Awesome! Now they will be flowering in no time.

Hey, Sherry! How've you been? How is that A. lanceolata?

Sherry, I sent you an email asking a question. Please check it out.

Well, I kept it in the pot, and every time it'd make a new shoot, that shoot would get eaten back to the dirt - slugs? - tiny mice? The pot was inside my rooting cage, but slugs and tiny mice could reach it. So, since things weren't working out there, I planted it in the bottom of the hollow in the one really sunny spot there - I figured it'd like the moisture down there. We haven't had any rain for over a week, maybe ?two weeks, since we had 3.30" - it was the same rain system that caused the floods in Tennessee. Anyway, I've been watering it as needed, and so far, it's doing alright, with two sprouts about ?3" tall each. The slugs or whatever have apparently not found it.
I'll keep watering it if it doesn't rain - this is sure a difficult plant! I don't know how it manages to grow here naturally!
Pretty soon, I'll check out the wild group by the highway.
Sherry

Cool. Oh, and if you get seeds of wither the regular form, or the pure yellow form, I'd be interested in some. I'm sure it will do really good here. :-)

Okay, I answered your e-mail, Danny, and the answer is yes - I'll be looking for it on Dave's Garden.
Sherry

Oh okay. Thanks you.

I went shopping in Hattiesburg today, and I brought my camera with me, knowing that the A. lanceolata would probably be in bloom, and it was. There are no yellow flowering plants, but there is a small group of them that are very dark scarlet orange, almost red - they really stand out from the road!
{{gwi:513974}}
Let's hope I get lucky and the road crews leave these unmowed for long enough for them to make some seed pods!
Sherry

Wow!!! that is so cool! Amazing! Now that would be an Asclepias lanceolata "Blazing Red". Haha. Thanks for posting.

misssherry,

Do you think it would be possible to somehow mark the A. lanceolata plants (the red, and yellow if you see it) on the stem at the very bottom or something so you can know where they are when they are mowed or dormant in the winter?

I usually dig on Sunday mornings when the traffic is light. In our area the VDOT is putting in some major hot lanes. They actually authorized a plant/animal rescue for a while, but there were many safety protocols. Wearing orange vests, safety officers from VDOT present, only work in designated areas, etc.

I'll go over there Sunday morning and check things out - I may or may not dig up a plant, but certainly I can tag the dark ones. I dug up one last year, and the plant hasn't worked out very well, don't know why.
One thing in our favor this year - we've been having lots of rain lately, so I don't think they can mow in that area. So I guess that means we should pray for yet more rain? :)
Sherry

How did it go on Sunday? Were there any Yellows?

I didn't go there Sunday, Danny, I got busy with other things. But I did go there this morning, and I found two yellow flowered plants, both smaller than the regulars. Here's a picture of one of them -
{{gwi:513975}}
And here's another picture of it, taken farther away, so you can see the boggy habitat better that it grows in -
{{gwi:513976}}
Since bogs are typically extremely acid, I'm thinking maybe the way to grow it is to plant it in pure peat moss, or other material that you know is very acid.
I found several seed pods on plants on the south, dryer side of the area -
{{gwi:513977}}
I plan to visit there again real soon, and keep visiting there often, so I can be there to get the seed pods when they first begin to split open - I don't want to cut the pods off before they're ripe.
Sherry

Thank you for the pictures! The yellow is so beautiful just like the red. I wonder if the yellow could have been a hybrid between A. curassavica Silky Gold and A. lanceolata. Those pods look like they're very close to maturing. Did the red or yellow have pods? What size was the red in comparison to the regular A. lanceolata?

What do you think would happen if you plant it in a non-acid habitat? Would it being in an acidic habitat affect weather or not it blooms and reseeds?

