My Amazon Marketplace

Recommended Ad

Amazon Ads removed December 2024

Google Ads

Google Ads removed December 2024

I first created this site back in 1998 to document the wild plants that I encountered.  But it has grown into a clearinghouse of information on landscaping, backyard birds, butterfly gardening, plant identification and making paper from plant fiber. After leaving Kansas, I thought of deleting the site. But realize it has a wealth of information that people rely upon.

Hosting the site is involved. I’d like to thank those who have donated to help defray the web site hosting fees.  If you would like to contribute, please click the Donate button. Thank you.

Garden Plants > Garden Plant List > Butterfly Milkweed

Garden Plant Detail

Butterfly Milkweed | Asclepias tuberosa

Plant Species Synonym Names

Scientific: Asclepias tuberosa var. interior

Common: Buterfly weed, Orange Milkweed

Family

Milkweed - Asclepiadaceae

Image

Butterfly Milkweed

See more images Butterfly Milkweed Detail

Description

One of the few orange flowers in Kansas, this plant is an excellent choice for the home landscape. The plants are long lived and very showy. Provides food for the larva of the Monarch butterfly. This is the interior variety which has terminal flowers and bushier plants. Its a very drought tolerant plant. Not a predictable seed producer.

Characteristics

Growth Habit:Herb: Herbs are broad-leaved, herbaceous (non-woody) plant. Herbaceous plants are also known as forbs or wildflowers
Grass: Grasses are herbaceous plants with narrow leaves originating at the base of the plant. Grasses are graminoids.
Tree: Trees are woody perennial plants, usually with a single trunk, relatively tall
Shrub: Shrubs are woody perennial plants with multiple stems, generally shorter than a tree.
Vine: Vines are either woody or herbaceous plants that climb or sprawl.
Herb

Life Span:Annual: Annuals are herbaceous plants that live only one year
Biennial: Biennials are herbaceous plants that live two years, flowering the second
Perennial: Perennials are herbaceous plants that live three or more years
Woody: Woody plants have woody stems that grow more than a year.
Perennial

Mature Height: 2.5'

Mature Width: 3.0'

Flower Color: Orange

Sun Requirement:Full Sun: direct sun 8 or more hours of the day
Part Sun: direct sun 4 to 8 hours of the day; about half a day of sun
Shade: direct sun 0 to 4 hours of the day
Full Sun

Water Requirement:Wet: Soil is soggy or marshy
Moist: Soil tends to stay moist and rarely dries out
Medium: Average soil moisture, little or now slope
Drained: Soil is well drained, never soggy; medium slope
Dry: Soil is dry, often typical of rocky soil; steep slope
Medium to Dry

DISCLAIMER: This page contains affiliate links in the right hand panel, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support my website and allows me to continue to add new content. Thank you for the support!