Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

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Botanical name: Asclepias incarnata • Bloom season: Summer‍ ‍• Bloom color: Mauve-pink‍ ‍• Pollinator value: Monarch host; strong nectar plant for bees and swallowtails‍ ‍• Host plant: Monarch, Milkweed tussock moth

Upright stems topped with domed clusters of mauve-pink, and a light vanilla scent on a warm evening. It is the milkweed for a wet spot: the one place in a Northern Nevada garden where the soil stays damp. Monarch caterpillars feed on it, and the flowers pull in swallowtails and bumblebees at the height of summer.

Botanical name: Asclepias incarnata • Bloom season: Summer‍ ‍• Bloom color: Mauve-pink‍ ‍• Pollinator value: Monarch host; strong nectar plant for bees and swallowtails‍ ‍• Host plant: Monarch, Milkweed tussock moth

Upright stems topped with domed clusters of mauve-pink, and a light vanilla scent on a warm evening. It is the milkweed for a wet spot: the one place in a Northern Nevada garden where the soil stays damp. Monarch caterpillars feed on it, and the flowers pull in swallowtails and bumblebees at the height of summer.

Size:

Plant Characteristics

Botanical Name: Asclepias incarnata

Common Name: Swamp Milkweed

Native: Native

Native Region: Eastern & Central N.A. (outside western regions)

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Moderate

Bloom Time: Summer

Bloom Color: Mauve-pink

Pollinators: Bees; Butterflies; Moths

Host Plant: Monarch, Milkweed tussock moth

Deer Resistant: Yes

Mature Size: W 2'-3' x H 3'-4'

Soil: Moist to average; the one milkweed here that wants regular water

Pollinator Value: Strong nectar plant for bees, monarchs, and swallowtails

Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Spread Habit: Clumping

Available As: Live plant

Growing Notes

Full sun and consistent moisture. This is the exception to the low-water rule that governs most of the shop, so put it where a downspout drains, at a pond edge, or in an irrigated bed. Space about 2 feet apart. Unlike showy milkweed it clumps rather than runs, so it behaves in a border.

  • Water: Moderate

  • Sun: Full Sun

  • Soil: Moist to average; the one milkweed here that wants regular water

  • Mature size: W 2'-3' x H 3'-4'

Maintenance

Leave stems standing through winter and cut back in late spring, keeping about a third for overwintering insects. Do not spray aphids; systemic insecticides move through the plant and kill monarch larvae. It emerges slowly in spring, often not showing until well into May, so mark its position to avoid digging into the crown. Divide only if you must, since the roots resent disturbance.