Lots of bright orange, flat-topped flower clusters bloom atop stout stems for many weeks in late spring through summer. This milkweed is a host plant for the monarch butterfly and a great nectar source for many other butterflies and pollinators. This is a great garden plant, common in well-drained prairies and open savannahs.

Blooms in late summer or early fall with clusters of two inch wide, medium yellow sunflowers with dark brown centers on whitish green stems. It makes a good cut flower. The distinctive foliage, narrow, drooping, willow-like pale green leaves, provides interest all through the growing season. It will spread over time to form a dense colony. The plants can be cut back through late June to promote denser habit.