Jill's Plant of the Month
Jill's Plant of the Month features native flowers, shrubs, or trees you can plant in your landscape to enhance its beauty and feed our bees, butterflies, birds, and other creatures.
Marsh Milkweed, also known as Swamp Milkweed, Red Milkweed, and Rose Milkweed, grows in marshes and prairies and along streams and lakes. This fragrant flower with beautiful magenta blooms is well-known for being a host to the iconic Monarch Butterfly. Marsh Milkweed with its abundant nectar also attracts a wide variety of beneficial insects such as butterflies, bees, wasps, and beetles. Unlike Common Milkweed, Marsh Milkweed has fibrous roots and will not spread as much. Plant Marsh Milkweed in full to part sun in moist to wet soil. In dryer soil, if you keep Marsh Milkweed well-watered, it will grow nicely. It is an excellent plant for a rain garden, shoreline plantings or a butterfly garden. Grow with other moisture-loving plants like Cardinal Flower, Joe Pye Weed, Ironweed and native sedges. – Jill Trochlell-Ziehr
Marsh Milkweed, also known as Swamp Milkweed, Red Milkweed, and Rose Milkweed, grows in marshes and prairies and along streams and lakes. This fragrant flower with beautiful magenta blooms is well-known for being a host to the iconic Monarch Butterfly. Marsh Milkweed with its abundant nectar also attracts a wide variety of beneficial insects such as butterflies, bees, wasps, and beetles. Unlike Common Milkweed, Marsh Milkweed has fibrous roots and will not spread as much. Plant Marsh Milkweed in full to part sun in moist to wet soil. In dryer soil, if you keep Marsh Milkweed well-watered, it will grow nicely. It is an excellent plant for a rain garden, shoreline plantings or a butterfly garden. Grow with other moisture-loving plants like Cardinal Flower, Joe Pye Weed, Ironweed and native sedges. – Jill Trochlell-Ziehr