This year, my 2” Asclepias – all varieties – were covered with Monarch eggs. They even notice the Asclepias plants when they’re tiny, just emerging from winter dormancy in April. Monarchs may not notice a single butterfly weed or milkweed plant, but they do notice a group of them. I’ve found that the number of Monarchs I have in my garden expands exponentially with the number of Asclepias plants. Choose a more rich, moist location for swamp milkweed. In your garden, choose a well drained, sunny location for your butterfly weed and common milkweed.
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A full sun or part shade location is best. Swamp milkweed and bloodflower grow to 24” to 30” tall. I personally like to combine colors to produce more of a natural look.Īsclepias tuberosa is the shortest of the group (12 to 18” height). Swamp milkweed works well with purple lantana, pink or blue shades of buddleia, pink shades of annuals (gomphrena, zinnia, cosmos), and purple coneflower. I like to combine bloodflowers and butterfly weed in beds with cosmos, zinnia, day lilies, coreopsis, gold buddleia, lantana, and black-eyed Susans.
Bloodflower flowers are an orange/yellow mix. Butterfly weed flowers are normally orange, but are also available in yellow and red shades. Swamp milkweed is available in pink shades and white. If you have seeds or plants for other species of Asclepias, please contact me for a trade!Īsclepias can be easily integrated into your garden. I also grow Oxypetalum caeruleum, with it’s lovely star-shaped light blue flowers and milkweed pods, which is reported to be a food source for Manarch larvae however, I haven’t yet observed a Monoarch egg or larvae on this plant. Of these, I’ve found that butterfly weed is the least favorite of my Monarch guests in my Virginia Beach garden for laying eggs (perhaps the leaves are tougher?) The bloodflower seems to be the #1 favorite with it’s tender tropical leaves, with swamp milkweed and common milkweed running close seconds. I’ve grown butterfly weed, swamp milkweed, Asclepias currassavica (bloodflower), Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed), and Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed).
Mills stated that 27 of these are known to be host plants for Monarchs). I’ve grown only a small subset of the 108 known North American species of Asclepias and milkweeds (Dr. Unfortunately, few varieties of milkweed are available in local garden centers these include Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed) and Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed), both of which were cited by Dr. He identified 13 species of Asclepias (milkweeds) that grow in Virginia, and classified their suitability as Monarch host plants. Richard Mills’ outstanding article on “Milkweed and Monarchs” was reprinted in the Fall 2001 issue of the Virginia Butterfly Bulletin. Monarchs get their poisonous chemicals from the milkweed plants they eat as larvae.ĭr. Monarch adults and larvae have bold orange, yellow, white, and black patterns, coloration which warns potential predators that they contain poisonous chemicals.
If you like Monarchs (and who doesn’t), then you need to grow milkweeds.
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