Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) 12-pack of plugs

$25.00

Can be shipped.

What are plugs? Plugs are plants grown in 72-cell trays; each soil plug is 1.6” wide x 3.2” deep. Read more here.

Butterfly Milkweed is one of the most stunning plants for dry, sunny gardens. The orange flowers are a perfect companion to many of the other summer blooming prairie flowers, especially Coneflowers. It supports Monarch caterpillars and you can often find tiny white eggs underneath the leaves in early summer, and caterpillars munching away a few weeks later.

Butterfly Milkweed is long-lived when planted in a dry, sunny location with sand or light soil. It can be short-lived in rich, medium soil, but it often regenerates by seed. It’s a wonderful, short flower that is welcome to spread throughout a garden. Unlike common Milkweed which spreads underground, Butterfly Milkweed grows in a small clump with a single taproot, making it a much better plant for urban gardens.

Details

Perennial
Sun:    
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moisture:    Dry, Medium-Dry, Medium
Height:    2 feet
Blooms:    June, July, Aug
Color:    Orange
Spacing:    12-18″
Spreads: A little by seed
Zones:    3-9

Design Tips

Plant Butterfly Milkweed in dry soil. Host plants for monarch caterpillars are most effective when planted next to their favorite butterfly nectar plants that bloom at the same time as the monarch migration such as Coneflowers, Blazing Stars, and Asters. Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) doesn’t spread by roots—it spreads only a little bit by seed, making it a tame garden plant.

Maintenance Tips

Since Butterfly Milkweed can be a short-lived plant, make sure that you allow it to spread its seed so that they can sprout and survive in your garden. This means allowing the seed heads to mature, but also making sure you don’t add mulch every year, which prevents seeds from germinating the next spring.

Great native plant choice for the Minnesota Lawns to Legumes grant program!

Companion Plants

Prairie Phlox
Narrow-leaved Coneflower
Prairie Dropseed
Prairie Phlox
Purple Prairie Clover
Blue Grama Grass

Size: 12-pack of plugs

Can be shipped.

What are plugs? Plugs are plants grown in 72-cell trays; each soil plug is 1.6” wide x 3.2” deep. Read more here.

Butterfly Milkweed is one of the most stunning plants for dry, sunny gardens. The orange flowers are a perfect companion to many of the other summer blooming prairie flowers, especially Coneflowers. It supports Monarch caterpillars and you can often find tiny white eggs underneath the leaves in early summer, and caterpillars munching away a few weeks later.

Butterfly Milkweed is long-lived when planted in a dry, sunny location with sand or light soil. It can be short-lived in rich, medium soil, but it often regenerates by seed. It’s a wonderful, short flower that is welcome to spread throughout a garden. Unlike common Milkweed which spreads underground, Butterfly Milkweed grows in a small clump with a single taproot, making it a much better plant for urban gardens.

Details

Perennial
Sun:    
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moisture:    Dry, Medium-Dry, Medium
Height:    2 feet
Blooms:    June, July, Aug
Color:    Orange
Spacing:    12-18″
Spreads: A little by seed
Zones:    3-9

Design Tips

Plant Butterfly Milkweed in dry soil. Host plants for monarch caterpillars are most effective when planted next to their favorite butterfly nectar plants that bloom at the same time as the monarch migration such as Coneflowers, Blazing Stars, and Asters. Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) doesn’t spread by roots—it spreads only a little bit by seed, making it a tame garden plant.

Maintenance Tips

Since Butterfly Milkweed can be a short-lived plant, make sure that you allow it to spread its seed so that they can sprout and survive in your garden. This means allowing the seed heads to mature, but also making sure you don’t add mulch every year, which prevents seeds from germinating the next spring.

Great native plant choice for the Minnesota Lawns to Legumes grant program!

Companion Plants

Prairie Phlox
Narrow-leaved Coneflower
Prairie Dropseed
Prairie Phlox
Purple Prairie Clover
Blue Grama Grass

Size: 12-pack of plugs