Showy milkweed

Asclepias speciosa

The western monarch's host, with big pink star clusters.

Type: herb or perennial · native and wild plants
Hardiness: zones 3 to 9
Light: full sun
Size: about 3 ft tall, 2 ft wide
From: W. North America
Drought-hardy once established
Here: Hardy in the Lake Erie shore climate (zone 6b to 7a), so it can live outdoors in the ground.

Good for: pollinators, butterfly and moth caterpillars.

Native to: Rockies & Great Basin, Pacific Northwest, California, Great Plains & Texas, Western Canada, Desert Southwest. Hardy in zones 3 to 9.

The story

Showy milkweed is the West's main monarch nursery. Its flowers are pink stars the size of a thumbnail, packed into balls. During the Second World War, schoolchildren gathered milkweed floss by the ton to stuff life jackets.

Planting

Full sun and average soil. Give it a bed of its own, or a place where it can roam.

Growing

Water to establish. It spreads by underground runners; pull the ones you don't want.

Harvest and use

Nectar for bees and butterflies, and the leaves monarch caterpillars need across the western flyway.

What to watch for

It runs. The sap is an irritant, and the plant is toxic to livestock.

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More native and wild plants

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home