Table of Contents for Charlottesville, VA Native or Nearly Native Milkweeds
There are fourteen species of native or nearly native Charlottesville milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) that can be grown for butterflies and other insects. Milkweeds are an important host species for monarch butterflies in Virginia. The monarch butterfly in particular uses the cardenolides found in the milky sap of milkweeds to give an unpleasant taste to predators. These plants are also an important nectar source to all insects visiting your pollinator garden.
General Information about Native Plant and Pollinator Gardens
When planting a native plant and pollinator garden in Charlottesville, VA, you need to ensure that you have a selection of plants that provide blooms at different times of the year. In addition to the plants, you need to provide a source of water such as a birdbath or water feature, shelter for animals, and nesting locations for birds. Be sure to also include plants of different heights for perching. Resources you can use for more information on butterfly gardening in Charlottesville, VA include the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, Cultivated Charlottesville, and the Albemarle County, VA native plant database.
Location of Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is located in central Virginia. Virginia has independent cities which function as counties, so for this blog post we will be talking about the City of Charlottesville only.
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones in Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, VA is located within Plant Hardiness Zone 7b. When selecting plants in the City of Charlottesville you will want to get those that can handle temperatures as cold as +50F.
Butterflies in Charlottesville, Virginia that are Hosted by Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.)
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
The monarch butterfly is an iconic butterfly in North America and is a bell-weather of the environment. Having a distinctive orange color with black stripes, this butterfly has a wingspan of 3 in (7.6 cm) to 5 in (12.7 cm). The monarch butterfly uses milkweed to get cardenolides, a toxin that is distasteful to predators. This butterfly can have several flights a year and is known for its migrations to Mexico each year. However, some populations in California, Arizona, and Florida do not migrate and breed year-round (Urguhart, et al 1968).
List of Milkweeds that are Native or Nearly Native in the Charlottesville, VA Area
1. Clasping Milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis), a Milkweed for Moist to Dry Soils
Clasping milkweed is found in open to semi-open places such as meadows, savannas, woodlands, and roadsides. While it likes full sun, this plant can handle part-shade and needs clay, loam, or sandy soil that is well-drained. Reproduction is through seeds and underground rhizomes. The pink to purple flower clusters have about 25 fragrant flowers each.
Facts about Clasping Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, throughout except for far western counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: dry woodlands, meadows, and roadsides
- Height: up to 3 ft (0.9 m)
- Flower Color: greenish-pink, red, brown, to purple
- Flowering Period: March to September
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Clasping Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to part-shade and moist to dry soils.
2. Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata), a Milkweed for Shade and Moist Soils
Poke milkweed is a part-shade to shade loving milkweed, but handle full sun in a garden setting. A variety of soils such as clay, loamy, and sand that are moderate to wet and are well-drained are needed. The leaves of this milkweed are notable for being dark green with purplish veins. Suitable companions for this species in Charlottesville that grow in wet places include swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), few-flower milkweed (Asclepias lanceolata), obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), and false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica).
Facts about Poke Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, western counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: moist woods, roadsides, and edges of woods
- Height: 2 ft (0.6 m) to 6 ft (1.8 m)
- Flower Color: white to green with accents of rose, purple, or blue
- Flowering Period: May to August
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Poke Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs part-shade to full shade and moist soil.
3. Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), a Milkweed for Moist Soils
Previous mentioned as a companion to the poke milkweed, swamp milkweed likes wet soils in full sun or partial shade. However, in a garden setting, this species can handle drier conditions. Swamp milkweed is a fairly tall milkweed, needs space to spread out and is fairly low maintenance. The fragrant pink flowers are a magnet for bees and other insects.
Facts about Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata subsp. incarnata and pulchra in Virginia
- Native to Virginia: Yes, throughout – pulchra, western counties – incarnata (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes, pulchra
- Natural Habitat: shores of streams, lakes, ponds, and other wetlands
- Height: 3 ft (0.9 m) to 5 ft (1.5 m)
- Flower Color: pink or red
- Flowering Period: July to September
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Swamp Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to partial shade and medium to moist soil.
4. Few-flower Milkweed (Asclepias lanceolata), a Milkweed for Moist Soils
Few-flower milkweed is a rare species found in eastern Virginia. While not native to the Charlottesville area, this milkweed can handle the plant hardiness zone and likes moist to wet soils in full sun to part-shade. Along with butterfly weed, this is one of two orange to orangish milkweeds you can grow in the area.
