My hot border would not really be hot without the bright intense orange of butterfly weed’s flowers. I have struggled for two years getting my butterfly weeds to grow and bloom in my hot border and I am proud to say that they are finally blooming away and brightening the whole area. It is sad that this plant has to have “weed’ in its name because it is well behaved and offers a lot to any border.
You can guess from the name that it attracts butterflies; the monarch to be exact. When a monarch eats the butterfly weed it takes in poisonous alkaloids that make them taste bad to birds and thus the bird learns quickly to avoid monarchs. Pretty nifty! And that is not the only interesting fact about this wonderful plant. It has a fascinating flower; the flowers are borne in clusters that contain nectar cups each with incurved horns. When a bee or other pollinator lands on the flower, its foot slips between the cups and its legs pick up bags of pollen. When the pollinator goes to the next flower its legs again slip between the cups and the horns pull the bags of pollen off the pollinator’s legs. How is that for unique?
Type: Herbaceous perennial.
Bloom: Bright orange small flowers are borne in clusters in summer.
Size: 24-36”H x 24-36”W.
Light: Full sun.
Soil: Poor to average well drained, dry soil.
Fertilizer: None needed.
Hardiness: Zones 3-8.
Care: No special care required.
Pests and Diseases: Caterpillar of the monarch butterfly.
Propagation: A long tap root makes butterfly weed difficult to transplant
but starting from seed is relatively easy.
Companion plants: The wildflower background of this plant makes it a good companion to grasses. The orange color goes well with the browns of the grass seed heads. The orange color is also well paired with crocosmia, scarlet Asiatic lilies, various day lilies with orange and red markings, and torch lily. For a striking contrast in color pair it with blue flowers such as balloon flower.
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I have some of this, grown from seed, in my front garden, sitting in front of lavender. It’s… well, striking is definitely a word for it. If I had a do-over, I’d pair it with something a little more blue and a little less purple, but I like it where it is and so do the butterflies!
Sounds like a stunning combination; and if you AND the buttterflies like it, it must be a winner!