While walking in Mason District Park the other day, Lucy and I came across this Common Milkweed in the park’s meadow—Asclepias syriaca for you garden geeks. I was pleasantly surprised by its sweet fragrance, but was even more surprised when I saw the detail of its blooms in this last macro shot. Those are some wicked lookin’ blooms! A little like Lucy’s baby teeth…yikes.
The leaves happen to be a food source for the caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly, and since the plant spreads quickly by rhizomes, the meadow with its other wildflowers and native grasses is a perfect home.
Go here for a chart that identifies all different kinds of milkweed.
Grace
T
8noodles
Anita
justin
YogaforCynics
Twitter: junkdrawer
Wow, love that last shot in particular. Looks like it’s coming right at me! I’d ask you about your camera, but I’m afraid it’s so awesome and technical that I wouldn’t understand it anyway :)
Love your pics. Always top notch and beautiful.
Kathy´s last blog post..Walter the Wart
We see milkweed around here but it hasn’t bloomed yet this summer.
Great shot of the flowers.
I didn’t know Monarch catepillars liked this. Interesting.
Janie of Utah´s last blog post..A Colony Grows
wow, i did not know before these are milkweeds, thanks for sharing :) lovely pictures, looking like coming out to reach me :) or is it me wanting to reach them :)
betchai´s last blog post..Prickly Pear and the Busy Bees
I love these photos! There is so much beauty in nature, much of which we rarely pay attention to. How delightful those tiny buds are, and what a tasty snack for the caterpillars. I love your nature photos almost as much as your Lucy ones ;)
Svasti´s last blog post..Sometimes…
Twitter: vanillaseven
Beautifully captured Holly :) I love the fluffiness of the flowers. Thanks for sharing :)
Milkweed…that reminds me of a joke I heard a long time ago…on second thought, it’s kinda dirty…and, actually, the way it was originally told to me was kinda racist, but I could fix that without losing the point of the joke…
…okay, readers with sensitive ears have been warned: this guy named Pedro comes walking along with something in his hand and his friend says “hey, Pedro, what you got?” and Pedro says “milkweed.” “Whatcha gonna do with that?” “Take it into town and get some milk.” “Oh, Pedro, you’re crazy.” But, nonetheless, that night Pedro comes back with some milk. So, then, the next day, he’s walking along with something else in his hands, so his friend says “hey Pedro, what you got?” and Pedro says “cow pie.” “Whatcha gonna do with that?” “Go into town and get a cow?” “Pedro, you’re crazy.” And yet, that night, Pedro comes back with a cow. So, the next day, Pedro’s walking along with something else in his hand, and his friend says “now what you got, Pedro?” and Pedro looks into his hand with a smile and says “pussy willow,” and his friend says “hey Pedro, wait for me!”
Hmmm…actually that joke seemed a lot funnier when I was thirteen….
YogaforCynics´s last blog post..Wrestling, Yoga, and That Touchy-Feely Loving Kindness Shit…
Twitter: earthtoholly
Oh my gosh, Kathy, you are too kind. Really. I use a Canon PowerShot SD400 Digital Elph, just a point-and-shoot. It’s four years old and a little dinged up, but still does the job. I’m with you on the technical stuff…I’ve yet to read the manual and learn all its features. I know, pitiful. But, thank you…I’m glad you enjoy the pics here. (And I probably should’ve warned ya to bring your 3-D glasses for that last one!)
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Hi Janie. I’ve seen some milkweed that are really big and am guessing that they’re different from this common type. I didn’t realize that there are so many different kinds. It looks as though the ones around here have just started to bloom.
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Hi betchai. I was experimenting with the macro setting and was a little surprised by the detail here. I’m glad that this one turned out okay, as many of my macros don’t, and the blooms helped a lot in identifying the type of milkweed.
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Thanks Svasti. So glad you like the nature and Lucy pics—Lucy and I love your visits! And I agree about the beauty in nature that we rarely pay attention to. We only need to look past the usual beauties…
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Hi Vanilla and thanks for stopping by. Glad you like ‘em.
Those are incredible pictures, and the last one is just gorgeous!
Icy BC´s last blog post..Reconstructing Life
Twitter: chrissymarie321
Hmm, I don’t know milkweed……..but that doesn’t mean we don’t get it here. I am very useless at names. I like the one with those tightly closed up buds..
I see yoga for cynics jokes are still bad, very bad, LOL
Twitter: earthtoholly
Hey drjay. Your joke was SO bad that it was snared by the spam filter…sort of…I found it all lonesome, pending approval. Hmmm, I thought about it (for about one second) and decided that it was tame enough, as ETH readers are not a prudish bunch. I only hope that suggestive text within comments garners Google hits…hmmm, there’s probably a setting for that… Keepin’ my fingers and toes crossed, anyway…
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Hi Icy BC and thanks. Glad you liked it. You have some very nice nature pics yourself!
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Hi Chrissy. I’m not good at names either…thank goodness for Google. It only took minutes to identify. And yes, drjay needs some new material, although I shouldn’t talk. I can’t even tell a good joke, with success!
The last shot is lovely & yeah I think the middle one will be an allergy for me..
wow… that last shot is breathtakingly beautiful. i love it.
Dee´s last blog post..Daylilies – Power of Light
Twitter: earthtoholly
Hi and thanks, Doson. I think you’re right about this stuff setting off allergies!
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Thanks, Dee, and thanks for stopping by.
Twitter: craftybird
I did drop by your blog a couple of days ago and saw so many cool things I didn’t know where to start commenting… and promptly left! Theres a lesson to me not to get too far behind :D And this was the really awesome post I liked the look of best. These are really wonderful pictures Holly, particularly the last one. You have such an eye for a composition. And it’s great to see that we are both point n shoot gals!
Also again what a beautiful plant, I don’t think we have it here in the UK. These fabulou flower close ups are really educational. Those leaves remind me of banana plants! It’s great to hear that this park has a meadow full of food for the monarchs, meadows are so underrated as habitats and get so badly managed sometimes but so much lives in and goes on in them :)
Bird´s last blog post..Hiding in plain sight
Twitter: earthtoholly
Hi Bird. You do that too??? Now I don’t feel so bad! I often stop at my favorite blogs (your’s included, of course!) and look around, read and intend to comment, but decide I want to put more thought into it than I have time for at that moment, so decide to return, yet forget or get distracted. Argh!
Glad you liked these. I really was surprised at this last one. Again, pure luck, as I never remember to take my glasses so can’t always tell if things are in focus. I can hardly manage the point ‘n shoot so wouldn’t know how to act with anything more complicated! I don’t know how much thought goes into the care of this meadow, but I know that it is mowed every now and then. It’s about five feet high now and is home to all kinds of wildlife…birds, deer, foxes and rabbits, that I know of.
[...] hope that the dying bloom on this milkweed plant, which I posted about awhile back, is not the final resting place for this poor bumblebee. I was able to capture a photo of this [...]
[...] skipping actually, from clover bloom to clover bloom in the same meadow where I recently found the Common Milkweed. Not to be out-run, rather out-flown, by something one-zillionth my size, I stayed hot on its [...]