Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella' 'Cinderella' swamp milkweed
Characteristics
Descriptions
Light Requirements
Soil Moisture
Soil Description
Height
Recommended Spacing
Bloom Time
Bloom Color
Hardiness Zone
Description
Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella' produces larger and denser flower clusters than the straight species. The flowers are laden with pollen and nectar, making them veritable pollinator magnets. The branching stems with oblong leaves terminate in umbels of varying shades of pink, emerging in late summer. With a sweet vanilla scent, they attract bees, butterflies, an occasional hummingbird and importantly, monarch butterflies, which feed on the plant throughout their larval stages. The fresh flowers and, later, cool 4" seed pods, make for fresh or dried cuttings. The parent species, Asclepias incarnata, is native from the upper midwest of the US, eastward to include all of New England, southward to Georgia and Oklahoma to the west. Disjunct populations occur in other areas including south and central Florida.
Swamp milkweed, as the name implies, performs well in damp, sunny locations, but the 'Cinderella' cultivar will tolerate drier soils with adequate moisture, making it a perfect addition to cottage, pollinator gardens, meadows, waterside settings, bogs, and rain gardens.
Cultivation
Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella' is more tolerant of drier soils and average garden conditions than the parent, but favors rich, consistently moist ones. Performs best in full sun with adequate moisture, but will tolerate some filtered light and a few hours of shade. Establishes a deep tap root, so best left in place once planted. It will not spread significantly, but its rhizomatous root system will expand over time to form clumps up to 3' across. Plants can be late to emerge in spring, so leave a short section of stem to mark location when cutting back during dormancy. Monarch larvae may completely strip the leaves late in the growing period, but this will not affect the plants' overall health. The blooming period is long, lasting about 2 months, beginning mid-summer.
Recommended Spacing
Space plants 12"-18" on center.
Companion Plants
Consider combining with Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower) or Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia), Helenium autumnale (Helen's flower, common sneezeweed), Delphinium exaltatum (tall larkspur), Oligoneuron ohioense (Ohio goldenrod).
Additional Notes
The genus name derives from the Greek God of healing, Asklepios, reflecting what was believed to be the medicinal quality of the plants. The specific epithets derives from the Latin 'incarnatus', to make flesh, which may reflect the color of the flowers.
In a game of symbiotic chemical warfare, monarch butterflies gather on Asclepias species, and are important pollinators. In exchange, the sticky herbivore metering latex produced by the plant, is ingested by monarch larvae, which feed exclusively on the leaves, sequestering toxins from the latex into their own tissues. They are soon recognized by predators as distasteful, and their bright yellow white and black striping is red flag for birds that have sampled one. The unpleasant taste persists in the adult, and their bright coloration serves as a warning to predators who would otherwise feast on an abundant butterfly. In a case of mimicry, the similarly colored viceroy butterfly benefits from looking like a bad snack.
Pricing & Availability
BUY MORE,
SAVE MORE
$25 off orders of $500 or more
$50 off orders of $750 or more
$100 off orders of $1,000 or more
$300 off orders of $2,000 or more
15% off orders of $3,000 or more
Would you like your plants shipped later? You may choose to do so in the shopping cart.
Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.
Did you know? When plants are available from multiple growers, we list growers closest to your location first.
Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!
Plant Sizes
Sizes info
Shipping & Planting
SHIPPING INFO:
Shipping is free on all plants orders!
Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.
Shipping plugs:
Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.
When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.
After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.
Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.
PLANTING INFO:
Planting plugs:
We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.
We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.
Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.