Hello:
I have posted this in various places on DG.
Last year and the year before I gave away hundreds of packets of milkweed seed for free to interested friends, neighbors, and family.
If you have an abundance of seed and are interested in supporting my efforts, please send me a dmail regarding particulars.
It's not exactly a trade I'm looking for, but if there are things on my lists you would like I'd be happy to make those arrangements.
Thanks so much.
~Amanda
Need Milkweed Seed for Project
Not yet only a Milkweed incarnata came up this week , a sprout from seeds that didn't make it , I guess it is .
Anyway I will take it ^_^
I grew some from seed this season too. They will take years to bloom, but I only grow them for the foliage any way.
I assume you want a milkweed that is suitable for Butterfly larva?
We have one that grows wild here that is going to seed right now - but it is practically leafless, and wouldn't be very good caterpillar chow.
Yes, I think plants with foliage would work best. :)
Which species do you have? Not familiar with leafless varieties. Thanks. Starting to get some donations while I begin repackaging them to ship out for fall planting.
Still haven't seen one in the yard, but I have to have faith.
It is Asclepias verticillata or A. pumila subspecies verticillata.
In the photo it is the plant with the very narrow green foliage & fluff - the dried pods are penstemon that it is mingled with.
I've tried to start this one from seed without success though the seed came in trade and I don't know how old they were. :D
Well more seeds of Milkweed destined for the project , I like growing them ,I like the blooms , butterflies , and feeling in the garden , I don't like cleaning them though lol ^_^
I missed one ,, I'm a pic hound for sure lol^_^
You're a saint!
That reminds me of the time I was taking mid-winter inventory of seeds and I found an envelope labeled "Caution Fluff". I couldn't remember what it was, so I opened it. It was milkweed that I hadn't taken the silks off of. I ended up chasing "Caution Fluff" all over the room.
It looks like you were smarter and stripped your seeds before storing.
Thank you pollengarden for the "smarter" but I have been there , done that as far as fluff , I run the majority half in half out of the pod . The one seed I miss , goes here in the pic , I am not chasing one seed as to losing a handful of fluff . (stuff &fluff is incredible ain't it?)lol
These I will get back to (the seeds remaining) in the meantime insulation "fluff" awaits cleaning ..lol
This message was edited Oct 18, 2013 5:37 PM
One can only hold their breath for so long when cleaning/chasing "Caution Fluff." It's sometimes a fun task. I made the mistake of collecting dogbane seeds which much resemble Milkweed, including the pod and fluff. But the seeds were sooooo small, I had to post for an ID.
Sure enough, all that work for a WEED! I mean, a weed that I wouldn't even plant or allow to stay. And you know I like weeds.
MW fluff has interesting historical facts - people/children were encouraged to collect fluff for uses during WWII I think, including stuffing for life jackets.
Read a very informative article a while ago if you're interested in this history of fluff, I'll dig some up.
Here's the Incarnata third batch just finished ,ready to go into bags ,
Only thing about being glad I'm done is the Syrica's have not even started to open )eeek !!!
NOW you get to put them in the fishbowl , for guessing game of the number of seeds ,, lol
Guess the number of seeds and you win (what?) lol
HA! If I make a guess are you actually going to count them? :)
No ,, lol !!! But there's about 2300 of them there .... The end of your little finger will cover about 25 at the shallow end of the pic (right hand side) , considering depth and multiply from there ..
eeek !!!!LOL
Amanda Yes teacher .... IT'S all about a Hill of S ....eeds Trigonometry anyone ?
This message was edited Nov 1, 2013 8:50 PM
Care to try to count these ,, Hey their Syrica ,,Dry this weekend to their destination this week ..
Yes I am at it again ,,
Wow. Does this work help you sleep at night? Must be awfully tiring. I don't see you posting late late anymore.
I did those (the last pan) in a little less than an hour today .
I think the Burdock and Dandelion tea (sometimes klunk ,,snooze)) is helping me sleep . I could of posted at 3am and again at 6am this morning , Friday night and the kids were in and out all night and then a relative started snoring so the whole house could here ..
I've been awake all day and night so far , I don't feel sleepy as of yet (this morning) So I guess the 3 to 4 hour interludes of sleep are enough ,, ??? who knows ..?
If it works for you...
