Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

Whorled milkweed is an attractive, skinny-leaved species that only grows 2 feet tall.  It is beautiful in a flower garden!  However, I'm a little concerned it may be too invasive for many gardeners.  By the end of the summer I did have a number of new shoots growing around my original plants, and online, some people consider it aggressive.   As you can see below, it doesn't look much like a common milkweed.  Here is what it looked like in my research plot on August 15th.:

I also planted whorled in a couple of other flower beds, and despite the insignificant leaf, they did support monarch larvae.  In fact, in my research plot this summer, whorled milkweed ranked 4th out of the 9 milkweed species planted, with 25 monarch, 15 eggs and 10 larvae.  As you can see in this photo taken July 31st, it even supported a 5th instar monarch larva.

Whorled milkweed blooms a little later than most milkweed, (July to September) and the white flowers attract many insects.  They are supposed to be deer and rabbit resistant, but my rabbits loved it, or at least loved to chomp the tops off.  I planted a wave of whorled milkweed beside monarda, so I am anxious to see how invasive it will be in the next few years.  In the photo below, the whorled milkweed is on the left (with the yardstick in the middle of them), and there is a wave of bee balm directly above them to their right.  Lantana, butterfly weed and black-eyed susan are above the monarda.