Danny, neither the red or yellow have pods yet. I doubt that the yellow could be a hybrid with A. curassavica - there wouldn't be any growing anywhere near these roadside plants, which are on an unpopulated section of Hwy. 49. The red is just as big as the regular, but the yellow plants were smaller, maybe younger?
I don't know the answer to your question about how it would do in a non-acid habitat, but I doubt it would thrive. Watery bogs are all very acid as far as I know - you might could have an alkaline bog if it were over a limestone formation. I don't have any information about how acidity affects its blooming and seeding, but it probably needs it. I only mentioned acidity in bogs, because I've read that's a characteristic of them - I've also read that eastern soils are acid because rainfall leaches the calcium out - in the dry west, that doesn't happen so much, except in the PNW. Again, an exception to acid eastern soils is those over or near limestone formations - I think those are mostly in the mountains or piedmont.
Anyway, I checked on the pods, and they're not ripe. The grasses and other wildflowers have grown really tall - hope they don't mow!!!!
Sherry

I hope they don't mow either. I still can't believe that they would mow such beautiful plants. I mean the flowers of the A. lanceolata seem to just pop out of the rest of the wild stuff because their stems and leaves are so thin.

Hopefully the red and yellow ones will set some seed later. :-)

Thank you for the pictures! The yellow is so beautiful just like the red. I wonder if the yellow could have been a hybrid between A. curassavica Silky Gold and A. lanceolata. Those pods look like they're very close to maturing. Did the red or yellow have pods? What size was the red in comparison to the regular A. lanceolata?

What do you think would happen if you plant it in a non-acid habitat? Would it being in an acidic habitat affect weather or not it blooms and reseeds?

Somehow the message I sent before got resent. Please disregard it.

Sherry,

Since the A. lanceolatas there go dormant, would the seeds need a cold period? I don't think so because we have the Zizotes Milkweed as a native here and it does dormant in the winter, but the seeds don't need the cold period. I just wanted to make sure.

Danny

I don't know - there is no good information available on how to propagate A. lanceolata that I know of.
My guess is that it doesn't need any cold weather to germinate. The seeds will be falling soon with about four months of warm weather left, and the seeds don't have big, thick husks/coverings that would need a long time to break down, so I'll probably try to approximate nature and plant my seeds in a container right away - assuming I get some - and leave the container outside. Then if it needs cold, it won't come up until next spring.
Sherry

Oh, okay. I sure hope that they don't mow the plants yet.

It rained again today, so I imagine it's still too wet there for mowing - I'm hoping it'll keep raining frequently until the pods mature.
Sherry

The pods didn't look too far from maturing, but then again I'm not that sure cause I've never grown A. lanceolata before. Glad it rained again. It rained here too. The plants here sure liked it. haha

It rained again yesterday and the day before - things are looking up.
Sherry

Take some survey tape and tape them off. You can also take one of those five gallon paint strainers and put over the seed pods. The survey tape is good for tying those net bags. I noted at the park that the purple milkweed looks like it will make some seeds this year, I hope.

I agree. That would work well.

I can't wait for the seeds to ripen. They should be very viable because of the rain, so close to 90% of the seeds or more should germinate if they aren't picked early.

I'm sure it's getting very close for the pods to mature. Have the Yellow or Red produced any pods?

There are no pods on the red or yellows, but one of yellow ones is still blooming, so it may yet make one.
I've been checking on the pods every few days, and they STILL haven't ripened.
We're still getting almost daily rains, some heavy - they haven't mowed, and as long as the rains continue, I don't think they will.
Sherry

Oooh. That's good to know. We're gonna get a ton of rain here thanks to Tropical Storm Alex. I do hope the yellow makes a pod. That'd be really neat.

misssherry,

have you seen this page? http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/plants/asclepias-lanceolata060813-4291brnswckz.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/plants/asclepias.htm&usg=__ByyNShLIvKr198x9MxZJvkL5a1U=&h=558&w=500&sz=25&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=2m0vGfWFw3TChM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dasclepias%2Blanceolata%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1

It has pictures of all the flower color variation of Asclepias lanceolata. It even has a similar almost red one, and a pink one. No yellows though.

Danny

The seed pods in the pictures look smaller than the ones you took pictures of. Well, not so much smaller, but thinner. I guess A. lanceolata is just like A. tuberosa in that they have many variations.

