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What is it? Asclepias tuberosa, commonly known as butterfly weed, is a perennial species of milkweed.

Native to where? It is native to eastern and southwestern North America.

What does it look like? It has long-lasting, bright orange flowers, and grows to 2 feet tall. The leaves are spirally arranged and alternating. The fruit pod is 3–6 in long, containing many long-haired seeds.

Bloom Time: It blooms from April to September.

Growth Habit: In an ideal location, a mature Butterfly Weed can become a very showy specimen, with multiple flowering stems spreading across a two-foot-high plant. Mature plants have a deep tap root that extends down a foot or more. They can be transplanted if dug carefully, during dormancy.

Growing Conditions: It prefers dry to medium soil of loam, sand, or gravel in full sun.

Hardiness Zone: Plants are hardy from USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 9.

Environmental Benefits: Butterflies are attracted to the plant by its color and its copious production of nectar. It is a larval food plant of the queen and monarch butterflies.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepias_tuberosa

https://www.prairienursery.com/butterflyweed-asclepias-tuberosa.html

Image Sources:

Photo by Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=912980

Photo by(c)2009 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) - Self-photographed, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7080876

Butterfly Weed

$5.00Price
  • Plant Pickup Day is Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 531 11th St., corner of 11th Street and Elizabeth Street in Baraboo, from 9 am to 2 pm

  • Last year, some of the plant varieties purchased in the online sale were backordered from the nursery due to weather-related setbacks in their greenhouses. We received those varieties about a month later and we then distributed them to those who were waiting.

    While we hope this will not be an issue again this year, there is that possibility. As all of us who garden know, there is no guarantee that plants or weather will cooperate with our plans. If we run into this issue again, our plan is to make sure you get your plants as soon as they are ready from our supplier. Thanks in advance for your understanding!

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