Milkweed Plant Care

The Asclepias syriaca, which is more commonly known as the milkweed plant, is a herbaceous plant, which is also known as Butterfly flower, silkweed, wild cotton, silky swallowwort, etc. These plants are found throughout the United States, in dry or swampy areas, as long as they get plenty of sunshine. This plant is called milkweed because it exudes a thick, sticky white sap from all its parts; stems, flowers and leaves. Milkweed plant care is not at all time and effort consuming.

Milkweed Plant Information
The milkweed plant is a perennial that grows from deep rhizome. The plant's main stem is mostly solitary, that branches out to many sturdy, rounded, hairy stems. The milkweed plant is generally five to six feet tall, although many new cultivated varieties are shorter in height and more branching. The leaves are simple, broad, and ovate in shape with a reddish stripe along the midrib, and sparsely hairy above, and densely hairy on the underside. The flowers bloom in late summer, and are tiny and grow in clusters of 20 - 100 per pod. Each flower has five petals, with an erect lobe that stands up. The flowers come in an array of pleasing colors; white, purple, red, pink, orange and yellow. The flowers exude a very heady perfume.

Milkweed Seeds
Milkweed is easily propagated through seeds and rhizome cuttings, thus, making milkweed plant care easy. While gardening, if you wish to grow milkweed from seeds, one can either buy the seeds from nurseries, or harvest them from previous years growths. Collect pods that have dried on the plant itself. Seeds are wind dispensed, so collect them carefully. Slit open the pod and collect the seeds in a paper. For sowing them, fill a seed tray with some potting soil, and moisten it, either by spray misting them or standing the tray in water for some time. The dampness of the soil will bind the seeds, that otherwise are quite prone to flying away. Evenly spread the seeds, and cover them with a thin layer of soil. Cover the seed tray with a plastic wrap, as this will prevent the soil from drying out. Keep misting the soil. The seeds will germinate in a week's time. At this stage, you need to move them towards more light. The soil should be kept moist, never wet. Once they reach a six leaf stage, transplant them. Read more on soil science.

Caring for the Milkweed
Milkweeds are non-fussy in nature, so milkweed plant care becomes quite easy. They are also invasive in nature, so their growth needs to be controlled. As they develop rhizomes, one can mow them down completely during winters. Mowing them down, anywhere from late spring to early summer, will result in no-show of flowers. If one has planted them in containers, move them indoors during winters as they are not frost tolerant. They do well with minimum fertilizing and water. As the plant contains milk sap, excess of fertilizer and water will set rot in them. Many pests inflict them, like aphids, true bug, etc. Using pesticide often gets rid of them.

Milkweed and Monarch Butterflies
Not only do milkweeds look great in flower gardens, but the monarch butterfly has quite a taste for the milkweed flower nectar. A female monarch lays its eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, where they hatch into yellow, black and white banded larvae. The milkweed is the only plant that the larvae can eat. The larvae develop into caterpillars about 2 inches long, and attach themselves heads down on a twig, eventually transforming into a chrysalis. And in two weeks, the chrysalis metamorphosis into a beautiful monarch butterfly. Read more on facts about monarch butterflies.

Although milkweed is an edible plant, it needs specific cooking care as the plant is toxic. The milk found in the plant is both acidic and slightly poisonous to many animals and birds, as well as humans. With very basic milkweed plant care, one can have plenty of monarch butterflies all over the place!