Full Sun
ORPartial Sun
Low
Plant favors dry, sand or gravel soil, but has also been reported on stream margins. It requires full sun. (1)
Do not over water this plant as it prefers a drier soil condition.
Plant dies down completely to the ground at end of growing season.
Plant breaks dormancy and shows shoots very late in Spring.
Produces a long tap root, doesn’t like to be disturbed.
Deadhead before seed pods set to prolong bloom.
Deer resistant.
Be patient when growing Butterfly weed from seed. Continue to water even if it appears that your seeds are not germinating. As this plant has a long taproot, it may be growing under the surface for a long time before a leaf emerges.
Butterfly Weed may take up to two years to become established from seed. (2)
By dividing rhizomes, tubers, corms or bulbs (including offsets)
Plant in late winter/early spring. Fresh seeds need chilling to germinate. Cold stratification can improve chances of flowering in the first year. A fridge or freezer can substitute for cold weather. A few days chilling can be sufficient. Can be kept in the fridge closely monitored for up to 1 month. Seeds which have sprouted should be removed from the fridge and planted immediately.
From seed; direct sow outdoors in fall
From seed; winter sow in vented containers, coldframe or unheated greenhouse.
From seed; stratify if sowing indoors (3)
By our calculations*, you should look at sowing Butterfly weed about 21 days before your last frost date .
Butterfly weed has a long tap root and does not like to be disturbed. If starting indoors, transplant out early while the taproot is still small.
This plant favors dry, sand or gravel soil, but has also been reported on stream margins. It requires full sun. (1)
Ensure that temperatures are mild and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Butterfly weed is a very hardy plant.Seed pods are large and full of hundreds of dark brown, teardrop shaped seeds with fluffy white parachutes attached to each seed. The dried, splitting pod may be collected easily with seeds lined up inside rows. Green pods without seams are not ripe.
Keep seeds in pod and allow to dry out. Can be sown in fall or frozen in freezer a few days before starting.
These estimates for how long Butterfly weed takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world.
Average 7 days | Min 2 days | Max 112 days (9)
Average days | Min days | Max days (0)
Average days | Min days | Max days (0)
Our when to plant Butterfly weed estimates are relative to your last frost date.
The root was chewed by Native Americans for pleurisy hence the name pleurisy root.4
Extracts in herbalism and by Native Americans were used as an expectorant for wet coughs and other pulmonary ailments. Use of the herb is contraindicated in pregnancy, during lactation. (1)
This plant is a host for the Monarch Butterfly. 5 Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) is the only plant Monarchs will lay their eggs on, thus planting Milkweed is necessary for the survival of the species. Once hatched, Monarch caterpillars use the leaves of the host Milkweed plant as their first food source.
During WWII the silky part attached to the seeds was used for life jackets.789 Milkweed is more bouyant then cork by 5 or 6 fold.789
Canada root, Chigger flower, Chiggerflower, Fluxroot, Indian paintbrush, Indian posy, Orange milkweed, Orange swallow-wort, Pleurisy root, Silky swallow-wort, Tuber root, Yellow milkweed, White-root, Windroot, Orange butterflyweed, Butterfly Milkweed, Chigger Weed
7 Native Plant Society of Texas
9 “Your Country’s Armed Services Need Milkweed Floss: How You Can Help” :https://archive.org/stream/YourCountrysArmedServicesNeedMilkweedFlossHowYouCanHelp/YourCountrysArmedServicesNeedMilkweedFlossHowYouCanHelp_djvu.txt