Rain Garden Plants: Butterfly Weed
Long-lasting, small, flat-topped clusters of flowers. Alternating lance-shaped, dark-green leaves. Stem is hairy. Unlike most members of the milkweed family, butterfly milkweed does not have milky sap. Mature plants have a long taproot reaching 1 foot or more, making it drought tolerant. In early fall, 3- to 6-inch-long seed pods split and open, spreading hundreds of seeds. Great nectar plant for hummingbirds, many butterflies, and other insects. Larval host plant for the monarch butterfly. Deer resistant.
Height: 18 to 24 inches
Bloom color: Orange
Bloom time: June to July
Hardiness zone: 3 to 9
Salt tolerance: Tolerant of occasional salt spray
Spreading habit: Self-seeds freely; mounded; dies back each winter and resprouts from tubers in late spring (slow to emerge)
Site Conditions
Sun: Sun/partial shade
Soil: Well-drained/dry; neutral to alkaline
Hydrologic zones: Dry; drought tolerant
Sources
Northern Neck Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society, “Salt Tolerant Northern Neck Native Plants”
Prepared by Jessica Chou, Jodi Sulpizio, and Constance Schmotzer.
