Description

Butterfly Weed Asclepias tuberosa

A tough, drought-tolerant native with intense orange flowers in mid to late summer. Attracts many varieties of butterflies and is especially attractive to Monarchs. A beautiful solution for a dry sunny slope! Occurs in dry fields and roadsides in most of the US.

Butterfly weed is a colorful, long-lived, drought-tolerant perennial. Large clusters of bright orange to yellow-orange flowers top clumps of erect, hairy 1-2’ tall stems with lance-shaped leaves. The seed pods, with their long silky hairs, can be used in dried flower arrangements. Butterfly weed prefers well-drained neutral to alkaline soils and full sun. It is one of many Asclepias species, all of which are required food for monarch butterfly larvae. It is also a great nectar plant for other butterflies and insects. Butterfly weed works well in a meadow or a perennial garden setting with Andropogon virginicus, Schizachyrium scoparium, Echinacea purpurea, Coreopsis verticillata, and Solidago odora. – Mt. Cuba Center