A shade-loving milkweed actually exists! Found in woodland openings, poke milkweed thrives in dappled to full shade. Plants grow up to five feet and produce large clusters of white to cream florettes tinted with purple and green, flowers on slender stalks. The foliage and flowers provide a source of food for many insects including Monarch butterflies and the larvae of some moths. Long-lived and well-behaved, plants can sometimes hybridize with common milkweed when plants are located in very close proximity.
According to Prairie Moon Nursery, “this Milkweed species can show stress the first year and may go into dormancy early; yellow, dropping leaves after transplant can mean there is too much light or the soil is too dry, but the plant can adapt and show progress the next year.”