Asclepias commonly known as milkweed, silkweed, blood flower, indian root, swallow-wort, swamp milkweed, common milkweed, butterfly weed is an evergreen or deciduous, clump forming, sometimes spreading perennials, and a few subshrubs and shrubs, mainly from well-drained soils in scrub or grassland, some from marsh, wet scrub, and lakeside areas, in South Africa, temperate North America and tropical North and South America. They have umbel like cymes of numerous small flowers 1 in. (2.5cm) across. The flowers are followed by pairs of spindle-shaped green fruits, variable in length, which ripen to yellowish brown, and split open to expose rows of seeds with long, silky white hairs, giving rise to the common name Silkweed. Contact with the milky sap may irritate skin. Milkweeds are also the larval food source for monarch butterflies and their relatives, as well as a variety of other herbivorous insects (including numerous beetles, moths and true bugs) specialized to feed on the plants despite their chemical defenses.
USES: Attracts bees and hummingbirds, Showy plants for a border, Meadow or Wildflower gardens, Cut flower
TOLERATES: Deer, Drought, Dry Soil, Erosion, Poor Soil, Shade tolerant
Botanical Name: Asclepias incarnata ‘Soulmate’
Common Name: Swamp Milkweed, Sumpf-Seidenpflanze
Type: Perennial (thick stemmed with dense branches)
Flower Color: Deep rose umbels. Mid green leaves are 3-6 in. (7-15cm) long.
Flowering Time: Midsummer to Early Autumn
Plant Height: 30 - 40 in. (76 - 102cm)
Plant Width: 8 - 10 in. (20 - 25cm)
Plant Spacing: 12 - 25 in. (30 - 64cm)
Light Requirements: Full Sun
Water Requirements: Prefers more moisture. Will thrive near a pond or stream
Soil Requirements: Well drained, loamy soil
USDA Zone: 3-9
AHS Heat Zone: 9-2
Misc: The flowers are followed by erect fruit, up to 3 in. (8cm) long.
Sowing Instructions (Cliff Notes Version): Sow seed in containers in a cold frame in early spring or in late winter at 61-64°F (16-18°C)
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