations of both the plant, and the animals, the book serves as a reminder of how nature's beauty is found everywhere, and not simply in carefully curated areas.
"The Milkweed Lands" is a vital resource, not only in libraries, and schools, but also at home, for homeschoolers, nature enthusiasts, gardeners, and an everyday reminder of the impact Milkweed has in everyone's lives, both seen and unseen.
Sharing how to propagate milkweed seeds at the end, was a fitting end, and a hopeful reminder for others to look at adding the milkweed more in their flowerbeds and gardens, or simply to their yards. There is a way to help play a role in preserving the local ecology where people live, and sometimes, as the book reminds us, it can start with taking the first step.
I can't give over the beauty of the illustrations, and it captures the love the author has for this amazing plant. The illustrations capture the sheer beauty Nature has provided humanity, and the way the author writes, with a mix of scientific knowledge, and anecdotes, creates a helpful resource for those who are unfamiliar with the milkweed, and its environmental impact.
The book also serves humanity as a vital reminder, a weed isn't simply a weed. Too often it is easy to mow a lawn or look at a lot overgrown with plants as an eyesore, and the book challenges the readers, especially those in urban settings, and not as connected with nature, to relook around them, and their understanding of "what is a weed".
Also poignantly, is how the author reminds those especially living in suburbs, the "unsightly weeds" are also homes to some of nature's most vital contributors to the sustainability of the ecology. While to some those are weeds, for the Earth's smallest habitats, such as the Queen Bee, those masses of weeds, also serve as winter dens which concrete and immaculate cared yards can't easily provide.
Especially eye-opening is the chapter, "The Living Soil", and reminder dirt isn't simply dirt, or a place for grass, but a few inches within, it is home for many or as the author writes, a "terrestrial coral reef" which is often saturated in many suburbs with herbicides, and other chemicals. While butterflies and other plants are pretty, there is much more beneath the surface, and the illustrations later in the book highlighting areas such as "Deep within the Prairie Root Zone" is a sobering reminder, beneath the torn-up soil, and the eagerness in some areas to replace grass and dirt with concrete, there is a different world and habitat which has direct effects on the ecology.
"The Milkweed Lands" is a perfect balance between science, nature, ecology, botany, reference, education, and a reminder on the scale of Thoreau that there is much more to the world humanity often misses, and in the case of the milkweed, it's not simply butterflies which are affected, but an inter-connected, and dependent ecological system which is all tied together in a delicate web of life.
I want to thank Storey Publishing, Storey Publishing, LLC, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review a copy of this book.
Filled with beautiful illustrations of both the plant, and the animals, the book serves as a reminder of how nature's beauty is found everywhere, and not simply in carefully curated areas.
"The Milkweed Lands" is a vital resource, not only in libraries, and schools, but also at home, for homeschoolers, nature enthusiasts, gardeners, and an everyday reminder of the impact Milkweed has in everyone's lives, both seen and unseen.
Sharing how to propagate milkweed seeds at the end, was a fitting end, and a hopeful reminder for others to look at adding the milkweed more in their flowerbeds and gardens, or simply to their yards. There is a way to help play a role in preserving the local ecology where people live, and sometimes, as the book reminds us, it can start with taking the first step.
I can't give over the beauty of the illustrations, and it captures the love the author has for this amazing plant. The illustrations capture the sheer beauty Nature has provided humanity, and the way the author writes, with a mix of scientific knowledge, and anecdotes, creates a helpful resource for those who are unfamiliar with the milkweed, and its environmental impact.
The book also serves humanity as a vital reminder, a weed isn't simply a weed. Too often it is easy to mow a lawn or look at a lot overgrown with plants as an eyesore, and the book challenges the readers, especially those in urban settings, and not as connected with nature, to relook around them, and their understanding of "what is a weed".
Also poignantly, is how the author reminds those especially living in suburbs, the "unsightly weeds" are also homes to some of nature's most vital contributors to the sustainability of the ecology. While to some those are weeds, for the Earth's smallest habitats, such as the Queen Bee, those masses of weeds, also serve as winter dens which concrete and immaculate cared yards can't easily provide.
Especially eye-opening is the chapter, "The Living Soil", and reminder dirt isn't simply dirt, or a place for grass, but a few inches within, it is home for many or as the author writes, a "terrestrial coral reef" which is often saturated in many suburbs with herbicides, and other chemicals. While butterflies and other plants are pretty, there is much more beneath the surface, and the illustrations later in the book highlighting areas such as "Deep within the Prairie Root Zone" is a sobering reminder, beneath the torn-up soil, and the eagerness in some areas to replace grass and dirt with concrete, there is a different world and habitat which has direct effects on the ecology.
