Harvesting Common Milkweed | Asclepias syriaca | Seed saving | Save the monarchs

[@kevanmarshall5795]

Great video! Let's keep those monarchs happy!

[@TheSuburbanGardenista]

Thank you! And absolutely!! 🦋🦋🦋

[@TheOldSwedesFarm]

We've been harvesting wild seeds and grabbing from the plants we planted around the County. I always put a pod in a ziploc bag. I let everything dry and then the seed fall to the bottom of the bag. I open the bag and the fluff floats away! Your method were great! Cheers! #milkweedformonarchs2022

[@TheSuburbanGardenista]

Ohh, I like it - less fuss! I will give that a go next time too! Thanks!

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Great video. This is my first year saving milkweed seeds so much appreciated. Also a belated thank you for the mention of my video in your show notes!

[@TheSuburbanGardenista]

Thank you! It's amazing how many seeds you can get from one pod, isn't it?! And my pleasure - happy to support! You have lots of great info!!

[@dougforsyth7457]

I just found your channel, so I want to congratulate you on your work. You are providing good information to gardeners who want to help our pollinators. I grew Asclepias syriaca quite a few years ago when I grew it from a couple of small plants that were growing by a road. That species of milkweed is very aggressive, spreading underground as well as by seed. Your plant will grow under your fence into your neighbor's yard and will form a larger and larger patch in your yard. After three years in our yard, monarch butterflies did lay eggs and some new monarchs flew away. However, I felt that the milkweed had to go, because I was not willing to have it spread all over. It seemed impossible to dig out, so I covered the area with black plastic which I left in place for two growing seasons. Last summer, I planted several butterfly milkweeds (Asclepias tuberosa) which I think will be easier to manage. You will also find that Canada Goldenrod will spread underground to take over a large area. I will not plant that species, but I am willing to try Solidago rigida which I will watch carefully to make sure it does not get out of hand. Deadheading Canada Goldenrod will not hold it back very much, so just be warned. I wish you the best of luck; you are doing important work.

[@TheSuburbanGardenista]

Hi Doug, and thank you for the comments and compliments! I am doing my best to share my adventures in the garden, particularly as they relate (and I learn more and more) to native plants and building biodiversity in suburbia. Thank you for sharing your experiences with some of these more aggressive native plants. It is definitely important for people to know before getting in too deep and having to rectify things with drastic measures as you describe (I'm sorry you had to deal with these like that!). Thankfully, the plants you see here are volunteers that found themselves in a potted plant (in front of this fence) and also in my boulevard garden. Fingers crossed I can contain it! I hope that future me isn't kicking herself for allowing these to grow in my suburban space (my Canada goldenrod was also a volunteer and grew over 10' tall (which is a bit much for my small space!)). Thanks again for watching - and please feel free to share more experiences as they relate to any other of my videos - I am always interested to learn from others! Happy gardening 💚

[@SkeleSquatch51]

They look like cocoa pebbles! This was such a fun video, I think I've gotten to see milkweed before but not when they have pods! Definitely going to try this next time I see some that are ready! Love your videos!

[@TheSuburbanGardenista]

I don't recommend eating them for breakfast!! All you need is one pod and you'll have lots of milkweed to go around! I do hope you get some - both for your benefit and the butterflies'! And thanks so much for the compliment! I'm so glad you're enjoying them! 💚😊