Plant: Swamp Milkweed
Swamp Milkweed · Asclepias incarnata
Size: 1 gal
Light
Bloom
More about this plant
Swamp milkweed is a native, clump-forming perennial 3 to 5 feet tall with clusters of fragrant pink and white flowers from July to September. It grows in full sun to part shade and tolerates wet soil, which makes it good for rain gardens and stream or pond edges. It is a nectar plant and a larval host for monarch butterflies, and deer and rabbits avoid it.
- Full Sun
- Blooms in summer, fall
- Hardy in USDA zones 3-9
Plant description
Swamp milkweed is a native, clump-forming perennial 3 to 5 feet tall with clusters of fragrant pink and white flowers from July to September. It grows in full sun to part shade and tolerates wet soil, which makes it good for rain gardens and stream or pond edges. It is a nectar plant and a larval host for monarch butterflies, and deer and rabbits avoid it.
- Flowers
- Pink to mauve drooping petals with five upright white crowns, in clusters on terminal stems, July to September.
- Foliage
- Simple, opposite, pointed lanceolate leaves 3 to 6 inches long, sessile or clasping.
- Fruit
- Seed pods split on one side, releasing wind-borne seeds with hair tufts.
- Bark & stems
- Smooth green stems that exude milky sap when cut.
- Native range
- Central and eastern Canada to the central and eastern United States
