Oregon and Washington's native milkweed, Asclepias
speciosa, is
also called Showy Milkweed, likely because of the stately nature of the
milkweed with its beautiful thick silvery leaves and complementing
pinkish blush coloration. But what would you call a snowy colored
variant? It certainly doesn't get any more showy than that! Somewhere in
Washington there is a white milkweed growing in the wild, and it is a
showstopper indeed. A beautiful genetic variant no doubt. We are
fortunate to have some young plants of this parent milkweed growing in
our gardens. Here are some visual differences between the two, enjoy !
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| These plants lack the pinkish blush on their leaf veins, and is instead a soft yellow. |
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| Flower 'ball' is larger and looser - fewer flowers, but flower umbels are larger than the showy counterpart. |
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| A standard example of the usual Showy Milkweed. |
