Common Name: Swamp Milkweed

Latin Name: Aclepias incarnata

Height: 4 feet tall

Duration: Perennial

Bloom Color: Pink

Bloom Time: June - August

Water Use: High

Soil: Wet, Medium-Wet, Medium. One of the few ornamentals that thrives in mucky clay soils.

Light Requirement: Full Sun, Partial Shade

Spreads via seeds (not aggressive)

Host to many species of caterpillars including the Monarch butterfly, milkweed tussock moth, and the Unexpected Cycnia moth. Larvae of milkweed bugs and milkweed beetles also feed on the plant. 

Pollinators: Bumblebees, long-horned bees, Halictid bees, Sphecid wasps, Vespid wasps, Tiphiid wasps, Tachinid flies, swallowtail butterflies, Monarch butterflies, and skippers. Also attracts hummingbirds.      

Other Information:  Foliage is both bitter and toxic, so it is usually not eaten by deer or rabbits. All milkweed will have aphids - this is not a problem. Natural predators like lacewings and ladybugs will hunt these pests, there is no need for pesticides, soaps, or spraying the plant with water. These practices will harm the beneficial insects that need the milkweed to survive.