If you are looking to help support local hard-working pollinators this summer, we have great news for you! Grower Direct Farms is now growing Asclepias tuberosa, commonly known as butterfly weed!
Butterfly weed is a type of milkweed that attracts and supports many pollinators, such as hummingbirds and bees, but is most known and beloved for being essential food for monarch butterfly larvae. It is a perennial native to New England that blooms large clusters of vivid bright orange flowers from late spring to late summer. The plant can take up to three years to fully mature but requires very low effort to maintain once established and its flowers will grow denser with each season that passes. It does prefer full sun, but butterfly weed is drought tolerant and can even thrive in predominantly sandy soils. It also doesn’t require additional fertilization or much pruning throughout the year.
Butterfly weed is just one of the pollinator-friendly plants we are growing this year in gallon grow pots, tall decorative containers, and eye-catching hanging baskets! Cuphea Vermillionaire, prized for its continuous orange-red tubular blooms, is a magnet for hummingbirds. Another stunning and low-maintenance favorite of pollinators is the Salvia Rockin’ Fuchsia, an annual with striking magenta blooms. These pollinator-supporting plants will not only make your garden visually appealing, but also ecologically functional, and more enjoyable for you and your local pollinator army!
