Asclepias perennis (Aquatic Milkweed)

Asclepias perennis (Aquatic Milkweed) is an erect perennial boasting flat umbels packed with up to 20-50 white starry flowers, often pinkish along the undersides towards their tips. Blooming from late spring to fall for about 4-8 weeks, the mildly fragrant flowers are a great source of nectar for butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects. The blooms occur on upright purplish-green stems clad with opposite, short and narrow, green leaves, 3-5 in. long (7-12 cm). They give way to smooth pendulous seed pods that split along a single suture to release the seeds. Unlike most Asclepias species, which have fluffy seeds that are dispersed by the wind, Aquatic Milkweed has winged seeds that are designed to float on the surface of the water and are dispersed with flood events. Found in areas with soils that are continuously wet, such as floodplains, waterway margins, marshes, cypress swamps, ditches, and wetlands, Aquatic Milkweed is a great choice for the bog garden.

Milkweed plants are critical to monarch butterflies‘ survival, whose population in North America has plummeted by 90% in the last 20 years. By planting milkweed in your own garden, you can help reverse the fortune of these beautiful insects!

• Grows up to 2-3 ft. tall (60-90 cm) and 12 in. wide (30 cm).
• Thrives in full sun to part shade in wet to consistently moist soils. Standing water is tolerated if it is temporary.
• Low maintenance, this perennial plant is generally pest and disease free. Deer and rabbit resistant.
• Perfect for bog gardens, butterfly gardens, shallow pools, and along ponds and streams.
• Propagate by seed.
• Toxic to dogs, toxic to cats, toxic to horses.
• Native to the United States, it occurs along the Mississippi River in Illinois and south to the Gulf, extending over to Florida.