I just picked some up this year. I've always shied away from it because of the burning orange color and the fact that every time I see it in the nursery it's so short. But I saw some in open meadows in the large park near me and was wowed by it -- tall(ish) and un-missable. So I did a little research and lo and behold it *is* is mid-sized plant. I put them out in the meadow out back. As long as they get established before cut-down in the late fall they should be okay; many things don't "take" back there but because it's deeply tap-rooted I think it has a survival advantage. I'm really looking forward to seeing it next year as it moves toward maturity, I will actually be able to see that flamin' orange from the house, which will make me happy.

Last summer I was walking around town and saw this huge "shrub" covered with orange flowers in a front garden. It looked like a massive, orange flowered Cistus, which doesn't exist. I walked closer and realized it was Asclepias tuberosa, the largest I'd ever seen. 3.5' wide x 2.5' tall. I immediately acquired a plant and added it to my front garden. It bloomed and produced seed last year, and I grew a lot of seedlings which I have added to my garden. Here is the mother plant as of today, with some other orange and gold companions. It survived winter in heavy clay, so yeah, they grow fine here in the Willamette Valley Oregon.

I am a bit concerned about it seeding around. I wouldn't mind a few more, but will keep a close eye on it most likely clip the seed heads before ripe. I really don't need another pant that needs to be controlled. :o)

SeniorBaloon - Interesting you mentioned seeding around. I'll relate my experience:

Last fall, I was thrilled to have all this seed, so I collected and cleaned all of it. I planted some in 4" pots that spent the winter outdoors to stratify. All of these in pots germinated on schedule in spring and grew over the summer, but I never fertilized so they didn't grow much. Each pot had around 25 seedlings. I planted two pots in my garden and gave two to neighbors.

Here's the interesting part. I planted the vast majority of the seed in many places directly in my garden...none of these germinated, only the seeds in pots germinated.

Any difference in how they were sown? Do they require light to germinate?

I collect a lot of seed from my garden and sow in pots and get decent germination rates, but I rarely see seedlings in the garden, except for plants I don't want more of (damn violets). :o)

The main difference is that the 4" pots contained seed starting mix while in the garden they were planted in mostly aged, fine hemlock bark.

I know one difference in my garden is watering. I keep the seed pots moist, where as the garden can get dry at the surface which probably doesn't help seeds or small seedlings.

It's a plant I wouldn;t want to be without. We had several on our 2 1/2 acre plot. They do reseed, but not to the point of being a problem. I welcombed that. Easy to . remove. Sadly, my daughter and I just moved into a senior center this week and had to leave our beautiful gardens . The manager is preparing a garden spot this week and we were able to bring over 35 plants to the new place. I hope to have at least one of them planted next spring. I didn't know for several years that they will re-bloom if cut to the ground after blooming. They make great cut flowers. I'm 92, so my daughter does most of the work; but I still plan on helping as much as I am able. Can't wait to get the planting done and looking forward to next spring. Happy gardening.