The Milkweed Lands Collection
This ecology, captured in our 2023 book, The Milkweed Lands, has edged towards disappearance in our collective lifetimes. In 2012, researchers calculated that some regions of North America have witnessed an almost 60% decline in milkweed abundance since the 1990s.
But the milkweed lands can be restored to their past glory. Sometimes reputed to be “hard to grow,” most people can actually grow milkweeds from seed with some dedication and diligence. While not always producing perfect results, the following general recipe has consistently worked best for us:
- Cold treat the seeds in a refrigerator mixed with barely damp sand for 30-60 days, checking occasionally to ensure no mold is growing. If it is, wash it off immediately.
- Soak the seeds in hot tap water for 8-hours after removing them from the fridge.
- Wrap the seeds in a damp paper towel, place this inside a plastic bag, and leave the package somewhere warm but out of sunlight – such as the kitchen counter.
- Unwrap and check the seeds daily.
- Any germinating seeds should be placed into a container with a mix of 50:50 seed-starting mix and sand, and kept in a warm outdoor location out of direct sunlight.
- Water and care for the young plants daily until they are large enough (6-8 inches) to be transplanted into the ground.
Results can vary, and as we improve our own process, we’ll continue to share those details here.
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Showy Milkweed Seeds (Asclepias speciosa)
Original price $6.75 - Original price $6.75Original price$6.75$6.75 - $6.75Current price $6.75| /In stockThe only native host plant for monarch butterflies west of the Cascade Mountains! Showy milkweed’s thick fleshy stems and leaves make it a unique a...
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Narrowleaf Milkweed Seeds (Asclepias fascicularis)
Original price $7.75 - Original price $7.75Original price$7.75$7.75 - $7.75Current price $7.75| /In stockNative from western Mexico to British Columbia, this is arguably a cornerstone of monarch butterfly breeding habitat across large sections of the I...
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Heartleaf Milkweed Seed (Asclepias cordifolia)
Original price $8.75 - Original price $8.75Original price$8.75$8.75 - $8.75Current price $8.75| /In stockThis is sometimes one of the earlier emerging Western milkweeds, and certainly one of the especially visually striking species – with magenta/wine-...
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Broadleaf Milkweed Seeds (Asclepias latifolia)
Original price $7.75 - Original price $7.75Original price$7.75$7.75 - $7.75Current price $7.75| /In stockThis is not a Northwestern Native, but rather is a plant of the central and southern plains and the desert southwest (roughly Nebraska to Californi...
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The Milkweed Lands (Book) – Author Signed Copy
Original price $21.55 - Original price $21.55Original price$21.55$21.55 - $21.55Current price $21.55| /In stockThe Milkweed Lands is a meditation on the existence of a wild plant in our current time-scale – both through a full year growing season – and in th...
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Common Milkweed Seeds (Asclepias syriaca)
Original price $6.75 - Original price $6.75Original price$6.75$6.75 - $6.75Current price $6.75| /In stockArguably the most iconic and widespread of the North American Asclepias genus, common milkweed naturally occurs east of the 100th meridian (essenti...
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Butterfly Milkweed Seeds (Asclepias tuberosa)
Original price $6.75 - Original price $6.75Original price$6.75$6.75 - $6.75Current price $6.75| /In stockA native milkweed of the East, Midwest, and Southwestern U.S., butterfly milkweed is a specimen garden plant of tremendous appeal – one that can ad...
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Dogbane Hemp Seeds (in the pod) (Apocynum cannabium)
Original price $8.75 - Original price $8.75Original price$8.75$8.75 - $8.75Current price $8.75| /In stockA milkweed relative, dogbane hemp is possibly the pre-eminent wild fiber plant of North America, producing tough fibrous stems that were rolled and...
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Swamp Milkweed Seeds (Asclepias incarnata)
Original price $6.75 - Original price $6.75Original price$6.75$6.75 - $6.75Current price $6.75| /In stockLargely a species east of the Rocky Mountains where it occurs from New England to Florida and west into the Great Plains, swamp milkweed does occur...
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