"The Milkweed Lands" is a perfect balance between science, nature, ecology, botany, reference, education, and a reminder on the scale of Thoreau that there is much more to the world humanity often misses, and in the case of the milkweed, it's not simply butterflies which are affected, but an inter-connected, and dependent ecological system which is all tied together in a delicate web of life.
I want to thank Storey Publishing, Storey Publishing, LLC, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review a copy of this book.
March 28, 2024
Wow! Is this a gorgeous book! Filled with detailed, color-enhanced line drawings this book brings milkweed to life through prose and illustration. Only purchased because the Environmental Educators bookclub made this the April read and it is too new to be available through Interlibrary Loan. I am thrilled I purchased it! Gorgeous!
I don’t think I can help but learn the details of this plant and it’s environment by just gazing at the illustrations. So welcoming! This is what all non-fiction books should strive to be - something we can’t help pick-up, open, and spend hours absorbing. The handwritten font makes the scientific information approachable as if reading someone’s field notes.
The author details the land and life around the milkweed through the seasons including mammals and insects living above and below ground in the prairies surrounding native milkweed. Creatures living under the snow cover, in the thatch-layer, and in soil in the root zone are all described. The celebration of life in this ecosystem is beautiful.
The benefits of milkweed are many. The botanical name refers to the variety of maladies native peoples treated using the milkweed plant. Beekeepers laud milkweed honey as second to none.
Most extraordinary is the complex pollination process for the milkweed which involved pollinators not to carry pollen from flower to flower but to carry pairs of pollen sacs long enough to partially dry out, changing their shape. When the pollinating insect lands on a flower with the dis-formed pollen sacs the sacs slip into an awaiting sac at the base of the awaiting flower, the new flower locks the sac in place and the insect leaves free of his burden. And best if all, this is all illustrated in detailed pen & ink drawings enhanced with watercolors!
I don’t think I can help but learn the details of this plant and it’s environment by just gazing at the illustrations. So welcoming! This is what all non-fiction books should strive to be - something we can’t help pick-up, open, and spend hours absorbing. The handwritten font makes the scientific information approachable as if reading someone’s field notes.
The author details the land and life around the milkweed through the seasons including mammals and insects living above and below ground in the prairies surrounding native milkweed. Creatures living under the snow cover, in the thatch-layer, and in soil in the root zone are all described. The celebration of life in this ecosystem is beautiful.
The benefits of milkweed are many. The botanical name refers to the variety of maladies native peoples treated using the milkweed plant. Beekeepers laud milkweed honey as second to none.
Most extraordinary is the complex pollination process for the milkweed which involved pollinators not to carry pollen from flower to flower but to carry pairs of pollen sacs long enough to partially dry out, changing their shape. When the pollinating insect lands on a flower with the dis-formed pollen sacs the sacs slip into an awaiting sac at the base of the awaiting flower, the new flower locks the sac in place and the insect leaves free of his burden. And best if all, this is all illustrated in detailed pen & ink drawings enhanced with watercolors!
June 29, 2025
This is a wonderfully informative book all about milkweed. As it's illustrated I wasn't entirely sure what kind of balance this would strike between children's book and adult, and was glad to find that it is indeed aimed at an older audience. I was also glad to find that it packs a lot of information into its 120 pages.
The Milkweed Lands is a broad overview on what milkweeds are, where they grow, what feeds on them, how they're pollinated, and the environmental pressures they face, among other topics. It's a broad overview without being overwhelming, and I think it would be an excellent jumping-off point if someone wanted to learn more about any specific aspect or specific type of milkweed. For example, starting this book I thought there was just Common Milkweed, as it's the only one I can recognize in the wild. I quickly realized there are many varieties and looked up "how many types of milkweed in Minnesota," discovering to my great surprise that there are fourteen species that grow in this state alone.
The illustrations are gorgeous and really add to the text; I may not understand many scientific terms but when they're accompanied by diagrams they make a lot more sense.
This book is definitely staying on my shelf, and I imagine I will be returning to it again and again.
The Milkweed Lands is a broad overview on what milkweeds are, where they grow, what feeds on them, how they're pollinated, and the environmental pressures they face, among other topics. It's a broad overview without being overwhelming, and I think it would be an excellent jumping-off point if someone wanted to learn more about any specific aspect or specific type of milkweed. For example, starting this book I thought there was just Common Milkweed, as it's the only one I can recognize in the wild. I quickly realized there are many varieties and looked up "how many types of milkweed in Minnesota," discovering to my great surprise that there are fourteen species that grow in this state alone.
The illustrations are gorgeous and really add to the text; I may not understand many scientific terms but when they're accompanied by diagrams they make a lot more sense.
