Poke Milkweed Victory!

After years of trying to site poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) and keep the rabbits from mowing it down - success! I’m managing to keep about a half dozen stems alive and one finally bloomed.

Poke milkweed is a woodland milkweed and one of the few that is happiest in shade. This lovely lady lives out front in the experimental sedge bed under the elm. The soil is desert-dry because my elm has a dense root structure that will grab all the water.

I am thrilled to get a plant mature enough to flower! I think they look like white fireworks in the garden. So far, a mix of rabbit repellants and some vigilance has kept the bunnies off it and its siblings. Will it get pollinated? Maybe. It’s been cool and pollinators aren’t really on the scene in force yet.

Still, I’m putting this in the garden victory column for 2025.