There is one species of milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, that is commonly called butterfly weed. I collected mine from a roadside from amongst a large volunteer batch. They were of varying size. There were many shades ranging from yellow-orange to orange to red-orange. I collected a red-orange one because it glows from a block away! Anyway, my suggestion would be to buy the plant in bloom to get the color that appeals to you most.
hortster

I love Asclepias tuberosa. I got packets of the seeds from Thompson-Morgan called 'Gay Butterflies'. They included shades of orange, yellow, and some two-toned blooms.

The plant you saw could just be a young plant that hasn't established. They aren't small plants at all.

I really like these because when they bloom, you can chop them off and they will bloom again in a few weeks. I've done this over and over and had them bloom so many times in a season. Mine were destroyed by the flood when they were getting ready to bloom. They returned from the roots and are blooming now.

They are amazing plants!

I've had my Asclepias Tuberosa that's bright orange for 4 summers. It is about 24 inches tall every year, definitely not huge. And it's very well behaved. I collect seeds in the fall for trading purposes. From what I understand, it can be fussy to get started from seed. My plant was purchased in a group buy from Breck's. It's lovely and I'd never be without one.

Linda

I grow "Hello Yellow". If you don't deadhead, you'll likely get more.

Here's a picture from June 12:

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It's still blooming away. Next year, I'll plant a taller coleus with it.

I have a Asclepias Incarnata 'Ice Ballet'. I actually got it in May of this year as a mystery plant. I'd picked it up from a grower's farm and it was missing the label, so I planted it and waited for it to start to flower. Once it did, I went back to the farm and ID'd it....

It's pretty and white, but gets is about 3 1/2 feet right now. I need to move it to a more suitable location than I guessed at when it was a mystery plant.

I have A. tuberosa Gay butterflies, Hello yellow, and have grown the species from seed. One of the plants even self-sowed a couple seedlings. It's pretty easy to start from seed if you have viable seeds. The seedlings have been orange, and I would expect Gay butterflies to revert and make mostly all orange seedlings.

It tops out at 2 x 2 wide and tall for me. Does very well in one of the hottest, driest spots in the yard with little to no extra watering.

It looks great with daylilies, gaillardia, coreopsis, short prairie grasses, and drought-tolerant plants on the shorter side.

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I have Hello Yellow, but I've been a little disappointed with the amount of bloom I am getting from it. It gets one little clump of flowers and then another little clump, but so far has never really seemed to be in full bloom. I'm trying to be patient, as this is its first year, but I was really hoping for more continuous color from it.

Totally Confused

totally confused, butterfly weed takes a few years to get fully established. By the third year, my Hello Yellow were big, hardy plants, full of blooms.

Mine has been blooming since June 8 with no sign of letting up.

Pippi,
There are many types of Butterfly Weed, but the most common are Asclepias Incarnata and Tuberosa. The others are Speciosa, Currassavica, Syriaca, and more.

Tuberosa is the shortest and is probably what you saw at your library.

So far my favourite is Incarnata. I have Cinderella and Ice Ballet and the plants are topping at 4 feet this year.

The Curassavica is also a favourite but it is an annual here. I do overwinter in my basement so get substantial plants to place in the gardens and on the deck every year. :O) I also love the red/orange colour!

From my own experience I would say that A. tuberosa is a two-footer; however, not a small plant. My collected butterfly weed is easily 3' diameter (but has no real competion other than some evening primrose). Must add, though, it took four years after planting to get there. Also, has not rebloomed, but at the same time, has never produced one seed pod. It is my conclusion that it is not self-pollinating and that there is no other plant within range to do so.
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hortster

Lovely!

Beautiful, hortster.

Hi, all. I'm a bit new to this forum. Like those pictures very much.
I use the root in my herbology (I'm a professional herbologist and I teach at the local Prescott College.) The root is better known as Pleurisy Rt. Quite expensive compared to other herbs.

Back in Pennsylvania, where I come from, you'd almost always see a butterly on it when in bloom.

Charlie in Arizona
The Herbalist

Here is a link that might be useful: Herbal Nutrition & Science Course

That is a nice mature specimen hortster. Very full and lush. Odd that it has never made pods for you. I know that A. incarnata is self-fertile, because when I first started growing it, I had only 1 plant from the nursery, and there were zillions of little seedlings under it the next year (didn't recognize them right away though).

Just noticed that the OP asked how to collect seed. Pippi, after fertilization pods will form. You wait until the fall for the pods dry out and are just barely starting to split open. Wait too late and they split wide open and start to fluff out and blow away all over. They are messy seeds to clean with all that fluff.

The Monarch butterflies seem to prefer the a. incarnata over the a. tuberosa as the host plant here in my garden. I grow the tuberosa in the dry areas of the garden with gaillardia, agastache and salvia.

The curassivica is a fabulous annual for the Monarchs.

I use the pink 'Cinderella' extensively and added eupatorium dubium 'Little Joe' (joe pye) and vernonia fasciculata (smooth ironweed) to the same area this year.

This is a great combination for the butterflies and for my enjoyment, too. These three plants are incredible bee and butterfly magnets.

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: milkweed, joe pye weed, ironweed

Here is Asclepias tuberosa 'Gay Butterflies' with 'Black Eyed Stella' daylily

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Here it is with Gaillardia 'Oranges & Lemons'

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... and here it is with Geum 'Fireball'

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If I had one with more yellow in it, I might try planting it with Rudbeckia 'Irish Eyes', Gaillardia 'Mesa Yellow', or maybe one of the Coreopsis.

Hope this helps some!

Bonnie

An up close look at the flowers. I think they're so interesting.

{{gwi:251044}}

Karen

totally confused..you sound like me now. For the first 6 mo. I was posting here, I couldn't understand what people meant by the old saying regarding perennials "The first year they sleep, 2nd. year they creep and the 3rd. year they leap." Before I tried wintersowing this past winter, the only seed I ever planted was marigolds, maybe broadcast some bee balm and daisy seeds. We always bought starter plants from the garden center/nurseries. I have learned so much and continue to learn on this site and other gardening websites. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There's always somebody here that might have the answer for you. We were all newbies at one time.

Bonnie, those combinations are already on my wish list. Can you plant any of them in the Fall to assure Spring blooms?

I saw a beautiful combo in in the center strip of Chicago's Michigan avenue last weekend. Orange butterfly weed (it was Curvassica) and orange belamcanda, backed by brilliant orange-flowered, red-leaved Cannas, with orange monarch butterflies hovering over it, naturally! There were also zinnias, nasturtiums, sages, rose pink gaura, and a few other things. I never saw the belamcanda used to such advantage. But when I went to photograph it a few days later, there were only seed pods where the flowers had been! Drat. Still, it is amazing how effective it can be to layer more and less saturated shades of the same color. Whoever thought of this combo was a genius.

Here is a link that might be useful: belamcanda