Hello! I’m David, the newest member of the PDC team and I’m here to tell you about one of my favorite groups of native plants, the milkweeds (Asclepias spp.). I have always been fascinated with their complex pollination system unique to the genus, their ecological importance, and their pleasing flower displays. My interest only grew when, in 2018, when I had the opportunity to go to the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis MO to assist with a project to help conserve Mead’s Milkweed (Asclepias meadii), a federally threatened milkweed from the tallgrass prairies of the Midwest. I’ll give a brief overview of the genus, its importance and highlight species found in the Piedmont region of Virginia. By the end of this article, I hope you’ll become a milkweed fanatic too!