Butterfly weed seeds are easy and fun to collect and save to plant in your garden next year.
In this post, I will show how to harvest butterfly weed seeds step-by-step, and also give you tips for how to store them for next year.
Collecting butterfly weed seeds is simple, and doesn’t take much effort – you just need to get the timing right.
So below I’ll show you how to tell when butterfly weed seeds are ready to harvest, how to gather them, and what to do with them after you’re done collecting them.
Related Post: How To Care For Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Harvesting Butterfly Weed Seeds
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is also one of the easiest seeds to collect from the garden. After the flowers fade on the plant, butterfly weed gets these gorgeous seed pods.
If you want to collect butterfly weed seeds from your garden, allow the seed pods to dry on the plant.
When To Harvest Butterfly Weed Seeds
When the seeds are ready to be harvested, butterfly weed seed pods will turn brown and start to break open on their own.
The seeds have puffs of cotton attached to them, which allows them to fly in the wind and seed themselves all around the neighborhood.
So, make sure you collect the seeds as soon as the pods start to break open, or they may disappear on you.
What Do Butterfly Weed Seeds Look Like
Butterfly weed seeds are flat, brown and shaped like a tear drop – and there are a ton of seeds in each seed pod.
Like I mentioned above, they are attached to white cotton, which can make the task of harvesting butterfly weed seeds a bit more tedious.
How To Harvest Butterfly Weed Seeds Step-By-Step
Clip the seed pods off the plant and drop them into a container or bag. Don’t attempt to harvest butterfly weed seeds outside.
Otherwise every time the wind blows you’ll be chasing them down the street. Once you’ve collected the seed pods, bring them inside.
Like I said, it can be a bit tedious to harvest butterfly weed seeds, because of the fine fluffy stuff that’s attached to the seeds. So start by breaking open the seed pod.
Then firmly grab the entire fuzzy clump and pull it out of the seed pod. Wait, don’t let go.
Gently pinch the seeds to tease them away from the fluffy stuff. It can be a messy job, so you might want to keep the vacuum on hand.
What To Do With Butterfly Weed Seeds After Harvesting
You could plant your butterfly weeds seeds as soon as you harvest them, or you can save them for next year. Allow them to dry out completely before storing your seeds.
You can keep them in a plastic container (film canisters are the perfect size!), paper bag or small envelope until spring.
To share with friends, you can order customized seed packets or try making your own seed envelopes. I like to use a plastic shoe box to organize mine, or you can use a Seed Keeper.
Where To Find Butterfly Weed Seeds For Sale
It can be difficult to find butterfly weed seeds for sale, but many garden centers should carry them starting in mid-winter through early spring.
Otherwise you can always buy some online. Here are some great quality ones to get you started.
If you want to learn how to grow your own seeds for your garden indoors, then my Starting Seeds Indoors eBook is perfect for you! It’s a quick-start guide that will have you growing your own seeds indoors in no time. Download your copy now!
More Posts About Saving Seeds
- How To Collect Lavender Seeds From Your Garden
- How to Collect Castor Bean Seeds From The Garden
- How To Harvest Chive Seeds & Save Them
- Collecting and Sowing Spider Plant Seeds
Share your tips for how to harvest butterfly weed seeds in the comments section below.
Pam says
A friend gave us butterfly weed pods before they turned brown. What should I do? Thank you!
Amy Andrychowicz says
You can try letting the pods sit out to see if they will turn brown and dry. However, if your butterfly weed seed pods are very green and immature, the seeds likely won’t be viable, and will probably only mold.
Lynda Wright says
We have the milkweed bugs. Will they damage the plant for next spring? There are tons of them. Is there a way to get rid of them?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Milkweed bugs do very little damage to the plant, and are more of a nuisance, so it’s usually best to just leave them along. However, you can spot-treat large infestations with soapy water or a by hand-picking, and use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to kill and remove the babies and eggs. But be very, very careful to only target the pest insect, because any type of treatment, organic or otherwise, can also kill monarchs and their eggs/larvae.
Lynn F. says
I have a question. I was gifted with a bag of seed pods. They are still green. Can I leave them in the paper bag and will they dry out and be ready for planting? Sorry to be so dumb. I’m ;hoping they will dry out and I will be able to have wonderful butterfly bushes galore….to go along with my crocosmia plants.
Amy Andrychowicz says
If the pods are still green, then the butterfly weed seeds might not be viable. But it’s worth a try. If you have several of them, I would try cutting open a few of the green ones, removing the seeds, and letting those dry out. Then I would also try drying a few of the seed pods until they turn brown and brittle, then open them to collect the seeds. Good luck!
Steve Cochran says
I purchased Butterfly Weed seeds from the Seed Savers, and had them flower & produce seed pods their first year. Lookin forward to harvesting seeds and propagating this beautiful plant.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, your butterfly weed plants flowered AND produced seed pods the first year after planting the seeds? That is amazing! Have fun collecting them for next year. 🙂
Glenda says
Thank you for the information on how to harvest butterfly weed seeds! Have a beautiful orange plant and want more!
Amy Andrychowicz says
You’re welcome! The seeds are very easy to collect (as long as you get to them before the wind does, LOL!). Enjoy!
Susan Sapp says
So I have cuttings from a butterfly weed perennial. I was hoping to be able to repurpose the flower or stem to plant in my garden at home. Am I out of luck? Will I have to buy the seeds to plant in the fall?
