These are one of the last plants to emerge. You may want to wait a bit yet.

I'm not sure where you live, what climate prevails, so this might not apply to you. Here in Madison, Wisconsin, our Asclepias tuberosa typically emerges in the second half of June. Swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, emerges two weeks earlier. Sometimes certain individual Asclepias tuberosa emerge in mid-July. It could be that this plant is sensitive to soil temperature. Snapping off the old stems would not prevent the root from generating new growth this spring.

My butterfly weed started to peek up about 2 weeks ago. That seems early, but maybe it's because it is growing in the sunniest, driest corner of the yard, in the southwest corner. We also had a couple weeks of unusually warm weather in mid to late April.

This is what it looked like when it first emerged -

{{gwi:470331}}

Hi I checked mine yesterday and there is no sign yet either. I does take them awhile to come.

Thanks all. Maybe I am getting a little over anxious. I'll try to be a little more patient as I cannot see why these plants wouldn't come back. (Unless the winter mulch was uncalled for and caused rotting. Hope not.) While we're on the subject of these plants, am I supposted to remove the seed pods as soon as they form? Or just leave them alone and let the plant's natural process continue?

P.S. I'm in Kansas City.

I let the seed pod turn brown and dry out. There is a little seam in the pod, and it will start to split open, and that is the time to collect the pods.

Susan

I'm also in zone 5 and my A. tuberosa is just starting to come up. Sometimes there can be a microclimate that makes some things emerge later than others nearby. Haven't seen my A.incarnata yet, it's on the north side of the fence and won't get much warmth til the sun is mostly overhead.
-B.

HA! I checked my garden yesterday and I think I see a sprout similar to the ones posted in terrene's photo! Phew! What a relief! I love these plants!

Mine are starting to POP! What a relief it is, after a long winter to see what you want the most come back to life!
Ya know, I ment to post last fall, I had a small, what looked like a cat, eat all the leaves off mt plants.
Anybody know what they could have been?

You guys up there have really had a cold spring, though, haven't you? I recall seeing Minnesote with that late snow and thinking wow!

Our spring has been a cold one, too, with 2 unexpected frosts/freezes. Nights are still in the 40s a lot, which is very cool for us.

I have a lot of things that are not up yet, like my zinnias, salvia seedlings, etc.

Susan

I checked again today and no sign yet. We have had a very strange cold spring. Saturday there was rain with sleet mixed in. I am in South Dakota.

Hi there,
My butterfly weed is just popping through - it is evidently an "early" one....because my friend who lives within 5 miles has one that comes up about a month after mine do.
We both are northwest of Detroit, MI

The Incarnata "Ice Ballet" is going great guns but the Tuberosa are AWOL. Thanks for posting a pic of what they look like when just emerging. If they don't show by mid-June I think I'm going to put two more in with a Hello Yellow I bought for some reason since I really like the orange of the standard Tuberosa. For a "weed" I think the flowers are beautiful.

Even though my A. tuberosa in the picture above has been up for about a month, it's a pretty slow grower. The clumps are about 4-5 inches high now. I have 3 plants growing in a very dry and sunny corner, in a sandy loam that is very well drained. They seem to like those conditions. They are growing along with other very drought-tolerant perennials (once established) like Gaillardia, Iris, Baptisia, Daylilies, Bulbs, Oenothera, and Prairie dropseed, because I don't want to have to irrigate that area trying to get plants that need more moisture to thrive.

Ha - I found another incarnata seedling that popped up from one of my last year's 4" pot. In the garden it will go, too!

I have my little A. purpurescens sitting in their pots out front (I always harden off plants that I get mail order; put them outside in the shady backyard first, then move them to the shadier portion of the front yard which gets more sun; and then I'll transplant them into bigger pots and then into the garden in a couple of weeks or so) had orange eggs on them - the ones I know are not lady beetles. They are those stinkin' milkweed bugs! So, they were schmooed too, MissSherry.

I have heard there are 2 kinds of A. tuberosa (am I thinking of tuberosa? or incarnata?). One is for clay soil and it supposedly does better in Oklahoma, where clay soil prevails. But, you really have to know the nursery and have them "inform" you of which is which.

Susan

Still no tuberosa sprouts from 2 planted in fall. Think they may have succumbed to winter shock.

"Hello Yello" that I just put in has lost all its leaves and looks like a dry stick. It's not source's fault...I couldn't get it into ground for 2 weeks after arrival because of rain and mucky clay.

Now that I read they prefer soil more on the dry side I'm trying to figure out where to place them in the Butterfly Garden as it's all clay that's been amended but it's still very moisture retentive even though I only "spot water" each plant to avoid mildew.

What's strange is the Great Blue Lobelia likes moist conditions from what I've read and it just looks like a little mossy pile sitting where I planted it in the fall. Guess it likes moisture but maybe not soppy clay even when amended.

