Barb, I have lots of tropical milkweed seeds as well as others that I grow in slightly alkaline soil. I also have Tropical Bird of Paradise(Caesalpinia gilliesii) seeds if you want some...it is the yellow flowered with red stamin. Check out my list & let me know if you want to swap...I'm looking for BF host plants. Here is a link that might be useful:

Gladiolus relative Acidanthera? These aren't winter hardy in my own coastal zone 8 unless container grown and the pot moved someplace protected Nov-Feb. If the corms do survive winter in the ground here, they will likely have gotten too cold overnight for the corms to form blooming stems. " During the winter, the corms need temperatures of between 40 and 50 degrees. Water well in summer and feed 4 - 6 times during the growing season. Keep corms dry in winter to prevent rot. Rich but well draining soil"

My experience with Joe-Pye Weed is the opposite of Nevermore's and more like Mad Gallica's - it sprouted everywhere if I didn't deadhead religiously, so I ended up removing it from the perennial border. I'd definitely be glad to have it in a wild area to enjoy with other garden thugs like Symphyotrichum/wild asters and Solidago/goldrods and Eupatorium perfoliatum/Boneset, but it has tenacious roots that made weeding it out a chore. Ken's advice to check in the winter sowing forum is good. That way they will get whatever chill is needed and start growing at the optimal time. They aren't tropical plants, so the chill can't hurt them. As an aside, the old name for this is Eupatorium purpureum, but the new name is Eutrochium purpureum, so depending on the source, you might find it listed under either one. I think this is one of those plants that was put into a different genus when the botanists started doing genetic analysis and realized that some plants may look alike as far as flowers and seeds, but not be too closely related.

Possibly Aster Yellows disease. Aster Yellows will cause stunted yellow foliage and deformed growth. It can also cause the flowers to be green but not always. Sometimes the flowers can just be a faded color of what would be the normal color of the flower.. Milkweed is susceptible to this disease and can spread to other plants pretty quickly. I lost 7 coneflower and 2 milkweed to it one year that I know for sure had it but pulled a few more because they did not look right and I was not taking a chance. I think it spread in my garden in over a 2 year period because I had know idea what it was at the time. It is a nasty disease spread by leaf hoppers and there is no cure. If it was just yellow leave I'd look for spider mites but with it having deformed growth I would pull it up roots and all then clean shovel with bleach and water. Then keep close eye on other plants.