BUTTERFLY WEED / Asclepias tuberosa
A wonderful perennial flowering plant. Native to Eastern North America. Member of the Milkweed species and grows 0.3-1.0 metre (1'-3'+). It has beautiful clusters of orange or yellow flowers, with a long blooming period from early Summer to early Autumn. The leaves are attractively spirally arranged. It is easily propagated from seed, but once established almost impossible to transplant due to its deep tap root. Butterfly weed prefers dry, sandy or gravel soil. So here are some pictures from my backyard of a plant that seeded its self.
source..... @manorvillemike backyard .. USDA Hardiness Zone 3/9
source... North Creek Nurseries, Landenberg, Pa.
I planted a few last year and they are blooming now. I hope to see some monarch caterpillars.
Very nice,. They are very hardy.
Beautiful plant---I'm sure the butterflies like it too.
Oh they do. Thanks...
They are beautiful! Great photos.
Thank you. I need some work on using the camera.
Beautiful! I love butterfly weed. They are host to monarch butterflies. My neighbor and I have a deal going. She gathers the eggs from her plants and brings them into a caterpillar tent on her patio where they continue to feed on milkweed. When the butterflies hatch, she releases them. They come to my yard and the caterpillars gobble up all the milkweed before making cocoons and becoming butterflies themselves in the wild - that is if they are not eaten by predators first!
I have milkweed that grows wild in all the wrong places. Must establish a patch for the butterflies.
Good idea. I have other plants nearby that the adult monarchs like to gather nectar from. Did you know that the caterpillars become bitter in taste to predators after eating the milkweed plant? I learned that only recently!