Asclepias tuberosa, 'Butterfly Weed'

Most people are familiar with milkweed as the host plant for the Monarch butterfly. However, milkweed is so much more than just a butterfly plant. Milkweeds are one of our most stunning and attractive native wildflowers. Boasting fantastically bold colors such as luscious orange and creamy-lipstick pink, milkweeds are garden gems that no landscape should be without.

[Note from the Behnke Perennial Buyer: we try to have Asclepias tuberosa in stock in season, which is late April through August. Right now we have several dozen at Behnke’s at Beltsville, a handful at Potomac. Asclepias incarnata is most easy to obtain in April and May. Being tall, while it is nice in the ground, the latter tends to be unattractive in a pot in the summer. There are a few at Potomac.]

Asclepias tuberosa, 'Butterfly Weed'

Three milkweeds are indigenous to our area, but only two are widely available through retail nurseries. The most popular is butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa. Butterfly weed is an easy-care beauty for the sunny border. Laughing at drought, deer, and disease, this plant is as maintenance-free as it gets. With a color reminiscent of juicy oranges, butterfly weed is one of those seventy-mile-an-hour plants, meaning you can still see it from your car while driving down the highway at seventy miles an hour.

The show-stopping blooms on this plant aren’t the only attribute to this garden-winner. The butterfly weed in my garden has withstood temperatures hovering close to and above the one hundred degree mark, without even so much as a hint of rain, and it still looks as fresh and cool as a tall glass of orange juice.

Butterfly weed can grow from two to three feet tall and belongs in the front or middle of the border. Even though the blossoms are bold, butterfly weed blooms are not brash and look great paired with nearly any other color. For a show-stopping combination, try it with Liatris spicata, blazing star. The purple spikes of blazing star combined with the flat-topped orange flowers of butterfly weed are a stunning arrangement. Add some Panicum virgatum, switchgrass, for a soft background and some movement, and you have a native butterfly garden that will be the envy of the neighborhood.

Asclepias incarnata 'Swamp Milkweed'

On the other hand, as its name suggests, swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, requires a bit more moisture to keep it happy. However, swamp milkweed is no less a winner. Its beautiful rosy pink flowers lend a touch of tenderness and charm to the perennial border. Growing taller than its cousin the butterfly weed, swamp milkweed can easily reach three feet tall. Pair it with some yellow Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’ or Rudbeckia fulgida, otherwise known as black-eyed Susan. Add some Perovskia atriplicifolia, Russian sage, for the background; and you have just created an eye-catching vignette that will certainly catch the attention of all the butterflies in the neighborhood.

Milkweeds are most often known as the host plants for the dynamic orange and black monarch butterfly. The color of the butterfly, and its familiar white-yellow-and black-striped caterpillar, advertise its toxicity to predators and therefore keep it safe from marauding birds. Monarch butterflies can only survive on milkweed plants and follow the milkweed trail north in spring and back south in the fall during their extraordinary and implausible migration. So planting milkweeds in our landscapes will help the monarch butterflies to survive their impossibly long journey. However, monarchs are not the only insect that survives on milkweed. The elegant look-alike Queen butterfly is also dependent on milkweed as its larval host.

In addition, many curiously beautiful beetles enjoy milkweeds, such as the aptly named milkweed beetle, which resembles an oblong, whiskered ladybug with its red body and black polka dots. This beetle is a beauty to behold and, unfazed by close human contact, seems to stop and smile for my camera lens as I lean in close for a picture. But most of all, milkweeds offer the sweet, nutritious nectar that so many butterflies and other pollinators long for. Adding a few milkweed plants to your garden is almost like adding an entire butterfly garden in one plant. Butterflies, skippers, beetles, beeflies, and other pollinators dance from one flower to the next in utter delight, blissfully intoxicated by their drink of preference. It’s like a pollinator party!

In addition to feeding multiple insects by being a host plant and a nectar source, milkweeds produce soft downy fibers in late summer when their seeds mature. In nature, this down helps the seeds get carried off by gusts of wind so that new milkweed colonies can become established further away from the competition of the parent plants. These downy fibers are used by birds, particularly the American goldfinch, to line their nests and create soft cozy cups for their precious offspring. American goldfinches build their nests late in the summer when seeds become available as a food source, and when most other bird species have finished caring for their nestlings, so the silky milkweed fibers are available at the same time as the goldfinches are building their first nests of the season.

The fibers, although soft, are also strong, and historically have been used in textiles for making rope and twine. Sometimes the downy seed heads were used instead of feathers for stuffing beds and cushions. And since the downy fibers looked like soft, fine fur, they were also used in making hats. If you allow the seeds to mature and burst open in your own garden, you may be rewarded with some new plants the following spring. But be aware, milkweeds are slow to emerge in spring, and just when you thought your plants did not make it through the winter, they will finally awaken from their deep sleep. Mature milkweeds don’t like to be transplanted, since they have a long taproot, so transplant seedlings when they are still young to encourage success.

So if you are looking to add some new plants to your garden, why not try one of the milkweed species? Even if you already have some milkweed in your garden, studies show that butterflies find plants more easily that are grouped together, so it would be a good idea to add more milkweed plants to your landscape this year. The butterflies and goldfinches will thank you for it.

Natalie Brewer
Master Gardener

Oakleaf Hydrangea – Hydrangea quercifolia

Hydrangea quercifolia Pee Wee - Fall Color

A hydrangea with oak-shaped leaves! What will mother nature think of next? How about peeling bark, downy-silver new growth, cinnamon-orange stems, fragrant flowers and rich fall color?

