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. 

This information about Asclepias speciosa displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.