Butterfly Milkweed COMMON Pink
Asclepias Perennial Monarch Host Plant 25 Seeds
100% Pure Seed –
Non-GMO – Fresh for this Season
- Milkweed, Common
- (Asclepias syriaca)
- Tags: Butterfly, Meadow Gardening,
Milkweed (Asclepias species), Pollinator, U.S. Native - Common Milkweed has pink flowers and
grows to four feet tall. It is native to
the Midwest and eastern U.S. It prefers
full sun and loamy, mesic soil, but it can tolerate a wide variety of
conditions. This species can spread
aggressively in moister sites and is most appropriate for butterfly habitat
gardens, conservation and meadow plantings
FAST FACTS
- SCIENTIFIC NAME: Asclepias syriaca
- COLOR(S): Pink
- SEED TYPE: Perennial
- SUN: Full Sun, Partial Shade
- MOISTURE: Dry, Moderate
- HEIGHT (IN.): 36-48
- BLOOM PERIOD: Summer
- USDA HARDINESS ZONE(S)4-9.
ADVANTAGES OF THIS
FLOWER
- Zones 4 – 10
- Easy To Grow
- Bee Friendly
- Deer Resistant
- Low Maintenance
- Multiple Blooms / Rebloomer
- Extended Bloom Time (more than 4 weeks)
- Plants For Small Spaces
- Great For Mass Plantings
- Light Requirements
- Full Sun
- Half Sun / Half Shade
- Bloom Time: Spring and Summer
HOW TO GROW MILKWEED
When & Where To
Plant Milkweed
Light: Young Milkweed
plants need plenty of diffuse light as they grow. Plant in full sun locations.
Soil: There is a
Milkweed variety for every landscape.
Common Milkweed grows
well in average garden soil.
Swamp Milkweed, as its
name implies, will do best in a moist environment, making it great for wet
meadows or rain gardens.
Tropical Milkweed
performs beautifully in hot, humid conditions, and can be grown as an annual in
the north.
Butterfly Weed and
Whorled Milkweed grows best in dry conditions.
Spacing: Milkweed
establish large, deep root systems and prefer not to be transplanted.
Butterfly Weed, Whorled
Milkweed, and Common Milkweed should all be spaced about 18” apart.
Swamp Milkweed
eventually matures to forms clumps up to 36″ across. You can plant them
closer and then thin the plants as they grow in, or, plant Swamp Milkweed and
its cultivars between 30” and 36” apart.
Planting Time: Milkweed
plants can be planted in spring or fall. In spring, your milkweed plants will
likely arrive in a dormant state, with no green leaves above the soil line.
This is perfectly normal! At this stage in your milkweed’s growth, all of the
energy is being focused on developing a strong root system. After you plant
your milkweed, you should see it ‘wake up’ as the soil warms and should begin
to see leaves form – often, milkweed can be slow to wake up from dormancy
compared to other perennials in your garden. Be sure not to overwater while
they are dormant.
Fall planting in fall
gives your plants a chance to establish themselves before winter. In areas with
cold winters, this perennial plant will return in late spring.
Growing Milkweed From
Seed: To start milkweed from seed, the easiest way is to emulate Mother Nature
and plant them in the fall. If you really want to start your seeds in the
spring, first you must break their dormancy with cold stratification, which we
cover in our guide for starting milkweed from seed.
Learn More: How To
Germinate and Grow Milkweed Seeds.
How To Plant Milkweed:
Step-By-Step Instructions
Start with healthy
plants that have developed root systems.
Prepare a planting hole
that’s twice as deep and twize as wide as the root ball of your milkweed plant.
When planting multiple plants, you can amend the soil for each planting hole,
or amend the whole bed before planting.
If the roots are
clinging to the sides of the pot, you can “rough up” the roots to
encourage outward growth.
Plant your lmilkweed
with the top of the root ball even with the soil line. Backfill soil around the
plant and press firmly all around.
Water well to compress
the soil and remove an air pockets.
How To Care For Milkweed
Plants
Growth habit: Most
milkweed species are clump-forming. Common Milkweed is a single stemmed
variety.
Staking: Milkweed plants
have sturdy stems – no staking needed.
Watering: Swamp Milkweed
varieties need either a naturally moist environment or regular watering.
Whorled and Common Milkweeds, as well as Butterfly Weed, are suited to a dry
environment.
Fertilizing: Milkweed
does not require fertilization. This native plant performs well in poor soils.
Mulching: You may mulch
milkweed with leaf litter or fine-chopped bark mulch if you’re trying to
control weeds. Dry-soil loving milkweeds, like Butterfly Weed, may not
appreciate the water retaining qualities of mulch.
Trimming & Pruning:
None needed.
Monarchs & Milkweed
The leaves of all
milkweed species are the host plant for the caterpillars of beautiful American
monarch butterflies – meaning milkweed leaves are the ONLY food that they can
eat to survive.
However, because of
widespread pesticide use and the destruction of meadows across the country,
wild-growing milkweeds are disappearing in places where these butterflies
breed.
This has led to a nearly
90% decline in monarch populations over the last 2 decades! Looking ahead, if
we don’t replenish these lost milkweeds, Monarch butterflies will vanish from
the American landscape forever. Fortunately, you can plant milkweed to help
support your local monarch butterfly and pollinator population!
HOW TO COLD STRATIFY
SEEDS
Everyone wants plants.
Now. But there are a small group of seeds that require a special treatment
before they will even germinate in a climate that has temperatures below
freezing. This process is called “Cold Stratification.” There are two ways to
accomplish this.
Fall Planting
If time is not a
problem, you can put them in the ground in fall and let them go through a
winter. They will sprout next year, but not flower. The following year, having
gone through two winters, they will return and bloom as expected.
If you are planting
poppies direct sowing is recommended in late fall or early spring for zones 2-8
Create a “False
Winter”
The second way to do
this, if you want to save time, is to create a “false winter.” What this does is trick the seeds into
thinking they have been in the ground for an entire year. All they need is to be in your refrigerator
for at least 2 ½ months.
About 3 months before
spring, place seeds in a plastic bag with a handful of slightly dampened, clean
peat, paper towel, or a mix of clean peat and sand.
Seal and label the bag
with seed name and date, then store in the refrigerator (not freezer) for at
least 2½ mos. before planting in spring. (The cold period mimics a full
winter’s cold.)
Once your seed has been
treated, it’s ready to plant when spring arrives.
Varieties that need Cold
Stratification:, Angelica Seeds, Asclepias Seeds, Asparagus Seeds, Canterbury
Bells Seeds, Caper Seeds, Chinese Lantern Seeds, Cleome Seeds, Columbine Seeds,
Coneflower Seeds, Floxglove Seeds, Lavender Seeds, Lemon Mint Seeds, Lobelia
Seeds, Marshmallow Seeds, New England Aster Seeds, Oregano Seeds, Perennial
Flax Seeds, Perilla (Shiso) Seeds, Poppy Seeds, Primrose Seeds, Rocky Mountain
Penstemon Seeds, Scarlet Sage Seeds, St. Johns Wort Seeds, Wallflower Seeds,
Wild Blue Iris Seeds, Yarrow Seeds,
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Very healthy seeds! Well worth it.
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These seeds came right up and started producing squash. Can’t ask for more than that.
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They arrived very fresh and not bruised. They were delicious.
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Easy to grow beautiful
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