Asclepias speciosa, Showy Milkweed

Showy milkweed is a hairy, erect perennial that grows to about 4 feet tall. The large, blue-green, flat leaves are arranged opposite on the stem. Eye-catching pale pink to pinkish-purple flowers are arranged in large mounds atop the stems. Striking in bloom—definitely showy.

Milkweed likes full sun and moisture; the more irrigation it gets the more it spreads by underground rhizomes, forming an expanding clump. Showy Milkweed is a host plant for the Monarch butterfly, which will only lay her eggs on plants in the milkweed family. That is all the caterpillars eat when they hatch, thereby consuming the alkaloids in the sap, which provide protection by making them taste awful to predators. The seed pods are large, rough boat-shaped pods close to the stem and filled with many flat oval seeds, each attached to a luxuriant silky plume that will carry it on the wind.

Plants must be cut to the ground in late fall so the Monarchs aren’t tempted to lay eggs on them that won’t survive the winter. By fall, the leaves may have all yellowed and fallen off anyway. Mark it with a stake so you can find it in the spring. Showy Milkweed is found in the Sierras and Coast Ranges, from Tulare County to Modoc and Siskiyou Counties.