Common Milkweed Seeds

Common Milkweed (Asclepias Syriaca)
 
We chose this variety of milkweed because it's a native species for our Gulf Coast region and most of the Southern and Eastern states. 
Common Milkweed is fragrant and boasts nectar abundant pink flowers along with the leaves are an important food source for monarch butterflies. Common Milkweed, flowers in midsummer followed by green pods which dry, opening up with fluffy seed heads. Common Milkweed spreads by seeds and underground rhizomes, developing into a large colony of plants.
 
Urban Garden Project's Save the Monarch Campaign
With its iconic orange and black markings, the monarch butterfly is one of the most recognizable species in North America. Monarchs are particularly remarkable because they migrate each year, flying from as far as Canada and across the United States to congregate at a few forested overwintering sites in the mountains of central Mexico and coastal California. Over the past two decades, monarch numbers in North America have declined and they have now been placed on the endangered species list. 
 
How can you help?
Eliminate the use of pesticides and herbicides in your flower garden and lawn.
Grow Milkweed, the natural food source of Monarch Butterflies. 
Share your milkweed with neighbors and gardening friends. 
 
Growing Instructions
Milkweed seeds require cold stratification.
What does that mean? In the wild, milkweed plants scatter their seeds quite late in the season,  the seeds of milkweeds (and other late-season flower plants) are naturally programmed to delay germination until after they've been exposed to winter’s cold, followed by gradually rising temperatures in springtime. This adaptation is known as stratification. Cold stratification helps to break the seeds' natural dormancy cycle.  Exposure to winter temperatures help soften or crack the seeds' hard outer casings.
 
Cold stratification is very important for the germination and growth of Milkweed. 
Without prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, your milkweed seed is unlikely to sprout.
 
In most areas, when you plant seeds outside in late fall, seeds can go through the cold stratification process naturally as they lay on the ground through winter. This will give your Milkweed seed a long winter of dormancy. Once the sun comes out and the ground is warm in the spring, the seeds will germinate on their own.
 
In warm zones without winter frost, or if you are starting your seeds in spring, you can cold-stratify seeds in your refrigerator.
 
To Cold Stratify Your Seeds for Sowing in Spring:
 Put your Milkweed seed in a damp paper towel or some damp sand inside a zipper bag, and place in your fridge for 30 days. Label your seeds and be sure to choose a place inside your refrigerator where they won’t be disturbed.
 
Sowing Your Milkweed
Scatter seeds on top of the soil and cover with about ¼ inch additional soil. 
Seeds will germinate in 7-14 days.
Thin seedlings to 2 inches apart.
You can transplant seedlings when 3-6 inches tall to give them more space in the garden. Do this while they are young, as they do not like being transplanted once they have established their tap root. 
Plant transplants in blocks rather than long rows. Plant milkweed 18-24 inches apart.
Water after planting and keep soil moist until plants are established.
Add mulch around the plants to keep the soil moist and discourage weeds.
 
Caring for Milkweed
Water plants if soil is dry but avoid overwatering.
Plants generally do not need supplemental fertilization.
Avoid using insecticides/herbicides in areas around milkweed.
Plants may not bloom the first year, but leaves will still provide a food source for butterfly caterpillars.