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Asclepias fascicularis (Narrow-leaved Milkweed) - An easy to grow native perennial that grows 2 to 3 feet tall by an equal width and rhizomes that spread the plant to form small stands. It has narrow mid-green 5-inch-long leaves bundled in fascicles and attractive 2 inch wide clusters of rose-pink flowers through the summer and then in late summer goes dormant to re-emerges in mid-spring.
Best planted in full sun but will grow in part sun at the sacrifice of flowers. Accepts water when given but this drought tolerant plant can be grown extremely dry and is tolerant of a wide range of soil types, including clay. In its dormant state it is hardy to winter temperatures below 0° F and useful in gardens in USDA Zones 6 through 10. This attractive plant provides food for monarch butterfly caterpillars and provides nectar for hummingbirds and nest building materials for other birds.
Asclepias fascicularis has a wide natural distribution eastern Washington, and Idaho west to Oregon and south through California and Nevada into Baja California and is generally more garden tolerant that other native milkweeds. The name for the genus was one that Carl Linnaeus ascribed after Asclepius (Asklepios), the Greek god of medicine and healing because of the many folk-medicinal uses for the milkweed plants. The specific epithet is from a Latin word 'fasciculus' meaning "bundles" in reference to the way the leaves are attached to the stem in bunches called fascicles.
This information about Asclepias fascicularis 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.
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