Common milkweed

Size: 3'-6' tall.

Light: Full sun. 

Sowing Instructions: Direct sow or start indoors. Seed dormancy can be high. We recommend 3 months of cold, moist stratification..

Grower's Notes: Widespread and somewhat weedy species. The genus name, Asclepias, commemorates During World War II, the U.S. did not have access to the fruit of the kapok tree whose fibers were used to fill lifejackets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture led a program to collect Asclepias syriaca pods. The floss (fluff) that helps milkweed seeds blow in the wind was collected from these pods and used to fill lifejackets. The slogan for this program was “pick a seed, save a life.” Twenty-six ounces of floss were needed to keep a 150-pound man afloat for 48 hours in sea water. Two 20-pound bags of milkweed pods had to be collected for this much floss.