Hi, I'm growing the white, and it's really not very showy--but if I had gathered seed, I would offer it to you. That being said, I do have a. incarnata 'Cinderella' if you like. Very pretty and easy to grow.

A. syriaca (common milkweed), I'm told, can be virtually invasive, so be careful. I believe they travel by underground roots or rhizomes or tubers. But, when they do bloom, I'll be cutting off the blooms as soon as they wilt. My tropical milkweed self-sowed this year and it is everywhere in the garden. I've had to pull some up, actually that would cover my nectar plants and other host plants. Others I've left (like in the borders of other beds) to grow. This year my incarnata I winter sowed last winter, and planted in spring last year, are 3-4' tall! They grew very quickly. I have both the species and 'Ice Ballet'. Susan

I agree with Martha and Karen. Some natives do well with a pinching or pruning back. For example,joe pye weed will grow shorter and send up more flower heads. To my knowledge Milkweed is not one of them. In fact, I have several purple milkweeds that have never bloomed in three seasons because my hubby mowed them the last two. I grow a lot of Swamp milkweed in all kinds of sites. It is one of the easiest to grow if the conditions are right. It is a wetland plant, so it either requires a lot of water or grow it in shade and very organic soils. You shouldn't need to fertilize it. Again, it is a native and when you fertilize natives, they put a lot of energy into growing taller. I have about fifteen plants I put in this spring at a school garden (along with Sullivant's,tropical and butterfly weed). Of the four milkweeds, they are doing the best and look really healthy. They were grown from seed (started in April). Many of them are blooming right now, which suprised me. I expected them to bloom next year. They are all about 2 - 3 feet tall. My second year plants tend to be taller about four feet. They also only put up one to three shoots from the base after they are a second year. I never have a "bush" like you have there. Even in the wild, I will only see one to three stalks. So, I don't know how that is happening. Is yours from a garden center? Sometimes the cultivars at a garden center are selected for vigorous growth. I have yet to try one of the garden center cultivars. It would be interested in hearing how they differ from wild plants (all of mine are from wild collected seed). In addition, mine tend to decline after a couple years. So, I let the seedlings grow up and take over. Give it another year without pruning. You could always remove some of the side shoots to contain it. Mine never flops over. Again, that may be a function of rapid grown from fertilizer. The beauty of natives is not having to do anything to them! Thank goodness because I certainly neglect my garden at times! By the way there is a fascinating relationship between the different milkweeds and monarchs. We have discussed it in other posts. Some research and our experiences in this forum, lead us to believe that swamp milkweed is the preferential plant for monarchs. Glad to see you have some caterpillars. Cheers, Elisabeth

Rodney & K, I have seeds of several different milkweeds...this year I only have newly harvested tropical seeds but I also have some seeds of A. viridis (Native Green) & A. asperula (Native Antelope Horns) from 2012 that I collected in my area. I may have some old Common seeds someone sent me left...I started seeds this summer from old seeds I had had for at least 3-4 years that I had cold stratified but never planted...almost all sprouted. You are welcome to send me a self addressed stamped bubble envelope for seeds. Just let me know if you are interested? Both the natives need to be put out now (or cold stratified)so they will germinate but the tropical shouldn't be started until spring.