Butterfly Garden, part I

We got our milkweed seeds today from Monarch Watch. I used them last year to purchase our tagging supplies (hope to have another post on that subject in a couple of months).

For approximately $10 plus shipping, we received three different types of milkweed: Butterfly milkweed, Swamp Milkweed and Common Milkweed. There were approximately 10 seeds in each packet.  Ideally, you should plant the seeds after collected from plants in the fall, however for spring planting you can simulate winter conditions by cold stratifying the seeds.

First, we labeled the Ziploc bags with the type of milkweed.

Then, we wet some paper towels, wrung them out until they were just damp, and dumped the seeds into the paper towels.

Finally, we gently pressed the paper towels down on the seeds and placed it inside the bag. We squeezed all the air out of the bag and laid it flat in our refrigerator. We will check for germination in 3-6 weeks.