Amy Andrychowicz says
I have never tried rooting the cuttings myself, but I believe it is possible. Dust them with rooting hormone and stick them into soil. Keep the air humid, and the soil slightly moist. Otherwise, if you can get a butterfly weed seed pod from the same plant this fall, then you’ll have the seeds as a backup. 🙂 Good luck!
Barbara Murray says
I successfully planted a piece of orange butterfly weed last year. A small seedling, really just one small stem, grew from a seed that must have blown from my big plant. I have several of these small seedlings around my yard now, but never had any luck transplanting them. Last Fall I tried to transplant just for the heck of it, and finally a new plant came up this summer! It got quite a bit larger and bloomed beautifully, and I’m hoping it comes back next year.
S Daniel says
If the milkweed bugs are now on my plants, does that mean the seeds I can see are no good?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Unfortunately milkweed bugs do feed on the seed pods and the seeds too. But if your butterfly weed seed pods and/or the seeds aren’t damaged, then they should be fine.
Sharon says
When do you plant the seeds in NE Ohio?
Amy Andrychowicz says
You can plant them either in the fall (directly in the garden) or early spring (either directly in the garden or indoors). They would also work with the winter sowing method, if you want to experiment with that.
Kyle R. Crocker says
I have a containerized butterfly plant that has done wonderfully this summer, and has many pods now. My worry . . . In northern Minnesota, frost is coming by later October. The pods are yet green and firm. I’d like to harvest ripened pods before I transplant the parent. This is a risk. Any advice?
P.S. I have already gathered Marsh Milkweed from the wild, nearly a month ago.
Amy Andrychowicz says
I would just leave the pods on your butterfly weed plant until they ripen. I don’t think transplanting it would make a difference. Also, butterfly weed plants are super hardy, so frost won’t hurt the plant or the seed pods.
Suzanne says
I read somewhere that if you bring the seeds inside they need to be kept cold for an extended period of time to mimic winter conditions. So you know how cold or for how long?
Amy Andrychowicz says
I don’t think that butterfly weed seeds need cold stratification in order to germinate, but many other types of milkweed do. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to do it for your butterfly weed seeds though. You can just put them in a container the fridge for about a month, and that should do the trick. 🙂
Bree says
Hi!
So first dry them out on a paper towel, then put them in fridge for a month, and then plant indoors in early spring?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yep, that should work.
Dot Zimmerman says
How deep do you plant the seed? How many seed per area?
Amy Andrychowicz says
You don’t need to plant them very deep. The rule of thumb for planting seeds is to plant them twice as deep as the seed is wide. I would plant butterfly weed seeds maybe 1/4″ to 1/2″ deep. I would space them 2-3 inches apart, and then thin them so they are about 12-16″ apart once the seedlings start to mature. You can also just spread the seeds over the top of the dirt if you don’t want to be fussy about it. That’s the way Mother Nature does it. 🙂
Dot Zimmerman says
Thank you
Patti Golliher says
Thank you for posting this information. I love attracting butterflys to my garden. I noticed the seed pods on my butterfly weed plant yesterday; I am excited to harvest the seeds so I can plant more plants next year.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome! You’re welcome. Butterfly weed seeds are super easy to collect and grow. Have fun!
Susan CLARK says
Can the seeds be frozen to plant after I move to a new home?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Sure, but you don’t need to freeze your butterfly seeds to store them. It certainly wouldn’t hurt them though.
Amanda Hemmer says
Hello!
I just planted a monarch butterfly garden this spring and my butterfly weed turned out great! I noticed the seed pods and luckily found this website. The pods on one of the plants turned brown and I noticed one had started to crack open on the side. I assumed this meant it was ready for the seeds to be harvested. However, when I split open the pod what appeared to be the seed pods were white and there was no white fuzziness on the inside …. I’m worried I picked them too soon! Is there anything I can do to help them become healthy seeds?
Amanda Hemmer says
The seeds are white not seed pod, my bad!
Betty White says
It the seeds are white, why is the seeds shown on here, with the fluffy stuff, brown?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Butterfly weed seed are white first, and they turn brown as they mature. The white seeds are not mature enough to grow, so don’t harvest them until they turn brown.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, unfortunately it does sound like you harvested your butterfly weed seeds too soon. It’s weird that the seed pods were brown and cracking open before the seeds were mature. Are there any other pods on the plant? If so, wait until the pods open up and the white cotton is starting to stick out before harvesting them. Otherwise, I think you’ll have to wait until next year. You could try planting the seeds you have and see if they’ll grow though, you never know.
Mike the Gardener says
Awesome post! I always love reading posts on how to harvest/save seeds from a variety of plants that grow. A big one around here is milkweed. Milkweed seeds themselves are very expensive, which is weird because it grows in abundance along roadways here in NJ.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Thanks Mike! Yes, that is weird. They get tons of seeds too, and grow like a weed. 🙂
Betty White says
I have the orange butterfly flowers (weed) but I have never seen any pods come on mine. They have stopped blooming but I have never seen any pods. (Ohio) I am going out and check now but just looked at them a few days ago and no pods. WOW what a surprise. There is several little ones on the one plant and one larger one on the other. I have another plant in another part of my yard and I will check them. So how long should I leave the pods on the plant? The larger one is yellow but the other ones that are real small, are green.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Woohoo, how exciting! It can take a few months for butterfly weed seed pods to mature. They will turn brown and split open once the seeds are ready to harvest.