I bought a Butterfly weed plant last year towards the end of the growing season (end of season bargain), and kept it in a container over winter and it totally died back to the soil level in the container, but i can see where the roots are still fine. So i planted the root ball into my main garden earlier this spring while it was still dormant, and so far i havent seen any signs of new growth from it, while all of my other perennials are already up and growing. I can feel where the root ball has taken hold in the ground where i planted it though, so should i give it a little while longer, or does something extra need to be done (such as feeding, etc), or did i make my first mistake last year by planting it in that container?
Advice needed for Butterfly weed
Asclepias tuberosa, (Butterfly Weed) is slow to emerge in the Spring. Definitely give it more time. It will probably be fine since you have felt the roots take hold.
This plant grows with a caroot like root. Keeping it in a pot until this spring is somewhat tricky. I'm a little surprised it didn't just croak. Since you have felt the roots take hold, I would say you have made it past the tricky part. Keep us posted.
it probably also helped that it was a relatively young plant, and i put it in a pretty deep pot when i got it. the main reason that i had put it in a pot in the first place was because we had a bit of a problem with voles (darned things sucked my balloon flower, and yellow coneflower right into the ground without a trace except the quarter size holes they leave here and there. so i wanted to make sure the vole issue was taken care of before i planted the butterfly weed in there.
Aclepias tuberosa will want to be pretty dry - thrives in poor well-drained soil around here.
definitely makes sense, as they are native to my area, i have noticed one plant that grows on the side of the road every summer on my dog walking route. of course digging it up wouldnt be feasible, and the darn county management comes along and mows it down before i can get seeds off of it.
It's pretty easy to get the seed. The problem is in getting it to germinate. It takes 8 weeks of startification and then, you have to get it to germinate. :(
I have seeds to share for a SASE.
I'd recommend purchasing from a native plant source. If you're interested, I can give you a couple of names.
Did your Asclepias tuberosa make it? Mine are coming up nicely now.
I would like to say that it did, but unfortunately not. we had several days in a row straight of non stop rain, and cold, im thinking that might have been too much for it.
This message was edited May 3, 2017 4:00 PM
Don't give up yet. My Asclepias tuberosa doesn't come up until June! It might have drowned but it might be ok.
thanks, will keep a watch out for it. :)
You should see them coming up already.