• About
  • Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, and Disclosure

Garden Experiments

Gardening tips, experiments, product reviews, and stories from my backyard.

  • Plants
    • Vegetables
    • Flowers & Plants
  • Projects & Ideas
  • Wildlife
  • Reviews
  • Recipes
  • Gardens & Butterfly Houses
    • Directory of Butterfly Houses by State
    • Garden Tours
You are here: Home / Wildlife / Butterflies / Butterfly Weed – Asclepias tuberosa

Updated on March 29, 2017

Butterfly Weed – Asclepias tuberosa

Share
Pin
Tweet
Email

Butterfly weed grows throughout most of the United States and parts of Canada. Like its name suggests, it attracts butterflies and it especially beneficial for monarchs whose larvae feed on the leaves of the plant. It also provides a nice splash of bright orange color for your garden.

Butterfly weed is drought tolerant and deer resistant. It can grow in dry soils with little trouble and prefers full sun. Although most native butterfly weed is bright orange, there are some yellow varieties. It grows about 1.5 to 2 feet tall and when blooming, is covered in small orange flowers. It blooms in June through late August or early September.

Like its relative, swamp milkweed, butterfly weed produces a white, milky substance when cut. In the past, butterfly weed was harvested for its medicinal qualities (be warned it is toxic though!) and for fibers that could be used for making rope, rough cloth, and cords.

Butterfly weed

Propagation

Seed Pod
Seed Pod

This plant can be propagated by seed or by root cuttings. If planting seeds, harvest the seeds from the pods just as they are ripe, but right before the pods split open. Seeds should be exposed to cold temperatures for a few months (in your fridge should work) before planting in Spring. Then plant them directly in the soil in Spring and water well. The seedlings may not bloom until the second year.

You can divide the roots after the plant has gone dormant in late fall. Transplant each section (about 2-inch sections is good) and then water. Mark the locations so you recognize them when the plants come up in Spring. Butterfly weed comes up a bit later than most of your plants and might be mistakenly pulled if you don’t mark them. I have done this 🙁

Butterfly weed seeds
Butterfly weed seeds

Wildlife Benefits

Butterfly Weed
Butterfly Weed

Bees, butterflies, and some beetles use the flowers for nectar. Monarch butterflies lay eggs on butterfly weed and the larvae feed on the leaves of the plant.

 

Butterfly Weed
Butterfly weed is a native Mississippi plant.
Share
Pin
Tweet
Email

Article by Garden Experiments / Butterflies, Flowers & Plants / backyard habitat, butterflies, flowers, native plants, wildflowers

Recent Posts

  • Eastern Redbuds Provide Early Spring Food for Bees
  • Celebrating Pollinators – Bees, Butterflies, Birds and More
  • You Won’t Believe Your Eyes When You See This Giant Caterpillar

About Me

Welcome! My name is Kathy and I live in Mississippi Zone 7B. Gardening has always relaxed and rooted me (literally!). It's my happy place. With over 25 years of gardening, I am far from an expert, but I learn from all my experiments. This blog talks about the plants, backyard critters, and more that have made my garden special. Read More

Popular Posts

Purple and White Container GardenPurple and White Container Garden10K Total Shares
Landscape Solutions for the Base of TreesLandscape Solutions for the Base of Trees5K Total Shares
Restore metal outdoor furniture to “like new”Restore metal outdoor furniture to “like new”4K Total Shares
Don’t Throw Out that Old Bird Bath! Make It a PlanterDon’t Throw Out that Old Bird Bath! Make It a Planter2K Total Shares
How to Keep Your Gladiolus Flowers From Falling OverHow to Keep Your Gladiolus Flowers From Falling Over2K Total Shares

Tags

backyard habitat bees berries bird feeders birds bulbs butterflies compost container garden deer resistant DIY projects fall flowers full sun garden pest gardens herbs how-to hummingbirds indoor plants insects moist soil mulch native plants part shade plant identification projects and ideas propagation propagation. wildflowers raised beds recipes reviews rooting shade shrubs spring spring flowers succulents Summer trees vegetables vines wildflowers wildlife winter

Categories

Plow & Hearth

© Copyright 2021 Garden Experiments · All Rights Reserved ·