Common Milkweed

Asclepias syriaca

Common Milkweed is the most important plant for monarch butterfly conservation in the eastern United States. Monarchs lay their eggs almost exclusively on milkweed leaves, and the caterpillars can only survive on milkweed foliage. which means that planting Common Milkweed is a direct act of monarch support. The large, dome-shaped flowers in June and July are also intensely fragrant, carrying a sweet vanilla-rose scent that is one of the most distinctive smells in the summer garden. It spreads aggressively by underground rhizomes, which is its natural strategy for colonizing open, disturbed ground. so site it in meadows, naturalized areas, or large wild borders where spread is welcome. In a contained border, rhizome barriers or annual division will keep it in check. The giant, sculptural seed pods that split open in fall to release the silky-plumed seeds are among the most beautiful objects in the native plant calendar.