Common Name: Swamp Milkweed
Scientific Name: Asclepias incarnata
Habitat & Range: wet meadows, swamps, streams, lakesides
Bloom Time: summer
About: Host to the Monarch butterfly (along with Common Milkweed, which can be distinguished from its more delicate cousin by its much larger leaves and duller flowers), this is perfect for your butterfly garden if you’ve got some consistently wet spots on your property. I tried them (purchased from a native plant sale, not taken from the wild) in an area of my yard that is often soggy in springtime, but the summer sun dries out my soil too much and there’s too much shade there, so they never took.
This photo (like those of the Boneset a couple weeks ago) was taken along the shore of Lake Louise (properly Thumb Lake) in the northern Lower Peninsula, but this plant can be found throughout the state.
Reference: Wildflowers of Michigan by Stan Tekiela; Adventure Publications, 2000