This book is definitely staying on my shelf, and I imagine I will be returning to it again and again.
March 28, 2023
The Milkweed Lands takes the reader on a fascinating journey through time simply by using a common ditch weed. I’m not an ecologist or a naturalist, just a simple homeschool mother to several young children. But recently I’ve been enjoying more hikes and geology study, so I was excited to read The Milkweed Lands.
This book contains all you wanted to know and more about milkweed, its inhabitants, its pests, its part in our ecosystem. I liked that this didn’t read like a textbook and it kept my attention the whole time I was reading. The information is abundant yet easy to digest. This is a great book for those just looking to get their feet wet in the complexities of ecosystems or would likely be a comforting read for a more seasoned naturalist.
Along with the easy readability and great information inside the book contains several beautiful illustrations. I think this book would be a great gift for a green-thumbed friend, a beloved science teacher, or a young aspiring ecologist looking to begin reading more nonfiction.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book contains all you wanted to know and more about milkweed, its inhabitants, its pests, its part in our ecosystem. I liked that this didn’t read like a textbook and it kept my attention the whole time I was reading. The information is abundant yet easy to digest. This is a great book for those just looking to get their feet wet in the complexities of ecosystems or would likely be a comforting read for a more seasoned naturalist.
Along with the easy readability and great information inside the book contains several beautiful illustrations. I think this book would be a great gift for a green-thumbed friend, a beloved science teacher, or a young aspiring ecologist looking to begin reading more nonfiction.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 27, 2023
The Milkweed Lands is a sweet little gem of a book. Ecologist Eric Lee-Mader and artist Beverly Duncan have written a book focusing solely on the humble milkweed, a plant found in weedy spaces between cultivated fields, empty building lots or along roadsides. The book follows the plant's life cycle through the seasons, as well as the lives of the many creatures who rely on the plant for food, shelter, or a space to grow. The most famous of these is the monarch butterfly, but other butterflies and moths, bees, bettles and birds all depend on this modest plant.
The writing is thoughtful and straightforward, educating without being too scientific, but my favorite aspect of the book are the beautiful illustrations throughout. The book has the feel of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady (a favorite of mine) showing not only the milkweed as it undergoes a life cycle during the course of a year, but the myriad creatures who live in and around it.
I very much enjoyed this charming and educational book. While certainly it will appear to botanists or naturalists, the broader discussion about industrialized farming and its affect on our landscape should appeal to all.
The writing is thoughtful and straightforward, educating without being too scientific, but my favorite aspect of the book are the beautiful illustrations throughout. The book has the feel of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady (a favorite of mine) showing not only the milkweed as it undergoes a life cycle during the course of a year, but the myriad creatures who live in and around it.
I very much enjoyed this charming and educational book. While certainly it will appear to botanists or naturalists, the broader discussion about industrialized farming and its affect on our landscape should appeal to all.
March 28, 2024
This book was a nice reminder that epic doesn't have to be synonymous with long. I grabbed it because of the beautiful cover and my interest in plants. I was rewarded by beautiful illustrations and a broad, diverse, EPIC survey of the global genus Asclepias. The bulk of the pages focused on the many species of milkweed in North America. I was especially fascinated by the section that detailed their flowers, which are among the most complex IN THE PLANT KINGDOM. I had no idea that their pollination worked by having insects unwittingly transport pollen pouches from plant to plant, occasionally slotting them into just the right spot on a new flower's ovary.
I'm easily made anxious by narratives of human-caused loss. This book addressed the rapid loss of milkweeds in the last century to increasingly aggressive and unsustainable agricultural practices. But the tone was never ominous or overbearing. Instead, Lee-Mader inspired my wonder at the plants' resilience and potential. If you've been looking for an excuse to add (reintroduce?) a few of these hardy wildflowers to your neighborhood, this is certain to inspire you.
I'm easily made anxious by narratives of human-caused loss. This book addressed the rapid loss of milkweeds in the last century to increasingly aggressive and unsustainable agricultural practices. But the tone was never ominous or overbearing. Instead, Lee-Mader inspired my wonder at the plants' resilience and potential. If you've been looking for an excuse to add (reintroduce?) a few of these hardy wildflowers to your neighborhood, this is certain to inspire you.
