You have probably thought about planting milkweed to help monarch butterflies. Here are 10 of the best types of milkweed to grow.
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Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca, Zones 3 to 9
With a range covering 39 states, common milkweed is a tall summer bloomer for open spaces that requires full sun. Make sure to give it room to roam. Gardeners with small spaces should consider other less aggressive types of milkweed.
Why we love it: Globes of pink-purple stars shine on 3-to-5-foot tall plants from June through August.
Backyard Tip: All types of milkweeds are bitter-tasting and toxic to animals when ingested in large quantities. Avoid growing milkweed near livestock fields. The plants also contain sap that can be irritating to the skin, so wear gloves while pruning.
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Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata, Zones 3 to 9
Grow swamp milkweed for striking magenta and white flower balls that bloom from summer through fall. This plant prefers moist soil and full sun to part shade.
Why we love it: Growing in most states, this 2-to-5-foot-tall plant is very adaptable.
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Butterfly Weed
Asclepias tuberosa, Zones 3 to 9
With a broad range, growing in 43 states, butterfly weed glows in warm golds and oranges. Its flat-topped clusters are showy all the way from May through September. Besides monarchs, butterfly weed is a host plant for gray hairstreak and queen caterpillars.
Why we love it: Well-behaved and fairly compact at only 1 to 2 feet tall, butterfly weed easily fits into any sunny, well-draining garden.
Does milkweed need full sun or shade to grow best?
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Whorled Milkweed
Ascelpias verticillata, Zones 3 to 9
Whorled milkweed’s fine-textured, needlelike leaves and pale cream summer flowers lend a refined air to this 2-by-2-foot prairie plant. This is one of the types of milkweed that prefers dry sunny conditions. But it will tolerate part shade.
Why we love it: Flowering well into September, this is one of the last types of milkweed to bloom and sustains monarch butterflies late in the season.
Discover fascinating milkweed facts you should know.
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Purple Milkweed
Asclepias purpurascens, Zones 3 to 8
Averaging 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, purple milkweed prefers consistent watering and loamy soil in partial sun. It can be difficult to establish, but it’s worth it.
Why we love it:The plant’s look-at-me rosy magenta flowers are distinct among milkweeds and will be the jewels that set off the rest of your collection. Plus the blooms may last for up to a month.
Should gardeners remove milkweed bugs?
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Sullivant’s Milkweed
Asclepias sullivantii, Zones 3 to 7
You may know this plant as prairie milkweed. Looking like a bouquet of tiny pink columbines, this milkweed likes full sun and somewhat moist soil of any kind. It grows 3 to 4 feet tall and 1 foot wide. The leaves are smooth and succulentlike. Unfortunately, it’s a threatened species in a few midwestern states.
Why we love it: It spreads more slowly than common milkweed but is just as lovely.
Is honeyvine milkweed an invasive plant?
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Showy Milkweed
Asclepias speciosa, Zones 3 to 9
A distinctive, robust choice reaching up to 3 feet tall, showy milkweed prefers dry, arid soils with good drainage. It is an excellent choice for gardeners in the western and southwestern U.S.
Why we love it: The star-shaped blooms are stunning and it is very drought tolerant. Tell showy milkweed apart from common milkweed by the thin white hairs on the blooms.
Meet the milkweed tussock moth and caterpillar.
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Antelope Horns Milkweed
Asclepias asperula, Zones 5 to 9
A. viridis, which is also commonly called spider milkweed, this Southwest native stunner’s seed heads mimic horns, and the plant reaches 2 feet tall and wide. It prefers sun and sandy or clay soil.
Why we love it: The floral show lasts from March to October, getting better each year. Plus bees love it!
Learn how to collect milkweed seeds from pods.
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Short Green Milkweed
Asclepias viridiflora, Zones 3 to 9
Here’s a milkweed with pale green flowers that looks more like a stylized allium than other milkweeds. It prefers sandy or gravelly soil in hot, dry conditions.
Why we love it: It’s another eye-catcher whose flowers reward close inspection—or sketching—and makes a nice edging plant at 1 foot tall and wide.
Learn how to get rid of aphids on milkweed plants.
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Poke Milkweed
Asclepias exaltata, Zones 4 to 7
This tall plant features drooping clusters of white or purple flowers that float on 3-to-5-foot-tall plants starting in early summer. Poke milkweed isn’t aggressive, but it’s known to be long-lived. If grown near common milkweed, the two plants may hybridize.
Why we love it: Poke milkweed is one of the most shade-tolerant types, so give it a try if you have shadowy spaces.
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Why You Should Skip Tropical Milkweed
While tropical milkweed is nonnative to the U.S., it’s easy to grow and still beneficial to monarchs. But it doesn’t die back in the southern U.S. and California, which may encourage monarchs to stop short of their full migration. It also hosts a parasite that harms monarchs.
