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Heart-Leaf Milkweed (Asclepias cordifolia) seed

10 years ago

Based on photos of this milkweed, posted to another thread by Mark (wildflowerman_2000), I purchased seed and would like to try growing this lovely milkweed.

I would love to hear from anyone having experience with Heart-Leaf Milkweed (Asclepias cordifolia) milkweed.

Should the seed be cold stratified and if so, for how long? I've kept the seed in the fridge but don't know how long to hold them before attempting to germinate. Since their native range is west coast and rather dry, I'm curious about the method of germination.

Mary

Comments (4)

butterflymomok
10 years ago
Check out Butterfly Encounters for information on how to grow this milkweed. I know he has it for sale. I've tried a couple of times with no success.

Good Luck!

Sandy
Mary Leek
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, Sandy. If you didn't have any luck, then it's probably a losing cause. This milkweed has such a lovely bloom, I just had to give it a try. I've lived in California and know how different the humidity can be in our neck of the woods, comparatively speaking. And if these plants naturally grow at higher altitudes, then the daytime temps would be what we'd consider lovely spring or fall days, temp wise. So maybe we're fighting both high temps and humidity here.

I received an email from Joyful Butterflies, the on-line vendor where I purchased my seed (BTW, beautiful big healthy looking seed) and she wrote to say her on-line growing suggestions were to be discarded. She now believes the seed needs more cold stratification than she originally thought. I'm going to hold the seed in the fridge for two months and then try germinating half my count. Will keep back half in case this try is unsuccessful.

Mary
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Welcome to Garden Web. I thought you might like to know there is no email link on your member page, thus no way to email you. To set up your email, just go to the bottom on any page here, and click on Member Pages Then click on Edit your Personal Information, Page, and Preferences You will then probably be asked to login in again. Then check the box Allow other users to send you email via forms at our site. That will place a link on your member page. While there editing, you may want to fill in your seeds you have to trade, as well as the seeds you would like to receive. Like Kathy said above, there is nothing on your lists. Happy Gardening and trading. Sue
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Daniel Sanchez were can you get oval leaf milkweed? I know you posted this in 2009, the seeds are probably sold out. Thought I would check.
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Hi Mary- Many western milkweeds naturally grow in poorer soils, A. fascicularis being one of them. Don't stress over fertilizing, or lack thereof. I feed mine monthly with a 10-5-5 type fertilizer or 20-20-20 until they reach a size I'm comfortable with. Most times, I feed them with whatever is handy sitting in the shed. After that, I fertilize by eye: if they look like they don't need it, they don't get any. Liquid or dry, makes no diff. Don't overburden yourself or overthink what you're going to feed westerns; they'll resent whatever you give them if given too much anyway. This is a photo of one of my large fascicularis. I have some smaller ones I'm growing for a butterfly garden project.
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7The problem with deleting the autcorrect was I had to learn how to spell again lol. Why can't they make one with all the botanical names in its memory? https://www.growmilkweedplants.com/michigan.html There seems to be a close relationship between milkweeds and mycorrhizae fungi. I'm using the fungi on all my milkweeds. https://www.mpgranch.com/dispatches/milkweed-fungal-perspective
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glenn_risley
8 years ago
Sandy and Mary,

I was successful germinating Asclepias cordifolia last fall, 2014. I cold moist stratified them in moist paper towels in a plastic sandwich bag in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 months. I changed the paper towels and the plastic bag every month. I then put 3 to 4 seeds in each pot in a 25 pot Jiffy Pot planter. I then put them in a greenhouse with 16 hours of light and heat. I had over 85% germination in 2 weeks.

Glenn
Mary Leek
Original Author
8 years ago
Oh, such great news and helpful instructions. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and fantastic results. I think there will be many gardeners who will appreciate this post.

Mary

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