Sounds like I would have to bang some heads if that was my house. :D
When growing milkweed from seed, do you chill the seed first? I just bought seeds of A. speciosa, A. incarnata and A. tuberosa. Read on MonarchWatch that these need to be vernalized/stratified (chilled) before planting if planting indoors. This promotes higher germination. Your thoughts, experiences?
They appear mid summer here after germinating , takes a about two seasons to bloom , three to mature size ,
I have winter so I stratify outdoors , full cold season of stratifying (their wintersown now thru February , ) The Tuberosa seems to germinate with better rates than the others i have ,
takes patience here
Hello Beclu - as Ju says, it takes patience here too!
I believe all of those seeds require cold/moist stratification to germinate. If you have cold as Ju does you can simply scatter the seeds. When I was sure of a cold enough winter to simulate conditions (simulate!) I would winter sow them in milk jugs, however, with our variable temperatures I have to rely on the refrigerator.
Some plastic bags, some sand, and just enough water to be moist but not pool in the baggie are the conditions you need.
Be sure to mark your species so you know which is which! Put the bags in the bottom drawer and forget about them - mark your calendar! The sooner the better as they require 2-3 months of this cold treatment. One year I brought them out and forgot about them for a day or two. They sprouted on the counter in my kitchen!
Here's a link to my very favorite site - Prairie Moon Nursery - regarding A. incarnata and on the site a complete seed guide for many species.
http://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds/wildflowers-forbs/asclepias-incarnata-rose-milkweed.html
Good luck with yours. Let us know if we can help more.
A.
Thank you very much to everyone who has offered to send seed! I am stratifying several varieties myself this winter so when I send them out free to new/inexperienced gardeners they will sprout readily without the pre-treatment confusion. Some plants I even grow myself and then ship. Will keep you posted!
A.
Thanks Ju and Amanda. I'm in 7b or 8a here, so its the fridge for mine. I'll have to tell DH where they are so he doesn't think they are a strange kind of food!
If you don't belong already, there is an organization at MonarchWatch.org that would be very interested in your milkweed seeds. They have a good Facebook page too. So would The Wild Ones Natural Landscapers that have a good website and a big Facebook site. Both organizations are united in helping the Monarch by collecting seed and planting various species of milkweed. There is a new Facebook page called "Mr President, Please Plant Milkweed at the Whitehouse."
A few White Incarnata sprouted here , my wintersown, this week past , Sitting there showing their spike stem , very tiny so far ,, They know , it going to be cold for a while yet .
Thanks Rick. And Ju. I didn't statrt anything from seed this year. Still have plenty of MW and have shipped MW seed to friends around the country.
I do support Monarch Watch and my certified Waystation is #4320.
Thanks! :)
A.
Amanda you know Your always Welcome !!! ^_^
I was outside planted Packera obvata seeds I had a few Northern Metalmarks the past years so I thought I might see if any are still here ,
A few new Syrica runners are up , moving along , but I am not real hopeful , no Monarch cats here in years now and only seven Adults last year , not hopeful #'s there
Oh well , take care , Hope to hear from you ..
I just went to the Monarch Waystation site and after downloading the paperwork and decided I didn't want to pay $16.00 to become an official waystation and although I'd want a sign, $25.00 is a little steep. It's not like they're going to hand my address out to migrating monarchs, that would be worth a few bucks. So I'm going to pay my daughter to make signs for my butterfly and nectar gardens. Maybe I'll get my grand-daughter to paint flowers on the signs (I'm always trying to capitalize on child magic).
Yeah, I don't disagree. I guess I went with the "supporting U of Kansas" and Chip Taylor's Monarch Watch program. I remember when it was so small they didn't even have a website. :)
Hope everyone is sending bugs my way!!!
Not a WHOLE lot of MW but the seedlings are growing.
I did finally get seed pods from the A. exalta this year though the A. purpurescens (?) has yet to bloom and this is the third (?) or fourth season.
A.
p.s. Thank you all who donated seeds last year and before. Thanks to you several dozen people across the US are trying to grow MW and start habitats to help conserve the species.
It flew heading East . Towards you ,, Sunday New Born ,, this morning
Yay!
Can't wait. I'd better get to transplanting up my seedlings and get ready!!!
xo
A.
Amanda,
How are things going? Any monarchs in NC yet?
m.
Hey there - I haven't sighted any myself and too busy frankly to check other sources that might indicate they're on their way.
Will keep you posted! Sounds like from other folks up north that they are having good numbers this season. I hope it's a good rebound, or at least a little bounce!
~Amanda