Butterfly weed 'Orange'

Try to plant in a location that enjoys full sun and remember to water very sparingly. Keep in mind when planting that Orange is thought of as hardy, so this plant will survive close to or on freezing temperatures. Orange requires a sandy and loamy soil with a ph of 4.8 - 6.8 - it grows best in moderately acidic soil to weakly acidic soil.

Seeds need to sit in the ground over winter in cold damp conditions before they will sprout. If its late summer or fall then you might as well put the seeds in a pot of soil and dig the pot into the ground. The seeds will get just what they want and sprout in the spring. If it is early in the season you can put the seeds in a plastic bag with a damp piece of paper towel, seal up the bag and let it sit in the refrigerator for about 10 days. Some seeds need more than 10 days. Check on your seeds after a while to see if any have sprouted.¹

Soil temperature should be kept higher than 18°C / 64°F to ensure good germination.

Ensure that temperatures are mild and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Orange is a hardy plant.

Expect harvests to start to occur in early summer.

During WWII the silky part attached to the seeds was used for life jackets.²³⁴ Milkweed is more bouyant then cork by 5 or 6 fold.²³⁴

Orange Milkweed

¹ Dontveter.com

² Native Plant Society of Texas

³ Washington Post

⁴ “Your Country’s Armed Services Need Milkweed Floss: How You Can Help” :https://archive.org/stream/YourCountrysArmedServicesNeedMilkweedFlossHowYouCanHelp/YourCountrysArmedServicesNeedMilkweedFlossHowYouCanHelp_djvu.txt