WI DNR Names Plant of the Year News | May 15, 2025 | 0 | by Morgan McCarthy The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is naming its 2025 Plant of the Year. The Rare Plant Monitoring Program’s plant of the year is milkweed. The DNR says planters should grow milkweed because it provides a habitat for butterflies and bumblebees. There are 13 milkweed species native to Wisconsin, with five of them considered endangered, threatened or under special concern.