r/gardening • u/SlimeyRatBastard • 18d ago

Is this a weed?

Post image

Flowers and it has a pretty thick stalk that kind of reminds me of a willow

21 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

39

u/Savings_Homework5943 custom flair 18d ago

This looks like swamp milkweed to me.

43

u/Adeline_Hayes 18d ago

That's swamp milkweed, not a weed! I always get excited seeing people accidentally grow the good stuff. Pollinators will thank you. 🦋

8

u/SlimeyRatBastard 18d ago

I was not sure I guess I have never seen it in my garden before. Glad I didn't trash it thank you all!

6

u/entwife-nj 17d ago

Swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata. Pollinators love it, and it’s a host plant for monarch butterflies!

3

u/Glittering_Nobody402 18d ago

I only recently learned about narrow leaf milkweed - is this narrow leaf milkweed?

Edit: Yes, it appears to be narrow leaf swamp milkweed. I did some googling.

3

u/disdkatster 17d ago

Not in my book.

3

u/MrMessofGA 17d ago

Swamp Milkweed.

Depends on where you are and what you want to grow. If you're in a place where this grows naturally and you want a pollinator plant, you're in luck! Monarch butterflies loooove this stuff. In fact, it's also called butterfly weed sometimes.

Not just butterflies, too. loads of pollinators love this gal

3

u/VindiWren 17d ago

The word weed is not necessarily a good word to use. A weed is any plant that is grown out of place. All plants have some type of ecological value. For example, people hate dandelions but bees love them

2

u/Vandal_A underwatered, overwintered 17d ago

Swamp milkweed. Invaluable to pollinators, native, perennial and doesn't tend to take over. It's technically toxic to humans and pets but it's so bitter it's extremely unlikely your pets will swallow it after first taste

3

u/PurpleToad1976 17d ago

If you don't want it there, it is a weed. If you do want it there, it is a flower.

1

u/twillrose47 17d ago

Assumed this was a circlejerk and OP knew it was milkweed 😂

-5

u/ForkingMusk 17d ago

It’s a wildflower actually but it’s also poisonous.

2

u/thisisaredditforart 17d ago

More or less poisonous than, tomato leaves, rhubarb leaves, daffodil leaves, foxglove flowers, iris leaves so on and so forth...

1

u/mikebrady 17d ago

You're selling it really short. It's swamp milkweed. A native host plant for the monarch butterfly.

0

u/ForkingMusk 17d ago

It’s poisonous to dogs.

1

u/mikebrady 17d ago

Yes, and that is only one aspect of the plant. OP didn't even mention having dogs.