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)

Photo by Jodi Sulpizio, Penn State Extension

Photo by Wendy Seifert, Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward

Site Conditions

Sun: Sun/partial shade
Soil: Well-drained/dry; neutral to alkaline
Hydrologic zones: Dry; drought tolerant

Photo by Ruth Benner, Penn State Extension

Sources

The Morton Arboretum

Northern Neck Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society, “Salt Tolerant Northern Neck Native Plants”

Prepared by Jessica Chou, Jodi Sulpizio, and Constance Schmotzer.