Field of Science

Friday Fabulous Flower - Swamp Milkweed

Well, just like that the Phactor is two days late on posting a new fabulous flower. How does that happen? Milkweeds are much under appreciated as having beautiful flowers. The individual flowers aren't big, but they grow in some huge clusters and in some great colors too. As a native wildflower, one of the best is swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). The native plant is quite handsome and a number of pretty vividly colored cultivars are in the market too. It's a bit of a struggle for our garden because of the late summer heat and accompanying drought. As its name suggests, swamp milkweed like a wet setting. This one was growing on a shore. And few flowers attract more butterflies than do milkweeds.

2 comments:

Diane said...

Is it as fragrant as common milkweed? I let mine get a bit out of hand because of the butterflies and the scent but this year my daughter discovered that the shoots are quite tasty and do NOT require any changes of water while cooking. I no longer have a milkweed problem although we did leave a couple to propagate.

The Phytophactor said...

No, this species doesn't seem to be as fragrant as the common milkweed.
Just like lettuce, edibility is related to the immaturity of laticifers - no latex, no bitter taste.