Delaware County
Master Gardeners

Butterfly Weed is a perennial with a low mounded profile that can make as many as 20 stems at an average height of 2 feet when mature and planted in an ideal location. The flowers are most often a distinctive bright orange but there is some variation in flower color, from deep red-orange to yellow. The leaves are somewhat narrow, up to 1” and tapered, with no stem and dark green in color. Its dis-tinctive color and the absence of the typical milky white sap that other Milkweed species have make identification easy.

This is a great Milkweed for a sunny location in a dry area. It prefers sandy, loamy or rocky limestone soils in full fun and blooms June-August. It is hardy from zone 3 to 9. It tends to be deer resistant, though seem to heavily attract the butterflies, bees, birds and aphids! The vivid orange color and abil-ity to attract and sustain butterflies make this plant a well-known favorite for all types of gardens.

In older plants, the long tap root can extend down many feet. Due to this deep, drought-tolerant tap root, it can be late to emerge in the spring, so be patient. Butterfly Weed can be transplanted if dug carefully during dormancy but if the tap root breaks off, they will regrow. At the end of the growing sea-son, seed pods may be cut or twisted off to stop seeding or use twist ties or rubber bands to bind the pods for seed collection. In addition to artificial stratification, seeds may be sowed directly in the fall. Butterfly Weed may be divided by using a sharp knife to slice down the length of the root. Every piece that has at least one eye, some of the taproot, and a few side roots is a viable division.

Carpetweed, Mollugo verticillate, is a prostrate annual that forms dense circular mats of foliage. In other words, it forms a thick, low-growing carpet. And, it grows FAST! It initially intrigued me because it is one of very few weeds with a “whorled” leaf structure. It is particularly invasive be-cause it flowers (inconspicuously) prolifically from late June – September and the flowers pro-duce round seeds that STICK TO EVERYTHING! I can tell you that the seeds are virtually im-possible to pick off clothing. They don’t even come off in the washing machine. Therefore, the seeds are easily transported by animals and hu-mans to other locations.

Carpetweed is a particular nuisance in cultivated areas such as farm fields, garden beds or newly seeded lawns. It is commonly confused with Catchweed Bedstraw (Calium aparine). Catch-weed bedstraw has a square stem while carpet-weed stems are round. The only good thing to be said for carpetweed is that it is easily pulled by hand. Which is a good thing because if you have it in your yard, you will be pulling lots of it.