I always wintersow my milkweed seeds. That way, I know my success rate and can choose my planting sites accordingly. This year I plan to increase my milkweed plantings by at least a magnitude of ten. I hope to have plenty of spare plants to donate/gift to anyone with a patch of dirt to spare. I'm also growing extra native pollen-producing plants for my yard and others.

Check out the wintersowing forum, if you haven't already. Results are nearly foolproof.

Martha

thank you martha :) i found a thread titled : ctnchpr's Asclepias variegata Seed recipients. just about everyone on there had a different method! i'm just afraid of doing it incorrectly and wasting the seeds :( i have common and tuberosa seeds -
thanks again.
lena

I think it is a matter of WWND? What would nature do? Winter sowing has worked excellently for my A. tuberosa. Don't know about docmom's success rates but with the plethora of seeds winter sowing has worked for me.
In middle December I planted a bunch of A. asperula received from another on this forum. I expect them to do well. If not I will return to this thread...

hortster

I have cold stratified A. tuberosa by mixing the seeds with some damp dirt, and keeping the bag on an outdoor porch, on the north side of our house, here in Madison, Wisconsin. I planted them in late March/early April, and it seemed to take them forever to germinate, but eventually, most of them did. Some of the seeds did not germinate until late June/early July. Recalcitrant seeds?

hortster, i followed your suggestion and planted the seeds in the seedbed. since then it has rained about 8 inches (hopefully they didn't wash away!), snowed and was the coldest it has been in our part of ga in 18 years, warmed up to the mid 60s, then snowed about a foot... supposed to be in high 60s next week... we shall see what comes up!

ericwi,

For the milkweed varieties that I grow, the A tuberosa is about the last of the milkweed to sprout in the spring, so it may be a common trait of this plant. Might need a bit more warmth than most milkweed.

Mary