Danny

No, I hadn't seen those pictures, Danny, but the color variations look like the ones here, including the pink one. Several years ago, on the south end of the area where they grow, some pink ones flowered. I thought it was a different type of milkweed altogether, but after looking at those pictures, I think it was just the pink form of A. lanceolata. I got a picture -
{{gwi:513979}}
The pink either didn't make a seed pod, or it got mowed over, can't remember which, and pink flowers have not occurred since then - 'wish they would!
We went yesterday, and the pods still weren't ripe - it's raining now. :)
Sherry

I think those are the most beautiful ones. I guess that colony has 4 different types: Regular, Yellow, Scarlet or Red, and Pink (pink/white). That would be something to have all four of them in a garden or bouquet.

Danny

misssherry,
Has it kept raining in your area/ How are the pods?
I was wondering how the seeds for A. lanceolata survive and grow in the wild. See, many seeds including Asclepias seeds rot or die if they get too wet, yet A. lanceolata's habitat is bogs and other moist and wet places. How do the seeds do it to grow without dying? I've always wondered that.

I guess they have to stay wet, Danny. We had a short dry spell, but then it rained Sunday - 1.3" of the wet stuff.

Unfortunately, they mowed it during the dry spell - I almost cried when I saw it.
Sherry

Oh no! that's sad. Do you think they'll be able to regrow and produce more seeds this year since it's already July?
I still can't believe that they would mow such a beautiful site..

As I recall, they've done just that in years past, so I'll watch it. I can't believe they'd mow it either, but then I can't believe most of what I see in the world today, Danny! Stupidity and craziness are everywhere! :(
If they didn't mow, that area would probably become a wet forest, with cypress and sweetbay and such, so there is some good in mowing it, but you'd think they'd leave it alone for a while anyway!
Maybe I'll just dig up another plant, and this time try planting it in wet peat moss. This seems to be a plant that has VERY specific needs.
Sherry

Have you tried contacting the highway dept. and asking them to work with you on saving some seeds? Never know what they will do. Either ignore you or help you.

Monarch Watch has a new initiative. They are putting together a list of native milkweeds for each state and going to try to find sources for these.

"Bring Back the Monarch Campaign
----------------------------------------
In response to mortality suffered by the monarchs in Mexico we will be launching a "Bring Back the Monarch" campaign by encouraging a nationwide expansion of the Monarch Waystation Program and the planting of milkweed on private and public lands. This effort will be supported in part by the Monarch Joint Venture, a new nationwide program whose mission is to foster monarch conservation. We will post more information about these efforts in the coming months, in the meantime you can learn more about our Monarch Waystation conservation initiative at
http://monarchwatch.org/waystations ". There's some good brochures in the download section.

Here is a link that might be useful: Monarch Waystation

I'm obsessed with growing native milkweeds and was once an avid plant rescuer so I was on the edge of my chair reading this thread! Your pictures are gorgeous, MissSherry! I hope you eventually got some A. lanceolata growing in your yard!

If they'd just quit mowing, I might be able to get some ripe seeds!

The plants sure came in handy last year, when I had more monarch cats than milkweed - the cats gobbled it up and grew well on it.

'Good to see you posting, Carol!

Sherry

I too have an obsession with obtaining and propagating native milkweeds.....Texas has 33 species lol I have a long way to go. Hopefully you get some lanceolata seed this year

Hey, I work for a small business in northern Michigan that sells native plants and I'm interested in buying seeds if you can collect some. If you can collect any amount of seed I will pay top dollar for them. Contact me at maxbutlerofficial@gmail.com

Any luck with the lanceolata seeds?

MissSherry, any luck with lanceolata this year?

Stephen Powell what milkweeds do you have? I might have some lanceolata seeds next year. We could do a trade.

Any particular species you're looking for? I have lots of different ones

also looking for solanoana if anyone has that

List your rare ones, I'm not interested in the common milkweeds.