Ok so I got a bunch of seeds off my butterfly weed. Should I try to plant them now and get them in the ground before winter or would they normally germinate next spring in the wild? If they drop in summer and germinate the next spring, I'll wait until next spring. But if they normally grow the same year they drop, I'll try to start them now. Anyone know?
Butterfly Weed
Q. Can I grow butterfly weed from seed? How?
A. Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is easy to grow from seed. For the quickest flowers, start seed in late August. Fresh seed requires a period of cool, damp stratification. Provide this by placing the seed in a bag of moist peat moss and keeping it in the refrigerator for ten to twelve weeks. Older seed will not require this cold period to break its dormancy. Direct seed butterfly weed outside, or grow the seedlings in a nursery bed until the plants have five or six leaves, at which time it should be moved to its permanent location. Give the seed proper attention while it is germinating; though the mature plants will tolerate somewhat dry soils, the seedlings need to be kept moist until established. Fall-grown plants will provide moderate bloom the following year, with improved bloom in successive seasons.
If you prefer, you can start butterfly weed in the spring. Follow the same procedures as for fall sowing. Butterfly weed requires winter cold to bloom, so spring-sown plants will not bloom their first summer. However, the long summer days will allow the seedlings to grow into large plants which will produce many blooms the following year.
I think at this point of the year, it might just be easier to throw the seeds where you want them, and just leave them over the winter. My Asclepias incarnata plant released a bunch of seeds last year, and none of them germinated in the autumn. They all germinated the following spring. As said above, it seems like the seeds almost need a cold period, and it seems like they are really happy germinating in the moister spring soil. Hope this helps!
So it sounds like butterfly weed (asclepias tuberosa?) would be a good candidate for wintersowing? Right?
I did find these details about growing Milkweeds from seed and cuttings on the Monarch Watch site. http://monarchwatch.org/milkweed/prop.htm
I tried to grow some from cuttings but wasn't too successful, but I think others (on the butterfly forum) do it all the time.
BTW, Can we just pick off the seed pods that have broken open or can we harvest the closed pods too for viable seeds?
If the seeds in the closed pod are brown or near brown, then they are ready to go. If there is still some green, let them dry before storing or planting. You will need to learn what a ripe pod looks like, or some other method of determination, but seeds are always ripe before the pod opens naturally.
Winter sowing should work fine. A resource book I have says 15 weeks of cold stratification (cold and damp), but I know I have treated mine in the frig for less than 2 months, and they came up like gangbusters.
You might what to look at this http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3776153
from this thread http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/750901/
thanks Leftwood for the good explanation!
Some Asclepias species need cold stratification, some don't. The Mexican Milkweed, A. curassavica, definitely doesn't! It's also the easiest one to start from cuttings, as far as I know.
