Well, I have seed, and I tried growing it last year without any success. I sowed some seed into a pot this year, and have a few sprouts now. Hopefully this year, I will be more successful. You have encouraged me to try harder. :o)

Sandy, I don't know if you saw in another post, I mentioned that my Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurescens) is up about 5" now. Nothing got it....yet.....knock on wood. Exercise caution when planting out small seedlings, Angie, the cutworms LOVE this plant.

Maybe I will one day get to see it bloom. It is difficult, IMHO, to get it up and growing well. Maybe not difficult, but at the very least....challenging! Not as hard as A. variegata, but one you have to be "attentive" to.

I am so looking forward to growing this plant, and Sandy, I hope we see pics when it is blooming! Thank you, my friend!

Susan

Thanks for the info, Sandy! I'll definitely try this one!

Sherry

That's good to hear. I started some from seed this year too but they're still very small. Hope they make it. I have asclepias syriaca which also has large leaves but purple milkweed is supposed to be a less aggressive alternative.

My seeds were labeled asclepias purpurascens. I've also seen references to asclepias purpurea and haven't figured out whether that's the same thing.

Hi everyone, if you segregate common milkweed from the rest of your garden and cut off the seed pods in fall BEFORE they pop open, I find it to be very well behaved. Tony, the milkweed whisperer ;)

I started mine from seed last year and here in zone 6a they're up just a few inches, but with all this rain we're getting here maybe it will jump up even more. I've read that it can take a few years for them to establish themselves and bloom, but I hope that won't be the case with yours and mine! The blooms are beautiful. Last year I found many of my monarch eggs on these plants.

Susan,

You had a typo in the scientific name. Should be "Asclepias purpurascens"

Figure I'd point that out in case someone was trying to use it in a search (like I did).