Guide to growing Milkweed - Asclepias
Plants from the Asclepias genus tend to be either half hardy or hardy perennials.
Some of the common names for members of Asclepias include Butterfly weed, Milkweed, Orange Milkweed and Pleurisy root.
Milkweed plants normally flower in the summer.
Description of Milkweed
Asclepias are often subshrub like in nature and the they range in size from 30cm to 2 metres.
They are often grown as they are attractive to butterflies (especially the monarch). Milkweed family members have clusters of blooms in red, orange or other hot colours. They make an ideal plant to grow when trying to plant a natural looking or butterfly garden.
How to grow Milkweed
When planting Asclepias outdoors it is best to sow out the seeds in either early spring or autumn, once sown, lightly cover the seeds with soil. If you plan to start the growing of milkweed and other Asclepias genus plants indoor then first you should imbibe the seeds in the fridge for three weeks in soil, then sow them in peat pots, Ideally you should do this 10 weeks before you plan to transplant them outdoors, normally in the late spring (or at the beginning of Autumn). Germination of milkweed seeds normally takes about one to 3 months and should be performed at a temperature between ten and twenty degrees Celsius. Outdoors the seedlings should be planted about 40 to 50 cm apart in partly shaded to fully sunny parts of your garden. Milkweed prefers to grow in a sandy soil, but will grow in most non-heavy soils.
Caring for Milkweed
Milkweed is very easy to look after, pinch back the heads when about 12 cm high, this will tell auxin hormones to make more heads (instead of having a single flower). If you require more milkweed plants then you should (very) carefully take root cuttings in the spring.