Around the end of fall and beginning of winter is a great time to harvest native milkweed seeds. If you’re walking in a nature preserve or through parks, you can harvest a few milkweed seeds when the pods are open.

It’s important to only take a few and leave most of them to naturally disperse and self-seed. You can remove the white floss attached to the seeds you harvested and plant them at home. Locate bare soil and scatter the seeds on top of the soil. Sprinkle a thin 1/4 or 1/2 inch layer of soil on top of the seeds. The seeds will undergo cold stratification during the winter and then sprout in the spring. 

I carry three varieties of milkweed seeds. You can see what milkweed is native to your area with BONAP's mapping systems. 

Common Milkweed 

Swamp Milkweed

Showy Milkweed