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Perennial Plant Association Names
2017 Perennial Plant of the YearTM
Butterfly Milkweed
www.HenryDomke.com
(Asclepias tuberosa)
This stunning jewel of
the prairies makes a bold
statement for the home
garden.
Bruce Schuete
A monarch caterpillar feeds on butterfly
milkweed, which, like other milkweed
species, is a host plant for monarch
butterflies.
®
Noppadol Paothong
M O N A R C H B U T T E R F LY L I F E C YC L E
With its brilliant orange flower umbels, few other native plants
make quite the visual impact as butterfly milkweed. In addition to its
beauty, this compact, shrub-like herbaceous perennial is a host plant, like other
milkweed species, of the monarch butterfly caterpillar. While its foliage and
flowers provide food for monarch larvae, the blossoms attract many insects,
from abundant butterflies to a wide variety of wasps and bees seeking nectar.
Including butterfly milkweed in your garden helps you help pollinators!
™
Keeping Nature Near ™
Concern for the
conservation of
monarch butterflies
has increased
demand for,
and supply
of, butterfly
milkweed. To
help consumers
in the lower
Midwest locate
this plant at
garden centers
and nurseries, the
Missouri Prairie
Foundation’s Grow
Native! program has
created a butterfly
milkweed Monarch
Café plant tag, which
native plant growers
and sellers use to highlight the
plant on their shelves.
Asclepias tuberosa: The genus name honors the Greek god Asklepios, the god of medicine, and
the specific epithet refers to the roots.
Culture: Butterfly milkweed grows easily in dry
to average, well-drained soils in full sun. Native to
upland prairies and glades, butterfly milkweed is
drought tolerant. Plants emerge in mid- to late spring.
With its deep and tuberous roots, butterfly weed does
not transplant well due to its deep taproot, and is
probably best left undisturbed once established.
Brooke Hamilton
Characteristics: Butterfly milkweed typically
grows 18 to 24 inches tall and two feet wide. The plant
has hairy stems with narrow, lance-shaped leaves.
Unlike other milkweeds, butterfly milkweed does not
have milky sap. Flowers typically bloom June to July.
Pollen in milkweeds is contained in packets called pollinia, which must be transferred from flower to flower
on the legs of insects as they collect nectar. Three to
6-inch long seedpods develop over the course of the
summer. Silky “parachutes” send seeds aloft.
Scott Woodbury
above: Butterfly milkweed blossoms attract many butterflies,
including tiger swallowtails like the one shown here,as well as
a wide variety of wasps and bees seeking nectar.
At Right: Compact, showy butterfly milkweed contrasts
nicely with fine-textured native grasses, as well as the bold
leaves of prairie dock as shown here.
Susan Lordi Marker
Every spring as the growing season unfolds through the U.S.
and Canada, monarch butterflies migrate northward from
their overwintering grounds in the oyamel fir forests near
Mexico City in search of milkweed species. Milkweed is the
only plant monarchs use for egg laying and is the sole food
for monarch caterpillars. In the fall, as milkweed declines in
Canada and the U.S., monarch butterflies that have emerged
during the growing season make a spectacular southward
migration to Mexico to
overwinter there.
Preserving this enchanting
two-way migration means
ensuring the survival
of these iconic insects,
whose populations have
plummeted in recent
years. You can help sustain
and increase monarch
butterflies by planting
butterfly milkweed and
other milkweed species
native to your region. Visit
www.grownative.org for
more information.