Anyone else have a bad experience with the seed retailer MI Gardener?

I purchased swamp milkweed seeds. Nothing germinates. I asked customer service to send me a new pack. The new pack never germinates either. I feel I should have went with Baker Creek. I purchased butterfly weed seeds from Baker Creek and literally every seed germinated.

Many (most?) milkweeds need to be cold stratified. Did you?

What time of year did you sow them — both the seeds that grew and the seeds that didn't?

I don't understand the whole stratifying thing in Florida especially when they are native here. I didn't have to do it with the butterfly weed. Is it really needed for the swamp milkweed?

I'm just going by what virtually every milkweed source recommends, and I entirely g share your confusion. This article says nothing about the need for cold
https://gardeningsolutions.ifa....

And this says most need cold
https://www.wildflower.org/exp....

There are so many Florida gardeners on this site who might be more knowledgeable about this than me!

What is the species of milkweed you have? I'm sure many of them go by the name of swamp milkweed. Maybe it is not the same. Also, if MI-gardener gets wild seed from Michigan (or any northerly source), it is very likely that it would do better with cold stratification, than the same wild species from Florida. Just like the species Homo sapiens has genetically adapted to different environments, so do plant species. Even more so.

Yes, thank you @Leftwood .
I just went to a local nursery that sells Florida native plants and asked about this. It makes sense, but apparently since MIGardener is a Michigan based retailer, the seeds most likely will need stratification. I never thought of this before. Lesson learned!

Not that any of us are wise people, but a story goes....

A wise man was once asked by his student:
How are you so wise that you always make good decisions?

The wise man replied:
By making poor decisions.