'Ice Ballet' Milkweed (Asclepias)

(Milkweed) The dancing of the butterfly is what you will see with Asclepias 'Ice Ballet' in your garden. 'Ice Ballet' is a host plant for the Monarch Butterflies. The beautiful cluster of white flowers have a light vanilla-scented fragrance. Standing 3-5 feet tall and spreading up to 3 feet wide, the upright columnar habit is perfect for middle to back borders in the garden. This native pollinator perennial is hardy in zones 3-9. Planted in full sun, 'Ice Ballet' blooms mid-summer until the fall. Trimming the dead flowers promotes another round of blooms about a month later. Asclepias flowers are full of pollen that attracts the pollinators to the garden. Trim a few flowers to enjoy indoors as part of a cut flower bouquet. In the fall, milkweed pods appear, as they ripen they burst open to reveal the beautiful silver-white silk with the seed attached. Harvest before the pods dry for fall-dried flower decor.