This hydrangea’s got it all. Flowers are an ivory-white and draw bumble bees and even some butterflies. The best feature may be the fall foliage colors – maroon, red, scarlet and caramel-orange.

While native a bit further south of here, they are still perfectly hardy and well-adapted to our soil. Give them full sun for best color, but they are probably happiest in afternoon shade, where their leaves can grow up to 10” long or so! Ideal soil is moist and well-drained.

Hydrangea quercifolia

This hydrangea flowers on growth from the previous year like the mophead/lacecap types, so should be pruned when needed after flowers fade – not in spring.

Hydrangea quercifolia Pee Wee

There are many varieties to fit any area, from ‘Sikes Dwarf’ maturing around 3’ tall to ‘Snow Queen,’ ‘Alice’ and ‘Snowflake’ that reach from 6 to 8’ tall. ‘Pee Wee’ is the most well-known variety, growing 4-5’ tall and wide in 10 years or so. ‘Little Honey’ is the chartreuse-leaved version.

Hydrangea quercifolia Little Honey

Virginia Sweetspire – Itea virginica

Itea virginica

This is another locally native shrub and fantastic for multi-season interest. White flower clusters abound in late spring, and fresh green leaves cover the arching branches until fall, when they become a beacon of burgundy, red, orange and yellow.

Winter stems tend to stay deep red on young branches, and the dense root system is great for erosion control.

Since the flowers have a light sweet scent, they are a great draw for pollinators – bees and butterflies alike.

Itea virginica Henry's Garnet

Full sun will give you the richest fall colors, but in the wild these plants can also be found with other understory plants in the brighter spots in the woods.

Itea virginica Little Henry

Moist soils are a plus, and Sweetspire can even be happy in wet conditions. Mature height ranges by variety – from about 2-4’ for Little Henry™ to 3-5’ for ‘Henry’s Garnet’ – and each can spread to about 6’ wide. Any pruning needed should be done after flowering.

Winterberry Holly – Ilex verticillata

Ilex verticillata Winter Gold

Well this shrub at least has name that reminds us of why we love them – winter berries! A holly that doesn’t act like the hollies you’re familiar with – not prickly and not evergreen – and native to boot.

Versatile plants, they grow in full sun and in the forest understory, and from average soils to wet muck. Small bees pollinate the spring flowers, and like many hollies, plants are either male or female.

You must have at least one male in the area as a pollinator or no berries will form on the female plants. The ratio doesn’t have to be 1:1, and males can be many feet away if necessary. Berries start showing color in late summer or fall and tend to last most of the winter, since the birds don’t like them fresh. Cut branches are a great holiday decoration if you keep them dry and away from adventurous children (holly berries are harmful if ingested).

Ilex verticillata Winter Gold

There are many varieties around today, differing mostly in plant size and berry characteristics. Those we have in stock now are Berry Nice®, Berry Heavy®, and ‘Winter Gold.’

The first two are very similar, with a 6-8’ mature height and tons of medium-sized red berries. The latter is the same height, but with berries that are a golden-apricot color. Males for pollination are ‘Jim Dandy’ and ‘Southern Gentleman.’

Ilex verticillata Southern Gentleman - Fall Color

Two hybrids with Japanese Winterberries were introduced by the U.S. National Arboretum: ‘Sparkleberry’ (female) and ‘Apollo’ (male). Both are faster growers and mature taller at around 8-10’ with plum-purple new leaves.

Ilex x Sparkleberry

‘Sparkleberry’ berries ripen the earliest and are smaller but profuse. While not known for fall leaf color, I have seen vibrant golden-yellows on both ‘Southern Gentleman’ and ‘Winter Gold.’

Ilex verticillata Red Sprite

Chokeberry – Aronia

Aronia melanocarpa Autumn Magic

One of those plants that really should have a better name, this native flowering shrub gives you great multi-season interest.

In spring, clusters of white flowers attract all sorts of pollinators. The flowers develop into berries later in the season. As you might expect, Red Chokeberry has red berries; Black Chokeberry has purple-black berries.

Leaves are glossy green in the summer and become glowing shades of red, scarlet, orange and rich burgundy in fall. The bark is a nice smooth gray and not unattractive in winter.

Aronia melanocarpa Viking

Aronia melanocarpa is known as Black Chokeberry, and is the earlier of the two to ripen fruit, usually as early as mid-July. Birds also seem to favor this species, as the berries are typically gone within several weeks of ripening. Fall foliage tends to be on the burgundy to red scale, and the plant doesn’t spread as vigorously. The variety in stock now is ‘Viking,’ which is typical of the species at about 3-6’ tall and potentially twice as wide. Fruits are edible and supposedly a good source of Vitamin C, but they are bitter and astringent when raw. Try sweetening with sugar and use as a jelly or jam for they are rich in pectin; you can also mix them in with sweeter fruit juices or syrups.

Aronia arbutifolia

Aronia arbutifolia, Red Chokeberry, ripens fruit later – usually early fall. The berries must not be as attractive to birds since they last well into winter. This species also tends to sucker more– creeping roots sprout stems and create a good-sized colony. This trait is an excellent way to control erosion or fill in an area with fewer plants. Fall color on Red Chokeberries tends to be bright red, scarlet and orange, and the plants typically grow 6-8’ tall and 3-5’ wide or more.

Aronia arbutifolia Brilliantissima

The variety we have in stock is ‘Brilliantissima,’ which flowers & fruits more heavily than the wild type. Both Chokeberries grow best in full sun, but are adaptable to a range of soils, from swampy to sandy. Growth will be faster in moist soils, and plants will tolerate growing in spots of light under shade trees, but may be leggy at the base (that’s okay, put some ferns down there!)