- Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a hardy perennial that will thrive almost anywhere in the United States, especially east of the Rockies and into Canada. It needs sun, reaches 2 to 6 feet tall with wide gray-green velvety leaves, and is an aggressive grower. Don’t plant this in your flowerbed or it will take over. It has a wide-spreading root system and needs an area all its own where it can really stretch out. It has pale purple-pink flowers that are very fragrant and attract many pollinators in addition to monarch butterflies. The Monarch Butterfly uses it as a home to breed by laying eggs and transforming them into butterflies.
Wit and Wisdom
- The genus name, Asclepias, commemorates Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine.
- Native Americans taught early European settlers how to cook milkweed so that it could be safely eaten.
- The milky white sap was applied topically to remove warts, and the roots were chewed to cure dysentery.
- Infusions of the roots and leaves were taken to suppress coughs and used to treat typhus fever and asthma.
- The stems’ tough, stringy fibers were twisted into strong twine and rope or woven into coarse fabric.
- Inside milkweed seed pods is fluffy white floss attached to brown seeds. The floss was used to stuff pillows, mattresses, and quilts and was carried as tinder to start fires.
- Milkweed is the state wildflower of Illinois.
- During World War II, the regular material used to stuff life jackets was in short supply, so milkweed floss was used as a substitute—it is about six times more buoyant than cork.
To see and smell an abundance of the common Milkweed, stop by our offices at 92 Northbound Gratiot, where the Milkweed is in full bloom.
If you would like to help out in any of our gardens or have Iris, Black-eyed Susan or Coneflowers to donate, please contact us at mcep99@gmail.com or call 586.783.6008.