Last year was my first experience with this plant. Since I wanted to keep it going, I took cuttings just before frost and kept them in water over winter. I also dug plants from my yard and put them in containers to keep on a screened porch. I also covered these on nights where the temps got very cold. When spring came, all of the cuttings had rooted. Most of the mature plants on the porch were still green. I planted all of these out, both rooted cuttings and the original green plants. The old plants all bit the dust. All of the new rooted cuttings grew and bloomed and made seed.

A quick update on the common milkweed cuttings I tried to root in damp potting mix. Not one rooted. I tried some older stalks that had been kept in water while the cats fed on the leaves and I tried a fresh stalk cutting that I used with Clonex. All withered, rotted and died. It may be me or the age of the stalks or something else but just wanted to let everyone know the outcome of my little experiment. This report is only for Asclepias syriaca aka Common Milkweed cuttings. Asclepias curassavica aka Tropical Milkweed will root this way quite easily. I have recently taken root cuttings of Common Milkweed and planted in damp ProMix potting mix to see if I can get new plants using this method. Of course, I will also be winter sowing additional milkweed seed this winter for spring 2016 planting. Mary

What a fabulous thread! Arash and Stuart, please share a 3-month update (next month) on your very bold April prunings. I am dying to see the results. Arash, what was the age of the tree you pruned?

Don't cut. And they are not Meyers. That variety doesn't come true from seed. Use fabric pots and let it air prune.