The Milkweed was planted late, artificially cold-straited, and hand planted into ground wet from lawn sprinkler overspray where the high altitude sun only cooked the soil a little bit.
Here was the balancing act. Once the seedlings germinated we needed strong light but they wouldn’t germinate if the soil dried out at all.
I was skeptical. The butterfly milkweed seed’s need to have moist soil for almost 90 days uninterrupted, but the pressure was starting to build. If I didn’t succeed what happens to my relationship with the client? This is the second year they’ve bought organic milkweed seed, and it might be the soil or climate or me but nothing’s emerged. Nothing much, actually, from that first season except two lonely plants (Asclepias syriaca L.).
Now the client tweaked the next purchase hoping we’d have better luck with a different species (Asclepias Tuberosa) but even if I don’t screw up the cold striation, the hot weather might sink the project. Then whose fault is that?
The only thing to do is cheat, fess up, and buy mature plants to plant in May, as a guarantee something might flourish.
When asked about it, I’d say it’s probably better to leave the seeds in the freezer for longer rather than let them thaw out, best to simulate a deeper winter than an early summer. Then when it’s time to plant, the seeds go from a freeze cycle to immediate planting in the wet ground.
The requirement that the soil remain moist for 60-90 days created some skepticism. We have to limit our watering and I wondered if the sprinklers would be up to the task. Hence the extra plants. I wonder if I’m operating on more luck then skill.
I get asked this over coffee and surprised even myself with the answer. Sometimes you must take care of the garden, and other times you let the garden take care of itself.