Orange Butterfly Weed Seeds

Cold stratification is required for Asclepias Tuberosa seeds: skip it, and you'll be waiting a long time for nothing. Combine your Butterfly Weed seeds with moist sand, seal it all up in a bag, and put it in the refrigerator for 30 days. Then, plant your seeds in the spring. Alternatively, direct-sow your seeds late fall and let winter take care of the cold stratification for you. Germination occurs naturally after the last frost. Plant your Butterfly Weed perennial seeds ¼ inch deep. The seeds are small and don't need to be deeply planted. Expect sprouts to occur within 10-21 days after soil temperatures warm up. Note that Orange Butterfly Weed develops a tap root quickly, and it does not appreciate being transplanted.

Full sun is the preferred location for Butterfly Weed orange flowers, although they will tolerate partial shade but bloom count drops noticeably. Soil drainage is important for Butterfly Weed orange flowers, while fertility is not as significant. In fact, sandy, rocky, and gravelly soil types are preferred for Butterfly Weed orange flowers, while rich soil can cause root rot. Young plants need watering until established; mature plants tolerate drought, but overly wet soil can damage the roots.

First-year plants are all about developing that tap root, not flowering. The first decent display of flowers will be year two or three, and that is perfectly normal for native perennial Butterfly Weed from seed, not indicative of anything going wrong. No staking is necessary and no deadheading. Native Butterfly Weed is deer-resistant. After flowering  the 3-4 inch long narrow seed pods form — harvest them before they split open if one wants to collect seeds for the next season.