Growing Butterfly Milkweed. Common milkweed asclepias syriaca is a native herbaceous perennial whose main virtue is its appeal to butterflies especially the monarch which deposits its eggs on the milkweed when the caterpillars hatch they feed on the leaves of milkweed. At the ends of the stalk where the blooms were pods will develop.
Also known as asclepias tuberosa orange milkweed pleurisy root and yellow milkweed the plant can grow to be anywhere from one to two feet tall and is characterized by glossy green leaves and clusters of bright orange to yellow blooms that are rich with nectar and. It can grow to about two to three feet in height and produces clusters of star shaped orange red or yellow flowers that will bloom from late spring through early summer. Once established butterfly weed is drought tolerant and blooms.
Butterfly milkweed asclepia tuberosa is a sun loving perennial growing plant that is highly attractive to bees and a number of different butterfuly species.
Milkweed is sometimes known as the butterfly plant as it is the sole source of food for monarch caterpillars. Milkweed is a lovely wildflower and the sole host plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Milkweed is sometimes known as the butterfly plant as it is the sole source of food for monarch caterpillars. Media marketing shutterstock a monarch butterfly lands on a swamp milkweed plant.