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Butterfly Flower - Asclepias tuberosa - Perennial Flower For Your Garden © 2006Visit Our Online Store.For Perennials and Perennial Seed |
Asclepias tuberosa Family Asclepiadaceous Butterfly weed is a must for the perennial gardener who wishes to attract butterflies to the perennial garden. The variety shown here is a cultivar named Gay Butterflies. The wild variety is usually orange, though other flower colors may be found. Asclepias tuberosa grows to about thirty six inches tall in my southern Indiana garden and blooms from about mid June until mid to late July. The flowers make good cut flowers for the vase. If you cut the flowers from the main stem, it will encourage the plant to produce more flowers further down the stem later on. Butterfly Weed is slow to appear in the spring, so have patience with it, it will eventually emerge and reward you with its showy blooms. It is hardy to USDA Zone 4 and likes dry soil. This is a native American perennial and can the wild flower be found in meadows, fence rows and other areas. Butterflies are attracted to the flower in great numbers, swallowtails, monarchs and others feeding on the nectar. The leaves and developing seed pods are food for the caterpillars, as the adults will lay their eggs under the leaves. I usually leave the plants in place, even though after bloom they become unattractive and rather messy with the silken seed pods developing because one or two generations of caterpillars feed on the plants until late in the summer. Propagate Asclepias tuberosa by seed. In the spring root cuttings may be taken. If you have a named variety root cuttings are necessary, as seedlings will be highly variable. Division is difficult as the mature plant develops a large taproot. Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is an excellent addition to the perennial garden. It is an excellent butterfly attractant and the flowers are colorful. |