Facts about Few-flower Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, rare in far eastern counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: No
- Natural Habitat: edges of marshes and wet areas of pine barrens and savannas
- Height: 2 ft (0.6 m) to 5 ft (1.5 m)
- Flower Color: yellow, orange, red
- Flowering Period: May to August
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-11
Gardening with Few-flower Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to part-shade and loamy moist to wet soil.
5. Long-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias longifolia), a Milkweed for Moist Soils
Long-leaf milkweed is another wet soil lover that is rare in southeastern Virginia. While not native to the Charlottesville area, this plant can handle the plant hardiness zone of Charlottesville. This species should be placed in full sun and in moist to wet soils.
Facts about Long-leaf Milkweed
Asclepias longifolia var. longifolia in Virginia
- Native to Virginia: Yes, rare in southeastern counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: No
- Natural Habitat: bogs, swamps, and wet flatwoods
- Height: 1 ft (0.3 m) to 2.5 ft (0.8 m)
- Flower Color: greenish-white with a tinge of purple
- Flowering Period: April to July
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9
Gardening with Long-leaf Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun and moist to wet soils.
6. Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens), a Milkweed for Moist Soils
If you are looking for a splash of purple in your garden while hosting the monarch butterflies, this milkweed may be for you. In the wild this species is found in moist soils, but can grow in medium well-drained soils in a garden and can even tolerate droughts, if established. Be sure to have planty of space for this plant, as it likes to spread and form colonies.
Facts about Purple Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, rare in scattered counties throughout (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: swamps, woodlands, meadows, and roadsides
- Height: up to 6 ft (1.8 m)
- Flower Color: purple, rose to pink, may mature to purple color
- Flowering Period: May to July
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8
Gardening with Purple Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to part-shade (more shade preferred) and moist well-drained soil. This species can also handle dry conditions.
7. Four-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias quadrifolia), a Milkweed for Dry Rocky Soils
If you have dry well-drained soils and some shade, this milkweed may be a good choice for you. In the wild, this species can be found growing in dry woodlands. Four-leaf milkweed has clusters of white to pink flowers and can be grown from seed or cuttings.
Facts about Four-leaf Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, throughout, except for eastern counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: roadsides and pastures that have disturbance
- Height: 1 ft (0.3 m) to 3 ft (0.9 m)
- Flower Color: white to pink
- Flowering Period: April to July
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-8
Gardening with Four-leaf Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to part-shade and dry rocky soils.
8. Red Milkweed (Asclepias rubra), a Milkweed for Moist to Wet Soils
Another milkweed of moist soils, this milkweed is often found in full sun. However, in a garden setting it can be grown in medium soils. Other companion plants would be those that can also handle moist soils such as swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), few-flower milkweed (Ascleapis lanceolata), and false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica). The small size could make this plant suitable for containers.
Facts about Red Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, eastern counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: No
- Natural Habitat: bogs, meadows, and pine barrens
- Height: 1 ft (0.3 m) to 3 ft (0.9 m)
- Flower Color: pink, purple, red to lavender
- Flowering Period: May to August
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 6-9
Gardening with Red Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to part-shade and wet organic soils.
9. Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), a Milkweed for Medium to Well-drained Soils
Showy milkweed is a commonly planted milkweed in butterfly gardens around the United States. It is a small to medium sized plant, making it suitable for containers, but whether planted or in a container, it needs good drainage. While not native to Virginia or to Charlottesville, it can handle the plant hardiness zone.
Facts about Showy Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: No (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: No
- Natural Habitat: roadsides, fields and woodlands
- Height: 1 ft (0.3 m) to 3 ft (0.9 m)
- Flower Color: purple to pink
- Flowering Period: April to June
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Showy Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun and medium to well-drained soil.
10. Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), a Milkweed for all Conditions
This milkweed is one of the most common in the midwest and northeastern United States. The large leaves provide ample feeding opportunities for monarch butterflies. Common milkweed is a plant for all conditions and can spread by seed or rhizomes, so it should have some space in the garden.
Facts about Common Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, throughout (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: fields, pastures, roadsides
- Height: up to 6 ft (1.8 m)
- Flower Color: pink, greenish-purple, greenish-white, to white
- Flowering Period: June to August
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Common Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to part shade and soils that are well-drained to occasionally dry.
11. Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), a Milkweed for all Conditions
Butterfly weed is one of three milkweeds in the United States that has an orange colored flower and is one of two that does have a milky sap. The orange flowers this is plant are iconic and make it a favorite as well as its abilities to handle most garden conditions.
Facts about Butterfly Weed
Asclepias tuberosa subsp. rolfsii (rare) and subsp. tuberosa in Virginia
- Native to Virginia: Yes, rare southeast – subsp. rolfsii, throughout – subsp. tuberosa (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: fields, roadsides and open woods
- Height: 1 ft (0.3 m) to 3 ft (0.9 m)
- Flower Color: orange
- Flowering Period: June to October
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Butterfly Weed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun and nearly any soil type.
12. Red-ring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata), a Milkweed for Dry Sandy Soils
Red-ring milkweed an interesting flower that is white with a red or purple band. This makes the flower an interesting conversation piece and can be grown in full sun and well-drained soils. In the wild, this milkweed is found in thickets and roadsides.
Facts about Red-ring Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, throughout, scattered in western counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: thickets and roadsides
- Height: 1 ft (0.3 m) to 4 ft (1.2 m)
- Flower Color: white with a ring of purple to red at the base
- Flowering Period: May to July
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Red-ring Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs part-sun to light-shade and dry sandy or rocky soils.
13. Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata), a Milkweed for Medium to Dry Soil
Whorled milkweed has narrow-leaves providing an interesting textual contrast to gardens. If you have average to dry soils and full sun to part-shade this species could live in your garden.
Facts about Whorled Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, throughout, scattered in eastern counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: meadows and fields
- Height: 1 ft (0.3 m) to 3 ft (0.9 m)
- Flower Color: green to white flowers
- Flowering Period: May to September
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Whorled Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to part-shade and medium to dry soil.
14. Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora), a Milkweed for Medium to Dry Sandy Soils
Green comet milkweed is a milkweed having two different flower colors depending on the age. Thriving in full sun to part shade and average to dry sandy soils, this could be an excellent addition to your garden and provide leafy interest.
Facts about Green Comet Milkweed
- Native to Virginia: Yes, central counties (Kartesz 2015)
- Native to Charlottesville: Yes
- Natural Habitat: meadows and fields
- Height: 1 ft (0.3 m) to 3 ft (0.9 m)
- Flower Color: green, aging to yellow with a purple tinge
- Flowering Period: June to August
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Gardening with Green Comet Milkweed
In your Charlottesville, VA butterfly garden, this milkweed needs full sun to part-shade and medium to dry soil.
When selecting your Charlottesville, VA milkweed, be sure to make sure that it grows in your zone and habitat.
Books where you can find out more about Monarchs and Butterfly Gardening in Charlottesville, VA
- Daniels, Jaret C. 2021. Butterflies of the South & Southeast – Your Way to Easily Identify Butterflies – Adventure Quick Guides. Adventure Publications.22 pp.
- Daniels, Jaret C. 2021. Garden Bugs & Insects of the South & Southeast – Identify Pollinators, Pests, and Other Garden Visitors – Adventure Quick Guides. Adventure Publications. 36 pp.
- Daniels, Jaret C. 2021. Native Plant Gardening for Birds, Bees & Butterflies. Southeast – Nature Friendly Gardens. Adventure Publications. 276 pp.
- Frick-Ruppert, Jennifer. 2010. Mountain Nature – A Seasonal Natural History of the Southern Appalachians. The University of North Carolina Press. 224 pp.
- Hughes, Tracey Y. and Eddie R. Hughes. 2013. Virginia Flowers. Deep Sea Publishing. 52 pp.
- LeGrand, Harry, Derb Carter, Jr., Jeff Pippen, and Pierre Howard. 2024. Butterflies of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia. The University of North Carolina Press. 448 pp. (will be published in June 2024)
- Mellichamp, Larry, Paula Gross, and Will Stuart. 2020. The Southeast Native Plant Primer – 225 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden. Timber Press. 256 pp.
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References for Charlottesville, VA Milkweeds
- Urguhart, Fredrick Albert, Norah Roden Urguhart, and Francis Munger. 1968. Population of Danaus plexippus in Southern California. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 7(4): 169-181.
- Woodson, Robert E. 1954. The North American Species of Asclepias L. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 41: 1-211.
