Types of Milkweed Commonly
found in the Midwest

Common Milkweed

Botanical Name: Asclepias syriaca
Common Name: Milkweed, Common Milkweed
Growability: Full to partial sun conditions, with direct sun exposure lasting for up to 6 hours a day, is required for maximum growth.
Grow Zone: 3 – 6
Plant type: Herbaceous perennial
Size: 2-4 feet tall, 24-30 in wide
Flowering: Summer
Watering: High water use
Plant uses: nectar source for butterflies and other pollinators
Cut back milkweed in late fall or winter; after they have produced seed pods.

Butterfly Weed

Botanical Name: Asclepias tuberosa
Common Name: Butterfly (Milk)weed
Growability: Easy to grow
Grow Zone: 3-9
Size: 2’ feet tall and wide
Flowering: Summer to early fall
Water: Drought tolerant but needs regular watering

during the first growing season

Showy Milkweed

Botanical Name: Asclepias speciosa
Common Name: Showy Milkweed
Growability: Medium growth rate, easy to grow
Grow Zone: 3-9
Plant type: Deciduous, perennial, herbaceous plant

Size: 36-48 inches, spreads laterally by rhizomes forming dense patches
Flowering: June to August
Watering: Medium water or damp conditions
Plant uses: Important plant for pollinators, specifically butterflies and hummingbirds

Swamp Milkweed

Botanical Name: Aaclepias incarnata
Common Name: Swamp Milkweed, Rose Milkweed, White Indian Hemp
Growability: Full to partial sun conditions, with direct sun exposure lasting for up to 6 hours a day, is required for maximum growth.
Grow Zone: 3 – 6
Plant type: Herbaceous perennial
Size: 3-5 feet high, 2-3 feet wide
Flowering: Summer
Watering: High water use
Plant uses: Nectar source for butterflies and other pollinators

Propagating Common Milkweed Plants

Propagating common milkweed by taking cuttings can be easier than dividing rhizomes because milkweed tends to grow deep taproots, which can be tricky to dig up. With cuttings, you can create new plants in a short period of time which is ideal if you want to get a quick start to creating a butterfly garden. Here's how to propagate milkweed plants via cuttings:

Take cuttings of common milkweed in the middle of the summer when stems are green. With a sharp, sterilized garden cutting tool, cut stems that are four inches long. Choose green stems with three to five leaf nodes.
Remove the lower leaves of each stem and keep the top two pairs intact. Coat the bottom of the stems with a rooting hormone.
Place stems standing up in potting medium that is an 80/20 mix of perlite to peat moss.
Place pots in a shady cool spot out of any direct sunlight while the stem is forming roots. Keep the soil evenly and continuously moist.
When roots have formed, transplant the cuttings into the ground within six to ten weeks.

How to Grow Milkweed From Seed

Outdoors

Common milkweed seeds scatter on their own when the seed pods burst open in the fall. The flowers produce warty seed pods two to four inches long that split when ripe to cast many fine seeds to the wind. If you let the plant go to seed, they will sprout in distant corners of your yard (and beyond), thanks to the silky appendages that allow the seeds to waft on the slightest breeze. They are rather like the seeds of dandelions in this regard. This occurs right before the onset of cold weather so the seeds can naturally go through cold stratification. You can mimic nature by simply scattering milkweed seeds in the late fall, on a weed-free site, and cover them with no more than ¼ inch of soil.

Indoors

The alternative is to start common milkweed seeds indoors. Take into consideration that the cold stratification process to increase the germination rate takes 30 days so start the seeds sometime in March. Here's how it’s done:

Wrap the seeds in a damp paper towel and place them in a zippered plastic bag in the refrigerator. Leave it undisturbed for about 30 days.
Fill peat pots 3/4 of the way with seed-starting potting soil. Moisten the soil until it is just damp.
Place one or two seeds in each pot. Cover the seed with a 1/4 inch of soil.
Water the seed from the bottom up. Put the peat pots on a flat pan and add 1/2 inch of water to the tray. The pots will absorb the water.
Place the pots on a sunny windowsill, under grow lights, or in a greenhouse. Keep the seeds evenly moist. You can expect sprouts within two weeks.
Transplant the peat pots directly in the ground in the spring. The pots break down over time without disrupting the roots of the milkweed.

However, it is important not to use pesticides on milkweed or any other plants in a butterfly or pollinator garden, as the same chemicals that kill destructive insects will also kill butterflies and larvae. Instead, one may use a hose, spray bottle or fingernails to scrape off predators.

Questions? Contact Jane