code: 711
Crowded umbels of waxy-orange flowers
Family: Asclepiadaceae
Common name: Butterfly Weed, Milkweed, Pleurisy Root
Plant Classification: Hardy perennial
Minimum Height: 60 cm
Maximum Height: 90 cm
Packet Content(approx.): 8
Crowded umbels of waxy-orange flowers, with reflexed petals, are held on strong stems giving three months or more of tangerine orange blooms. They make excellent cut flowers, and dead-heading them will stimulate another bloom cycle about a month later. The flowers are heavily laden with nectar and pollen and are very attractive to butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects. Green fruits later develop which rupture revealing seeds with long, silvery-white, silky hairs. Few seeds collected.
Sowing advice:
For best results, sow seeds immediately onto a good soil-based compost. Cover the seeds with fine grit or compost to approximately their own depth. They can be sown at any time, and germination can sometimes be quicker if kept at 15 to 20 degrees C. However, we sow most seeds in an unheated greenhouse and wait for natural germination as many seeds have built-in dormancy mechanisms, and often wait for spring before emerging regardless of when they are sown. But spring sowing will obviously give them a full season of growth if successful germination occurs.
Culture:
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Drought tolerant. Does well in poor, dry soils. New growth tends to emerge late in the spring. Plants are easily grown from seed, but are somewhat slow to establish and may take 2-3 years to produce flowers. Mature plants may freely self-seed in the landscape if seed pods are not removed prior to splitting open. Butterfly weed does not transplant well due to its deep taproot, and is probably best left undisturbed once established.
