Swamp Milkweed Seeds (Asclepias incarnata)

Largely a species east of the Rocky Mountains where it occurs from New England to Florida and west into the Great Plains, swamp milkweed does occur naturally in the West as well, but primarily in Idaho, Utah, and parts of the Yellowstone Basin. This is tall-statured plant (upwards of 5-feet in height) that thrives most in wet ground –rain gardens, stormwater retention ponds, street bioswales, and backyard water gardens. When planted among native wetland grasses and bullrushes, this is probably an excellent species for engineered wetland wastewater and surface runoff treatment systems. Or, simply plant it around rooftop downspouts on the sunny side of a house for a dramatic residential foundation plant. With brilliantly magenta-colored flowers, this plant attracts incredible numbers of big, showy pollinators, milkweed specialist herbivores, and is considered a choice monarch butterfly host plant – in one research study monarchs were shown to select swamp milkweed most frequently for egg