{"id":7825,"date":"2015-11-01T13:15:38","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T18:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=7825"},"modified":"2015-11-01T13:15:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-01T18:15:38","slug":"tips-on-sowing-milkweed-seeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2015\/11\/01\/tips-on-sowing-milkweed-seeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips On Sowing Milkweed Seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Milkweed<\/a>

Perennial Milkweeds at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Closup<\/a>

Closup of\u00a0Ascelpias tuberosa flowers<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa<\/i>), aka butterfly weeds,\u00a0are tuberous rooted perennials native\u00a0to the\u00a0Eastern and southern U.S. (USDA hardiness zones 3 to 9). It grows in dry\/rocky open woodlands, prairies, farm fields, and along roadsides.\u00a0A clump of milkweed\u00a0plants grow 1- 3 feet tall and spread 1 \u00bd feet wide. Unlike\u00a0other milkweeds (Asclepias spp<\/i>.), the sap is not milky.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0nearly six weeks, from late spring to early summer, 3 inch wide clusters of vibrant orange to yellow-orange flowers (umbels)\u00a0cover the plant canopy. Narrow lance-shaped leaves are attached to the hairy stems. Flowers are an important\u00a0nectar source for many butterfly species and leaves are a key food source for the caterpillars (larvae) of Monarch butterflies.<\/p>\n

Butterfly weeds\u00a0self-seed freely in the landscape. Prominent 3 – 6 inch long spindle-shaped seed pods break ripen, open\u00a0and release multitudes of silky-tailed seeds which carry\u00a0long\u00a0distances by wind. Seed pods may be utilized in dried flower arrangements.<\/p>\n

Butterfly weeds are prairie survivors. They grow in average well-drained soils in full sun. Two-year established plants are highly drought tolerant. Shoots emerge late in the spring and grow rapidly.\u00a0Gardeners frequently\u00a0include some\u00a0in butterfly gardens, meadows, prairies, or other plantings. Do not\u00a0attempt to dig up\u00a0plants in the wild; they rarely survive transplanting due to their deep taproot system.<\/p>\n

New plants are easily\u00a0started from seed. Collect seed capsules from wild populations before they burst open. Dried capsules should be stored in a plastic bag. \u00a0Autumn is a good time to direct sow seeds in a prepared garden bed. Most (not all) seeds will emerge by mid-summer next year, and plants\u00a0will\u00a0bloom for the first time in\u00a02 – 3 years. Seeds may be sown into deep\u00a0containers, but overall success is better in garden beds.<\/p>\n

Few disease and insect problems trouble butterfly weeds\u00a0when they’re\u00a0grown in full sun open garden spot. Wet, poorly-drained soil leads to rot rots and eventual death. Leaves are susceptible to rust and leaf spots, particularly if the planting is too crowded or partially\u00a0shaded.<\/p>\n

‘Hello Yellow’ is a\u00a0yellow-flowering\u00a0milkweed cultivar. It possesses the same\u00a0qualities of its orange-blooming cousin, including being\u00a0a butterfly magnet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), aka butterfly weeds,\u00a0are tuberous rooted perennials native\u00a0to the\u00a0Eastern and southern U.S. (USDA hardiness zones 3 to 9). It grows in dry\/rocky open woodlands, prairies, farm fields, and along roadsides.\u00a0A clump of milkweed\u00a0plants grow 1- 3 feet tall and spread 1 \u00bd feet wide. Unlike\u00a0other milkweeds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,1218,747,749,1122,1037,778,674,806,627,625,843,1136,1220,777,630,705,706,646,113,1157,1056,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7825"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8255,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7825\/revisions\/8255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}