Plant a pollinator garden today.

| COMMON MILKWEED |
Asclepias syriaca

The large flower can vary in color from nearly white to deep pink-purple. The fragrance is very delicate and pleasing and numerous native pollinators will benefit during its long bloom time.

| BUTTERFLY WEED |
Asclepias tuberosa

Butterfly Weed, is most often a distinctive bright orange but there is some variation in flower color, from deep red-orange to yellow. This distinctive color and the absence of the typical milky white sap that other Milkweed species have to make identification easy. The leaves are somewhat narrow, up to 1” and tapered, with no stem and dark green in color.

| WHORLED MILKWEED |
Asclepias verticillate

Whorled Milkweed has very skinny, "whorled" leaves. When Whorled Milkweed is mature it reaches a height around 2'. Whorled Milkweed is deer and rabbit-resistant. This species is rhizomatous and will spread. They can bloom anytime between July and September, later in the year than many other Milkweeds. There are clusters of approximately 20 flowers near the top of each plant. The white flowers can be a greenish-white on some plants. The nectar of the flowers attracts many kinds of insects like long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, skippers and beetles. Asclepias verticillata is a larval host plant for monarch butterflies.

About Milkweed Flowers

Monarch butterflies lay their eggs exclusively on Milkweed plants, making them the sole food source for their larvae.  Once found in abundance in nearly every farm field, ditch, and disturbed site, Common Milkweed numbers have been in dramatic decline in recent years, due in part to suburban development and the increased efficiency of herbicides used in conjunction with herbicide-tolerant, genetically modified row crops. It spreads readily by seed and underground rhizomes and its taproot can withstand drought.  Common Milkweed is one of the easiest and fastest to establish of the Milkweeds and planting more, even in small urban pockets, can provide personal satisfaction while helping to counter increasing threats to our Monarch butterfly population.  Plant seeds late fall or early spring, no more than 1/4″ deep, on a fairly weed-free site.