Milkweeds, Asclepias, Asclepiads, Asclepiadoideae
Comments (8)
Jay 6a Chicago
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI'm doing this because I love Asclepiadoideae, and I want to give a good representation of the amazing subfamily! Trading welcomed, requests welcomed. Any species in the subfamily from A. syriaca to Dischidia. They are all jewels!
Asclepias curassavica, Gomphocarpus frutocosa and physocarpus.
Calotropis procera.
Lower left, Tithonia. Lower right, Dregea sinensis.
I've ended up with 3 Calotropis proceras, but considering how big they get 3 is enough.
Oxypetalums, they have flower buds already, turquiose flowers ya'll! I read that micorrhizal fungi were really good for milkweeds. Boy were they right! Do it!https://www.mpgranch.com/dispatches/milkweed-fungal-perspective
Jay 6a Chicago
5 years agoThese are the 3 species that have germinated so far....
Asclepias verticillata.
Asclepias pumila.
Asclepias arenaria.
I'm growing almost all of Illinois native milkweeds except for 4 very rare species. I realize it doesn't make sense to grow the arid loving western milkweeds, but there are a few that I'm trying out that technically aren't native to my area. A few of those would be A. cordifolia, A. humistrata, and A. latifolia. They are gorgeous, I couldn't help myself lol. I might be doing lights every winter from now on so it looks like Stapeliads might be on the horizon. Just so everyone remembers. Asclepiadoideae flowers are the most structurally complex out of all the dicots, comparable, but different to the orchids which rule the monocots. There's plenty of time to talk about all the other species I'm growing.
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First Monarch of the year and she laid eggs!
Comments (21)terrene, I found a lot of information on line. There seems to be a bit of conflicting information regarding common names and growth zones so I'm not certain if there are two plants that can be confused with each other or what. It is a new to me plant, too. I ordered seeds from an on line vendor and I think I have what will be a smallish tree shrub type plant. I have two growing and they're doing very well for me. If the butterflies like it, I'll try more next year if I can find space to grow them. One of the things that attracted me was the rate of growth and the fact they supposedly bloom over a long season (for nectar) plus also do double duty as a host plant. I will treat them as annuals here in my zone 7b. Look at the third photo down on this page: Giant Swan Milkweed plant Try googling some of the following terms and you'll find a wealth of information on this plant. Gomphocarpus physocarpus = Asclepias physocarpa Family : Apocynaceae (Num-Num Family) Subfamily : Asclepiadoideae (Asclepiads or milkweeds) some Common names : balloon milkweed, balloon wild cotton, hairy balls milkweed, giant swan milkweed Mary Here is a link that might be useful: Photo of the seed pod on this plant...See MoreSelf watering plant trays DIY
Comments (41)Well I am back and the self watering plant trays worked perfectly with all my indoor plants looking great. The Hoya drip system also worked perfectly and there was some significant new growth on a few plants while I was gone, must have been happy. I am seriously considering keeping a few Hoyas on a smaller self watering tray because they seem to have grown much better than usual. My Hoya caudata added another leaf and peduncle while on the tray and Hoya patella and blashernazii have started growing much faster than usual. The only problem that occurred was a cracked line on the outdoor drip system so I did loose a couple plants but mostly just some annuals I grow from the hummingbirds. I will have to pick up some more flexible tubing from the pet store to fix the outdoor system. Mike I rigged up a large storage tub complete with timed light, a pump and spray bar to keep the humidity up for my mounted plants. All the plants did very well including my Brassavola nodosa which continued maturing it's buds. Over the next week or so I will be working on the photos I took while on vacation and will have them on my Flickr site. Mike...See MoreWhat is it? And from what exoplanet?
Comments (17)The Ceropegias and all the other Stapeliads have evolved flower structures that require pollination by flies and gnats. The reason many produce odors like rotting meat to attract pollinators. The tubular flowers are designed to trap the insects, which then pollinate the plant while attempting to escape. Hand pollinating of these species is very difficult. The flowers of all species of Asclepias are pollinated by bees and wasps. Only their legs are strong enough to pull and remove the pollenia sacks. Butterflies, including Monarchs, have no role in Asclepias pollination. I still don't know a lot about flower structures in the Asclepiadoideae. I think it's facinating just how much they differ from one milkweed to another. When you start getting into the other genera things get really crazy. The subfamily Asclepiadoideae has the most advanced and complex flower structures of all dicots. Comparable to the Orchids which are the most complex monocots. Their flowers can take the most bizarre forms, like a pencil eraser? There has always been a lot of confusion with classifications in Asclepiadoideae. A lot of the vines in the family are being reclassified into Cynanchum. Pseudopectinaria malum. Tavaresia grandiflora. Brachystelma megapetalum. Microloma tenuifolium....See MorePearl Milkweed 'Matelea reticulata'
Comments (17)Well, I went back on facebook and found the grow milkweeds group. I had to answer the question why do I grow milkweeds? I'm waiting for a reply. They had seeds and plant lists. I couldn't view them. I do have one milkweed that nobody else has. Gomphocarpus cancellatus. It was only on ebay once for about 5 minutes. I don't think I even knew it existed until then lol. It's rare, and it's from Africa so I had to have it. They sell seeds for the other 2 species of Gomphocarpus everywhere, physocarpus and fruticosa, but the cancellatus is very rare. Gomphocarpus cancellatus....See MoreJay 6a Chicago
5 years agoI just discovered this subspecies of Asclepias incarnata in the last month. Very nice looking. It's on next years must have list lol.
Asclepias incarnata pulchra.
Asclepias incarnata pulchra.
I heard that in some rare cases syriaca and sullivantii will hybridize. Thank you Jeff for coming through with the variegata and perennis seeds! I might end up with more variegatas than I know what to do with too! Every single Asclepias species is a jewel, so noone ever lacks nearby exquisite beauty!
Jay 6a Chicago
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI'm growing a large amount of new Asclepias species along with hundreds of new native plant species. Placement of all these plants is going to take a good amount of thought.
I want to grow this one so bad, and it's so sad how rare and threatened it is.....Asclepias meadii!
Pink vein beauty Asclepias viridis, green milkweed. I think I'm growing it? Hard keeping track lol!
Dregea volubis. Wow!
Straight from the twilight zone, a liana Fockea.
I love this Dischidia.
The everseeing eyes! Brachystelma barberae!Jay 6a Chicago
5 years ago
arbordave (SE MI)
2 years ago
Jay 6a ChicagoOriginal Author