May 15, 2025
Beautiful illustrations (2.75 of the 3 stars I am giving are for them exclusively, and I'd give them a 4.5/5 stars on their own) and relatively interesting information in the main text, though I often wished there would have been clearer connections between the two. The level of details was often... uneven and unsettling, using "advanced" vocabulary without real need for it, as the content of the text was pretty basic and more emotional than scientific (ecology is Good, Protecting The Environment is Good). I don't feel I learned much.The tone/voice of the author rubbed me the wrong way, though I am struggling to pinpoint why (maybe because it felt like a manipulative way to pull at my heartstrings, but really I do not care one single bit about his childhood or children. Give me milkweed information, or at least insightful self-reflection beyond... yeah.... The author is an American man and he is Good and Worried about the Future for his kids... great. I can love when authors share their experience/feelings, as is the case in the Nature of Oaks for example, because... it actually added to the book. This did not).
All in all, a cool book I'll be happy to return to the library.
All in all, a cool book I'll be happy to return to the library.
July 23, 2023
This book was a gentle exploration into the world of milkweed plants and the ecosystems where they are often sustained. It was written in such a way that the content was intelligent but accessible. It mixed facts with anecdotes so that the story of this plant was more than just a charted explanation of its lifecycle, but an exploration into how life around it behaves through each of the seasons. The author shows not just one life, but the community of the whole ecosystem. Just as the milkweed relies on certain conditions to live, so too other life relies on its presence. This reinforces a new idea in that this supposed weed is actually a necessary conduit of life. The whole result was an engaging and yet informative discussion of the incredible history of this little-revered plant.
In addition, it was illustrated so beautifully. Every section that began to overflow with the names of various species had a corroborating page of illustration. Providing reference images like this helped to make those sections engaging and easier to grasp or visualize.
In addition, it was illustrated so beautifully. Every section that began to overflow with the names of various species had a corroborating page of illustration. Providing reference images like this helped to make those sections engaging and easier to grasp or visualize.
August 30, 2023
Thank you to the author, Eric Lee-Mader, Storey Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this short book (120 pages) with its many beautiful illustrations! I am from Coastal Southern California, so I had a very limited view of the part that milkweed species play in the environment. This book celebrates so much more about the wonderful plant species that collectively make up milkweed! It discusses the MANY creatures that rely on milkweed for food or protection or egg laying sites, including Monarchs. It discusses the difficulties in trying to grow milkweed for seed in California's Central Valley, in which wild milkweed has become scarce. After an introduction, the book is divided into sections by seasons. Each section discusses what milkweed is experiencing during that season and which other living creatures are dependent upon it.
This wonderful little book is so chock full of scientific information, and yet it maintains a light style like a walk through a milkweed meadow on a sunny summer day!
I loved this short book (120 pages) with its many beautiful illustrations! I am from Coastal Southern California, so I had a very limited view of the part that milkweed species play in the environment. This book celebrates so much more about the wonderful plant species that collectively make up milkweed! It discusses the MANY creatures that rely on milkweed for food or protection or egg laying sites, including Monarchs. It discusses the difficulties in trying to grow milkweed for seed in California's Central Valley, in which wild milkweed has become scarce. After an introduction, the book is divided into sections by seasons. Each section discusses what milkweed is experiencing during that season and which other living creatures are dependent upon it.
This wonderful little book is so chock full of scientific information, and yet it maintains a light style like a walk through a milkweed meadow on a sunny summer day!
March 12, 2024
The Milkweed Lands is a love letter to all milkweed plants. Written as both a natural history primer of milkweed and its ecosystem as well as the author's personal memories of milkweed and the environments it grows in creates a more personal text than strictly science text, reminding me of a nature journal. The beautiful illustrations reinforce this with amazingly annotated watercolors to showcase milkweeds, animals, habitats and scientific illustrations. Broken up into four sections, one for each season, the author takes us through the entire lifecycle of a milkweed plant as well as the many factors that affect it. I learned about milkweed as a food to humans, homes to mice, the vast soil community it supports as well as a whole host of other insects dependent on milkweeds other than monarchs. I also learned about the many threats to milkweeds as well as, more importantly, it's incredible resilience and ability to survive in many different environments and conditions.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
July 30, 2025
This book focused on the natural history and ecology of milkweeds. The text is quite effectively accompanied by lovely watercolor illustrations. (If you're an artist, you'll love to study these!) The book is structured around the four seasons (and also four locations), but it's much more than a simple "annual life cycle of a plant" book. I've seen the large milkweed bug and red milkweed beetle on the common milkweed in my yard, but was amazed to see all the different insect species that feed on different milkweed species (at least 40, including *cobalt* milkweed beetle!. I was also amazed to learn that just one of the individual flowers in a cluster needs to be pollinated to create a seed pod - here's where the illustrations really shine, to bring home the details. I already knew about milkweed in WW2 life jackets (hey, I live in Michigan after all) but perhaps the most sobering new fact (and illustration) was the contrast between 19th century "bee pastures of California" and the 21st century agriculture fields.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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