Will mexican milkweed grow here?

[Keith Petrosky]

I live in the middle atlantic, USA, NY. If I plant the milkweed with the yellow and red flowers, and the seeds spread, will it grow back the next year?

[Keith Petrosky]

I spread the seeds so I will have to see if they grown now. I know 2 other types of milkweed seeds I planted are growing. I cant wait to see the flowers on them!

[Keith Petrosky]

Well some of last years seeds are growing in my backyard, moslty in cracks. I'm glad to know they can grow here. I just wish I could get them to grow where the monarchs show up, which definetly is not by my walkway!

[Pat]

The red and yellow ones you're talking about would be the annual tropical asclepias? Some years, mine have self-seeded very nicely although the germination rate was not stunning; other years, not a single seed germinated and I had to start over.

[John Beaulieu]

Growing the tropical milkweed (as an annual) has been great, even though I have several other native species in my garden. Not being programed to die off in the fall, the tropical milkweed keeps on growing and flowering long after the native species have started to die back for the season. I have a photo from my monarch/milkweed album http://photobucket.com/albums/a240/JohnBeaulieu
that shows a pot of tropical milkweed (the all yellow form) still blooming after after we have had a couple frosts here in central Ontario.

Most garden plants have died back, the leaves have all turned colour and are half down. This pot was planted later in the spring and has not formed any pods yet. Most of the pollinating insects are now finished... I had better get busy with a small artists brush and do some pollinating, as I want seeds of this all yellow variety for next year. I may bring the plant inside and see if it will survive (in a south window) and produce pods. If not, I may cut it back and hope that it resprouts. That would make it easier to maintain over the winter and then I could put it outside next spring.

John

[Keith Petrosky]

Even more amazing I gave my grandma a milkweed plant last year. When winter came it shriveled up and died, so she cut all the dead branches and threw them out. Now this year the same plants roots grew a whole new plant, and it got flowers only when it was fall, almost like it tolerates the cold better now. Thats what I call adaptation!

[Paul Cherubini]

All my tropical milkweed (Asclepias currassavica) was killed last winter even though temperatures got down to "only" (by New York standards) 25 degrees above zero. So each spring I have to start from scratch (with seed)

[jemas]

One thing you could try besides seed is rooting cuttings, as long as you can protect them if it gets really cold. I rooted cuttings of A. curassavica very easily last fall and kept them going over the winter. Here in Texas, that's not too hard. I also had a few other milkweeds already in pots that I protected just slightly over the winter so I could have plants with foliage ready to go this year, without waiting for plants already planted in the ground to recover in the fall. Actually, if you combine some more cold-hardy species that do well kept in the ground with some A. curassavica, you can do well.