Winter Sowing
Easy Way to Start Seeds:
Soak the seeds, then leave them in a ziplock bag with a wet paper towel. After germinating the seeds (first sign of sprouting), plant them in a container with loose potting mix only plant the seeds that have germinated, you know 1 plant should grow from that container.
Cold Stratification:
Cold stratification for seeds fancy way of saying cold exposure. It helps increase germination rates by waking the seeds up from their dormancy cycle. Different milkweeds need a different time for cold stratification.
Here is a step by step detailed tutorial on how to start seeds with cold stratification.
Recommended Cold Stratification Periods According to Milkweed Species
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) 30 days
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) 30 days
Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) 30 days
Prairie Milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii) 30 days
Western Sand Milkweed (Asclepias arenaria) 60 days
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) 30 days
Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) 30 days
*Note that warm weather species such as Tropical Milkweed do not need a cold stratification period.
Water Jug