24+ YELLOW/ORANGE/GOLD BUTTERFLY WEED SEEDS (MILKWEED, asclepias curassavica ) plus planting instructions, including a color photo for seedling id. These are fresh seeds which I have planted with 65% germination results.
My experience with these plants is they bloom the first year and can be planted anytime after last frost. They can be started in pots indoors for a head start on the season they transplant easily from pots to the garden, but are difficult to transplant once established in the garden.
Other common names: Pleurisy-root, Canada-root, Indian posy, orange-root, orange swallowwort, tuberroot, whiteroot, windroot, Bloodflower, Mexican Milkweed.
his is a perennial plant (zones 8-11 self-sowing annual in other areas) is a native to North America which grows 3-4 feet high. Butterfly weed is a trouble-free perennial that will come up year after year in the same place without crowding its neighbors. It is drought tolerant due to it?s long, tuberous tap root (which also makes it difficult to transplant, once established). It gets its name of Butterfly Weed because the flowers are a nectar source for many butterflies and the leaves are a food source for Monarch and Queen butterfly larvae (caterpillars). Don't worry if the caterpillars eat the leaves, that is this plant's purpose in your garden, to help propagate more butterflies! The plants will survive and send out new leaves throughout the season.
The clusters of what I would call light orange or dark yellow flowers form on top of the stems sometimes I've seen them called 'gold'. The slender leaves are 2-3 inches long, narrow and pointed. Butterfly weed grows best in full sun, with sandy, well draining soil, perfect for places where more tender flowers will not grow! Flowers give way to prominent, spindle-shaped seed pods (3-6 inches long) which split open when ripe releasing numerous silky-tailed seeds for dispersal by the wind. Long bloom period from late spring throughout the summer.
Create your own butterfly garden by combining these with Mexican Sunflowers (check my other items!) . You will be amazed at the variety and quantity of butterflies you will attract to your garden with these plants!!
