Asclepias incarnata 'Ice Ballet' (Swamp Milkweed)

'Ice Ballet' is an attractive, white-flowering cultivar of Asclepias incarnata, also known as swamp milkweed, a native, upright, perennial wildflower widely known as an integral food source for the larval stages of monarch butterfly. Growing to only three or three and a half feet tall, Asclepias incarnata 'Ice Ballet' is easily identified by its white, compound flowers and the milky sap produced from its damaged tissues. The plant's milky, toxic sap also makes it resistant to herbivore foraging, and its large blooms are fragrant, adding further appeal to the home garden.

As a cultivar of swamp milkweed, 'Ice Ballet' thrives in rich, wetter soil moisture conditions, and does best in full sun, and is therefore an excellent addition to any location near water as well as rain gardens, but attracts monarchs and a variety of other butterflies just as well as other plants like butterfly milkweed. With its obvious value to butterflies, and its less obvious value to hummingbirds and bees, Asclepias incarnata is additionally a great choice for pollinator gardens, wetter meadows, and wetland restoration projects.