Butterfly Weed (asclepias tuburosa) and Mexican Butterfly Weed (asclepias curassavica) are drought tolerant species of milkweed native to North America. They have clusters of small bright yellow to orange flowers. In the winter Butterfly Weed (a. tuburosa) dies to the ground and comes back from its underground tuber in the spring. Mexican Butterfly Weed doesn’t handle hard freezes as well and doesn’t come back in northern climates.

In our yard Mexican Butterfly Weed starts to bloom in spring and stays in bloom all the way into Fall. We have it planted in a couple locations and I intend to add more. Butterfly Weed is named so because of the butterflies it attracts. It’s the larval host for the Monarch Butterfly.

Mexican Butterfly Weed covered in Oleander/Milkweed Aphids (thanks Melissa Lorraine Hagen!)

In addition to butterflies it also attracts brightly colored yellowish-orange Oleander Aphids. Butterflies are nice but it’s the Oleander Aphids we’re trying to attract. Why Oleander Aphids? Oleander Aphids only bother Oleander and Milkweed species so no worry of them spreading to other plants. When the Oleander Aphids show up so do the ladybugs, mealybug destroyers and parasitic wasps that pray on them. The Oleander aphids cannot leave the Butterfly Weed, but the beneficial predators will in search of more prey. The more habitat you supply for your predatory insects the better chance you’ll have them in your garden when other pests show up.

I’ve read they don’t transplant well but both of ours came from nurseries as plants and we never had any issue with either. They may be propagated by division in the spring and I intend to try this once they get established enough. Seeds may also be collected in the fall. Seeds need cold treatment to germinate.

Butterfly Milkweed is also listed in “Native American Ethnobotony” as a medicinal plant used by many North American Indian tribes. Mostly as a pulmonary and respiratory aid. Search the internet for it’s common name, Pleurisy Root, for a wealth of information far beyond the scope of this entry.