Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) (20) Seed Balls for Fall Planting

These arrived in clay balls and I planted them this fall.. ...am so looking forward to watching them grow in the spring.

I want to help Monarch butterflies and bought these to put in my garden, but the plants never germinated.

Out of 10 bulbs I planted only 2 have come up . Not excited about it!

Avoid this product, none of the mud balls I got ever germinated.

Florida has two planting seasons so I didn't need to wait until fall to plant the swamp milkweed seed balls. I planted the balls as instructed in two huge urns in the sun a week ago and I have seedlings popping out of the soil already! The balls themselves are a mixture of soil, organic fertilizer and the seeds so my little seedlings will be nicely fed as they continue to grow. I will transplant them to other urns around the garden and give some to my daughter to plant swamp milkweed in her garden.

I am excited to plant them. I live in Wisconsin and want to attract butterflies. I saw them in Maine so I am pretty sure they are hardy and they are so much prettier than regular milkweed plants. I will plant them this Fall so I don't know the results yet.

Takes a while to sprout and grow, but nothing else is as attractive to monarchs- both as nectar plant and larvae food. Have tried many other species of milkweed with little to no interest from Monarchs. Very attractive flowers that bloom all summer, very attractive to swallowtail butterflies and bees. Unfortunately VERY attractive to yellow oleander aphids. Use of Safer soap concentrate to kill aphids is best as it is non-toxic. Will try giving seed balls to others as we need to help butterflies.

Working on monarch butterfly habitat have not seen one for years when I was a kid saw them all the time