Can't go without milkweed at any rate but not sure how long to wait to replace 2 fall planted OR how long to give the newer one that appears to have gone to butterfly heaven. Don't want to wait too long as local nurseries and box stores don't carry them and farm nurseries only have so many in stock. I know I can't have "too many" milkweed but the soil all over the property is the same clay nightmare when trying to grow things that like a well drained situation. I've amended my heart out for a year but it takes a considerable amount of time to try and change "mother nature's" soil.

Milkweed for clay? For moist clay there is A.incartna,
for medium clay there is A.sullivantii,A.syriaca,A.incarnata, and A.tuberosa var.clay
I have seed for incarnata and syriaca if you're interested.
Prairie Nursery has the tuberosa for clay.
-B

Here is a link that might be useful: milkweeds for clay

B, thanks for the seed offer. I need the leaves and blooms this year in hopes of attracting some Monarchs.

I can get more incarnata at a farm nursery not far from here but I'll call and make sure they still have some. They have the native pink ones in addition to the white "Ice Ballet" I've already got.

How much first year growth would the A. Tuberosa "plugs" have from Prairie Nursery? I'm not familiar with Tuberosa's first year growth.

Thanks so much.

I planted some seedlings I grew last year of A. incarnata and they grew to about 1' tall and wide. This year, it is now about 3' tall and 2' wide. So, they grow very quickly.

Another good one is to find some A. curassavica that is already growing in a pot - a bit late to plant seeds (?). But, maybe not. It is an annual in our areas, so it grows quickly and really is the Monarchs favorite milkweed.

It blooms all summer (don't deadhead or remove seedpods--they will not inhibit continuous bloom). When the seedpods dry and split at the seam, you can collect the seeds for next year's planting. Mine reseeded this year, but may not do that every year--depends on our winter.

I just scatter the seed on the ground and make sure it has good contact with the ground (by stepping on them or using a board and stepping on it). Water them frequently when small.

You might find some on ebay. Don't know if Prairie Moon carries the plants or not. But, I'm sure some nurseries do. I pinch out the tips of mine so they will grow fuller and produce more foliage. Once they get about 1'-18" tall, I stop and let them grow and flower.

I agree - A. incarnata for clay is probably your best bet for perennials. However, I've also planted the seeds of A. curassavica and some seed has blown around to different places in the yard so it seems they will grow about anywhere - even under pine tree!

Susan

Grows under pine trees? I've been going crazy looking for things that only survive in lots of sun. I'm angling to cut down some pine branches to get some more light to the only "sunny" place on the property where I had to locate the butterfly garden.

Do your pines give them filtered sun or part day low light at ground level? We have a stand of White Pines and evergreen trees along the side of the driveway and nothing but weeds and that miserable invasive Chinese Wisteria grow under, around and up them.

Milk"weed" qualifies but maybe it won't flower as much without too much light? The foliage is important enough to try them there. The back sides of the pines and evergreens are pretty much bare because of lack of sunlight on the north side but there are places along the south/southeast fronts of these pines to put in milkweed.

They survive the root competition from Pine trees? Guess milkweed's long taproots get them the moisture they need.

One more question I've been grappling with: I've got mulch all over the Butterfly garden and others to help with moisture and temperature control. Should I not have mulch so things that do will reseed themselves?

Under the pine trees there's a perpetually growing layer of pine needles. I'm talking inches deep. Do I have to move mulch/needles to have things find their way to soil contact to have successful natural reseeding or do I need to clear some ground space around plants and the property to allow for natural reseeding?

Guess the proper answer is to mulch, collect seeds and sow them around myself.

I'm laughing thinking about my father's neighbors and their neat as a pin "lawn and boxwood" yards. People are going to have "weeds" popping up and won't have a clue what they are.

Sorry for such elementary questions but all I read since I started this gardening said to mulch and get plenty of sunlight for butterfly attracting plants but I now from reading the forums there are always exceptions and you have to find a way to accomodate the natural surroundings to your purposes.

They were actually growing at the edge of the pine trees, and yes, they were seed that germinated from last year's milkweed (curassavica). I'm in zone 7, so don't know if that would matter for reseeding or not. Probably depends on your winter.

They were growing just fine. I had a lychnis coronaria also seed at the edge of the pine tree as well, and flower! They get some west sun, but seemed to do well.

I do have a lot of needles (Austrian Pine), with branches down close to the ground. Apparently, the seed falls thru the needles to the earth and germinate there.

They may do better in full sun, but the Monarchs don't seem to care. My milkweed bed gets about 4 hours of sun a day and they bloom prolifically.

Susan

Hi just checked flowerbed after being gone for 8 days. They are fianaly coming up! They are out about 1 and 1/2 inches. It has taken this long!

My babies are growing very slowly still, too. I'm glad I have other milkweeds available. A couple of incarnatas from seed last year are 4' tall this year. I have syriaca, gomphocarpus, and a couple of tropicals I actually purchased from Wild Things (local nursery). I also have other incarnatas that came back in their little pots that I have since planted out this year, too.

Susan

I need to move my plants (Asclepias tuberosa , which are about 3 years old. I want to be sure to dig deep enough to not break the taproot. How far down do I need to go?