growing & crawling: MILKWEED

200 William St Downtown Fredericksburg 540-373-4421

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Growing & Crawling

make way for milkweed

The name Swamp Milkweed may not bring to mind the prettiest of images but that can't be further from the truth!

Asclepias incarnata, aka Swamp Milkweed, is a Virginia native that grows vigorously on roadsides, fields, marshes, and, of course, swamps. This Virginia native plant blooms May through August in our area and is a very important host and food source to many insects including our beloved Monarch butterfly. Most of the insects that depend on this milkweed have the same black and orange coloring as the monarch butterfly. This coloring serves as a defense mechanism called "aposematism" where their coloration warns predators of their toxic/bitter taste caused by cardiac glycosides which they acquire from the milkweed plant. These less famous insects include the creatively named red milkweed beetle, large and small milkweed bugs, and the swamp milkweed leaf beetle.

The swamp milkweed grows between 2 to 5 feet high and spreads vigorously in the right conditions. It sports beautiful, sweetly scented clusters of pink and purple flowers that give way to large seed pods that can produce more than 200 seeds. Each seed is attached to its own bit of white floof, called a pappus, that allows the seed to travel via wind. This process helps the milkweed spread far and wide and provide food and shelter to all of its brightly colored insects, making it a favorite among Virginia native plants!

By janet douberly

Janet Douberly is a Large Milkweed Employee at Downtown Greens.