Purple Milkweed
Asclepias purpurescens
The rarest eastern milkweed, with deep purple-magenta flowers and a sweet fragrance. Takes part shade better than most. Stock is always limited.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Sep 248 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Sep 258 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Sep 268 AM – 2 PM
The rarest and most beautiful milkweed. deep magenta flowers, part-shade tolerance, and monarch host plant value.
Purple Milkweed is the rarest milkweed in eastern native plant cultivation: it's naturally uncommon across its range and rarely offered by nurseries. The flowers are a deep, rich purple-magenta, considerably more saturated than the pink of common milkweed, and they carry the same sweet fragrance but in a more compact, refined package. Like all milkweeds it's a monarch host plant and a major pollinator resource, but the flower color alone makes it worth seeking out. It tolerates part shade better than most milkweeds, which opens up planting spots that Butterfly Weed or Common Milkweed can't access. In woodland edges, lightly shaded borders, and dappled sun situations, Purple Milkweed fills the milkweed role beautifully where other species would struggle. The rich color photographs exceptionally well. Stock is always limited.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown purple milkweed propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 2–3 ft · 18–24 in wide
- Bloom time
- Midsummer
- Bloom color
- Purple
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Native range
- Eastern and central United States, from New England south to Georgia, west to Nebraska and Kansas
Care notes for purple milkweed.
Plant in full sun to part shade in moist to average, well-drained soil. More adaptable to shade than most milkweeds. Does not spread as aggressively as common milkweed. Allow to go to seed for naturalization. Cut back in late fall. Slow to establish from young plants but worth the patience.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside purple milkweed.
Or skip the guesswork.
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