Plant out in the open in full sun in most any soil and irrigate only occasionally to very little once established - this is a drought tolerant plant and is very hardy in its deciduous state, tolerating winter temperatures well below zero and useful down to USDA zone 4. It is very showy in bloom and was long used by the indigenous native American peoples for medicinal purposes and as a food source (it is considered one of the least toxic of the milkweeds). It is a food and habitat plant for the Monarch Butterfly and the flowers are attractive to hummingbirds.

Asclepias speciosa is native through much of western North America and in California from northern central California to the borders with Nevada and Oregon, where is grows in open clearings in mixed-evergreen and Yellow Pine forests. The name for the genus was one that Carl Linnaeus ascribed after Asklepios, the Greek god of healing, for the many medicinal uses of milkweed plants. The specific epithet is the Latin word for "beautiful" or "showy" in reference to this plant's attractive flowers. Our plants from seed purchased from Seed Hunt and we thank Ginny Hunt for the use of the image of the plant on this page. 

The information about Asclepias speciosa that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.