I have the regular orange milkweed but it never seems to multiply although it does make seeds.
Someone sent me some seeds of the Scarlet milkweed but I don't know how to germinate them. I'm under the impression from somewhere that they are not easy to germinate.
Can anyone give me a tutorial, please? Also, should I start them now or wait until spring. I do have a small greenhouse.
How to germinate scarlet milkweed?
I wintersowed some early this spring and they germinated easily. They were kinda late to start blooming, so starting early in the greenhouse would probably be a good idea. I don't know if they need the cool period wintersowing provides, but I wouldn't think so since they're a tropical species.
Tropical? The orange ones grow wild here. They have the same botanical name, but these wintered over at, without mulch, near zero degrees fine.
Being a perennial, I would be surprised if they bloom the same year the seeds are planted. Ah well, I am confused even more, lol.
I thought you were referring to Asclepias curassavica, which was the first on the list when I searched Plantfiles for Scarlet Milkweed:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/81057/
Plantfiles says its hardy to zone 8, but it's grown as an annual here.
Asclepias tuberosa, the orange Butterfly weed grows wild here too, and is a hardy perennial (Plantfiles says to zone 4), and I understand it doesn't bloom till the 2nd year, although I've had a terrible time getting any started. Well, the wintersown seeds started, but slugs ate all of them. I wintersowed 4 or 5 species of Milkweed this spring, and germination was good with all of them.
OH, I'll bet that's the problem. I thought this was just a red form of the orange hardy ones. I think I'll pass. Maybe someone at the Sept. round-up will like them. I don't have many sunny spots and planting is all up and down a mountain slope so I really look for perennials.
Thanks for all the advice, gemini_sage. You steered me to understand what I had and what to do with them.........Betty
You're very welcome :-) I've looked at the 'Gay Butterflies' cultivar of A.tuberosa- its supposed to be a mix of red, orange, and yellow, but the pics from other gardeners are usually just orange and yellow. I'd sure love a hardy red one! The tropical ones I grew this year seem to have been a favorite of the Monarch cats- they're just naked stalks now.
For some reason, we rarely get Monarch here. But we got great fritillaries.
What a glorious pic! Besides all the butterflies, the color combo is gorgeous too!
Those butterflies stayed around for about 2 or 3 weeks and gave us lots of oppurtunity to get that shot. Thanks for the kind remarks.
I may enter that photo in a contest, but I don't think the camera I used is good enough to produce a picture for a magazine cover. But I'm proud to say there was no color enhancement.
You should definitely enter it in the DG photo contest!
Woodspirit, I agree with gemini-sage, that is one great picture. I'll be pleased to vote for it if you enter. We had three or four of these butterflies last week, but it got chilly, and they don't seem to be here any longer. I didn't realize they were fritillaries because we had gulf frits in Orlando and they looked different. This is our first year to have butterflies in our two-year old garden. It took them quite a while to find us. We two monarchs also, but I've been told we are probably too far inland and away from the primary flyway to get them in numbers like we had in Florida. We do have common milkweed here, but it gets cut down during haying season (usually May and September). It reappears after and some grows on the perimeters of our field. Next year, I'm going to try the butterfly weed, as it is so pretty and I can put it in my garden. Pam