{"product_id":"spider-milkweed-asclepias-viridis","title":"Spider Milkweed | Asclepias viridis","description":"\u003cp\u003e🌿 Ships well rooted in a 3.5 x 5 inch deep pot. Well established root system and ready to plant! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso known as green antelopehorn milkweed, this is one of the Southeast's most important native milkweeds — and one of the first to bloom in spring, making it a critical early food source for northbound Monarchs before other milkweeds have even broken dormancy. The flowers are unlike any other milkweed: baseball-sized clusters of creamy greenish-white petals cupping upward around striking purple hoods, fragrant and showy from late spring through midsummer. Monarch, Queen, and Soldier butterfly caterpillars all use it as a larval host; bees, hummingbirds, and a long list of pollinators work the nectar. The dramatic upright seedpods that follow split open in fall to release silky-tufted seeds on the breeze.\u003cbr\u003eIt thrives exactly where other plants struggle — dry, lean, poor soil in full sun with minimal competition. Deep taproot makes it exceptionally drought-tolerant and long-lived once established, but also means it resents transplanting and takes a season to settle in. Don't panic if it disappears the first summer — it's putting down roots, and it will return.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e🌿 Latin Name: Asclepias viridis\u003cbr\u003e🌞 Light: Full sun\u003cbr\u003e🌱 Soil: Dry to medium, well-drained; lean and poor soils preferred; deep taproot; no wet feet or heavy competition\u003cbr\u003e💧 Water: Low; drought-tolerant once established\u003cbr\u003e📏 Mature Size: 12–24 inches tall; multiple stems from root crown\u003cbr\u003e🌸 Bloom Time: Late spring through midsummer; one of the earliest milkweeds to bloom\u003cbr\u003e🗺️ Hardiness Zone: 4–9\u003cbr\u003e🦋 Wildlife Value: Larval host for Monarch, Queen, and Soldier butterflies; nectar source for bees, hummingbirds, moths, and native bees; Xerces Society special value to native and bumble bees; deer resistant\u003cbr\u003e⚠️ Planting note: Deep taproot — plant in ground promptly after receiving; takes one season to establish and may die back before returning strongly in year two\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New Earth Nursery","offers":[{"title":"3.5\" x 5\" pot","offer_id":42991569240135,"sku":null,"price":12.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0577\/5058\/5415\/files\/1_be9c2262-03f9-4790-b6b5-f60027cd5316.png?v=1784733673","url":"https:\/\/newearthnursery.com\/products\/spider-milkweed-asclepias-viridis","provider":"New Earth Nursery","version":"1.0","type":"link"}