Asclepias perennis – Aquatic Milkweed
Aquatic Milkweed is a petite white milkweed suitable for wet soils. It survives in water and will grow in light-sandy and medium-loamy soils. Native to stream sides it is generally most common in lightly shaded woodlands near streams. This little milkweed is a great performer, being shade tolerant and flowering spring through autumn.
Available to ship mid-late June.
Asclepias purpurascens – Purple Milkweed
DISTRIBUTION
USA: AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SD, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV
Asclepias purpurascens – Purple Milkweed is a Michigan native milkweed and is native to most of the eastern United States though it is uncommon to rare in cultivated gardens. Similar to Ascelpeias syriaca (Common Milkweed) it is an excellent garden choice due to its non-invasive nature. It has a long bloom season and the fragrant, intense rosy pink flowers attract numerous insects and butterflies. Purple Milkweed is very tolerant of a wide variety of soils and light levels making it easy to grow. It will tolerate shade, but blooms better in the sun. It commonly occurs in dry to moist open woods, dry ridge tops, thickets, glades, prairie openings, stream banks and wet meadows.
All of our plants are grown without the use of harmful pesticides and are safe for developing larvae.
Grown in 4.5″ square pot.
Available mid-late June 2017
Asclepias sullivantii – Sullivant’s Milkweed / Prairie Milkweed
Winner of the 2015 Green Thumb Award for Best New Product!
Also known as Prairie Milkweed, Sullivant’s Milkweed is a long-lived perennial and a well-behaved relative of Common Milkweed. Very similar in appearance, it is less aggressive and an excellent choice for butterfly gardens. Prairie Milkweed grows best in a sunny, medium to medium-moist garden. The pinkish, mauve flowers are very fragrant and attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. Sullivant’s Milkweed is listed as ‘threatened’ in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan.
Available – May 2017
Asclepias syriaca – Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca Common Milkweed is the plant most people think of when they hear the word ‘milkweed’. This Michigan native occurs throughout most of the United States and thrives in almost any well drained soil and produces a profusion of fragrant mauve colored flowers in midsummer. The sweet scented flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators and beneficial insects. Of all the milkweeds this is the easiest and fastest to establish, yet it is known to be invasive and must be used with care. This milkweed grows best in full sun and average to well-drained soil with no irrigation and will tolerate extreme conditions.
Available May 2017
Asclepias tuberosa – Butterfly Weed Milkweed
The Perennial Plant Association is proud to announce Asclepias tuberosa as its 2017 Perennial Plant of the Year™.
Asclepias tuberosa-Butterfly Weed is one of the most well known wildflowers with its clusters of orange flowers. Native to Michigan and widely distributed throughout the United States, Butterfly Weed is a vigorous milkweed variety that produces clusters of flowers that bloom from early summer until frost. It is a nectar favorite for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies as well as host plant for the Monarch butterfly. Like most Asclepias, this plant is happiest in well-drained soils. It is a great milkweed for a sunny location in a dry area. Mature plants in ideal locations can make as many as 20 stems at an average height of 2’. The vivid orange color, low mounded profile, and ability to attract and sustain butterflies make this plant a well-known favorite for all types of gardens. Butterfly Weed makes an excellent cut flower.
Asclepias verticillata – Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias verticillata
Asclepias verticillata Whorled Milkweed is a Michigan Native and one of the most broadly distributed of all milkweeds in the United States . It likes dry sandy, clayey or rocky soil in sun or part shade and can be found growing in a variety of environments from hill prairies to woodland openings. It is listed as rare or threatened in some of its northeastern range.
This petite milkweed blooms later in the year than most milkweed and is a common late season host plant for Monarch larvae. Flowers are white to greenish white and attract many insects including butterflies and bees. It is deer and rabbit-resistant. Also known as Horsetail Milkweed.
*Available late May.
Grown in 4.5″ square pot.
All of our plants are grown without the use of harmful pesticides and are safe for developing larvae.
Asclepias viridiflora – Short Green Milkweed
Asclepias viridiflora Short Green Milkweed is a Michigan native milkweed. While somewhat rare it has an extensive range throughout the United States. The plant matures to 1-3′ in height making it a nice choice for borders. Short Green Milkweed blooms during early summer with blooms lasting about three weeks. Flowers are light green to green and as the plant matures the flowers begin to turn yellowish green or purplish green. It prefers full to partial sun and grows in a variety of soils but prefers dry-mesic to mesic. Habitats include openings in upland forests that are rocky or sandy; upland black soil prairies, sand prairies, gravel prairies, and hill prairies; barrens, limestone glades, and sand dunes; and abandoned fields.
The flowers attract bumblebees and butterflies. Also known as Green Milkweed, Green Comet Milkweed, Green Antelopehorn Milkweed, Green-Flowered Milkweed.
Asclepias viridis – Spider Milkweed
Spider Milkweed is also commonly known as Green Antelopehorn Milkweed. In Texas, it is quite common and is considered an important food source for the Monarchs as they start their spring migration northward. Spider Milkweed has a native range of Texas north to Nebraska and eastward as far as West Virginia and South Carolina. It can be found along roadsides, ditches, prairies, open areas, and other areas with little vegetative competition. This species tends to be short (12 inches) with multiple stems emerging from the root crown of mature plants. Taller, more erect plants, usually with one or a few stems, can be found in moist prairies. Spider Milkweed features rose-white flowers surrounded by green that form in showy umbellated clusters, often one per plant.
Available – May 2017
Asimina triloba – Paw Paw
Easily grown in average, medium to wet, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, acidic, fertile soils. Will grow in shade but becomes leggy.
Baptisia australis – Blue False Indigo
Wild Indigo Duskywing / Eastern Tailed-Blue / Orange Sulphur / Clouded Sulphur / Frosted Elfin / Hoary Edge
Blue spikes of pea-shaped flowers resemble the tall racemes of lupines in May and early June. A slow to mature, but very rewarding native garden perennial. Found in open woods, river banks and sandy floodplains, New York to Nebraska to Georgia.
Boehmeria cylindrica – False Nettle
Host Plant – Red Admiral, Eastern Comma, Question Mark Preferring wet-mesic and semi-shady sites, Boehmeria cylindrica lacks the stinging hairs of some of its nettle cousins. Stringy heads of tiny yellow-green flowers form between leaf stems in summer. Moths and butterflies are attracted to this modest plant.
Ceanothus americanus – New Jersey Tea
Host Plant – Eastern Tailed Blue / Spring Azure / Summer Azure
A deciduous shrub that grows just 3′ tall, the dried leaves of New Jersey Tea make a flavorful tea that was popular during the Revolutionary War. This extremely adaptable species can withstand inhospitable conditions because of massive, deep roots.
The white flower poms are attractive to butterflies, hummingbirds and pollinators.
New Jersey Tea is excellent as a shrub border and a is a fabulous addition for native plant gardens. It is also effective as a shrubby ground cover for hard-to-grow areas such as dry rocky slopes and banks. Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in sandy loams or rocky soils with good drainage. Thick, woody, red roots go deep and help plant withstand droughty conditions, but make established shrubs difficult to transplant.
Grown in one quart pot with approximately 6” of top growth.
Plants grown without harmful pesticides and are safe for butterfly gardens.