Asclepias Tuberosa Seeds (Butterfly Weed)

Sometimes there are seeds that are just too cool not to have their own post which is the case for butterfly weed seeds! Asclepias tuberosa is a beautiful orange plant in the garden and along roadsides but what is really neat is its method of seed dispersal. After pollination the seed pods begin to form. Inside those pods small seeds are being formed with fluff that serves to carry the seed on the wind. I was inspecting the garden yesterday when I noticed that one of these pods had opened. I picked it to collect the seeds for planting in other gardens and set it temporarily near our sink only to have the pod completely open and the fluff begin to fluff out on the kitchen counter.





Needless to say my daughters enjoyed watching the seeds float down to the floor like paratroopers. (You know, I kind of did too!)  This is a great time to plant the seeds in the garden. Just remove the fluff so they are easier to handle and place them in the soil with just a little bit of soil on top. For some more information on planting Asclepias tuberosa check out Cameron's post.

Labels: , ,