Common Treasure

Not one to be driven by standard practice, we on occasion walk a less traveled path.  Some of our garden plants are nothing more than common roadside weeds.  Milkweed is just such a plant.  It was never purchased and we cannot recall intentionally planting it.  It occurs widely in our various gardens and is difficult to remove.  Its deeply placed horizontal root might require power equipment in order to completely dig it out.  It is a tough plant and we intentionally mow large patches of it so that the resulting new shoots and leaves will be available for the butterfly caterpillars that desperately need it to survive in the fall.

Some years Milkweed flowers opened at the same time as the end of the school year.  The appearance of this overpowering scent marked the beginning of yet another summer vacation.  One does not have to get close to the plants to savor the amazingly sweet fragrance but it always draws me close.  After all of these years, I still stop to enjoy the scent while placing my nose in close proximity to feeding bees.  Their mood has always been tranquil while they gather this delicious pollen.  Some find this behavior of me intentionally getting close to bees slightly disturbing.

Our fields also hold many of these plants.  The famed Monarch Butterflies feed on various different flowers but lay their eggs only on milkweed plants.  The difference in flower color is worth noting.  Why that happens remains an unanswered question but I still marvel at it.  This lighter colored blossom clearly shows the unusual complexity of each flowers structure.  The darker petals fall away from the sexual parts making the pollinator's access easy.

We have yet to see the first Monarch Butterfly this year.  That they survive at all with their unusual migratory habit is a wonder.  Still, we will be relieved when they finally make their appearance here.  Some years their numbers are small but they have so far always returned.  Milkweed leaves await their return but for that butterfly any flower will do.

Two days after this post was written, a Monarch butterfly was seen flying in close proximity to a Milkweed blossom.  Becky had twice seen Monarchs earlier but then she is more observant than me.  All is right with the natural world as life continues to provide for the next generation.

First Monarch Caterpillar

Becky first spotted this young caterpillar three days ago.  Their appearance seems unusually early this year. Usually it is the second week in July before the first caterpillar is spotted.   It has been more than six weeks since our last frost and that may be the defining number.  The flower buds remain tightly closed but the caterpillar feeds only on the leaves.  Lush soft new growth is widely available inside of the stone square that anchors our garden and we will remain watchful looking for other future butterflies.

It might seem to be a strong contradiction to encourage milkweed to grow in our planting beds.  Its horizontal root runs for far more than one foot several inches below the surface of our finely prepared planting soil.  Any attempt to remove milkweed results in a broken piece of root in hand and the certainty that the plant will return.  In this picture milkweed is growing among Black Eyed Susans.  Since both are native meadow plants this might be seen as a natural planting in one corner of our garden.  Oriental lilies, Daylilies and tomato plants reveal the intended function of this ground but we benefit greatly from all of these plants.

The stone wall defines one corner of our center square.  The Pinxter and neighboring but hidden Cardinal Flower plants are the intended growth here.  Some ferns came along when the Pinxter was moved from the woods.  The milkweed is self planted and the pictured caterpillar feeds close by.

Becky thought that she saw a Monarch several days ago.  These beautiful insects move about quickly and the slightest breeze moves them out of sight before a certain identification can be made.  I also saw a female as she darted from leaf to leaf after depositing a single egg on the underside of each leaf.

The butterflies that complete the fall migration hatch out closer to September.  It seems unlikely that our first caterpillar will survive long enough to make that trip.  Instead it will likely play a part in the creation of the fall eggs.  We will keep our eyes open looking for the first chrysalis of the current cycle.  Tremendous satisfaction follows our plants playing a part in the life cycle of this threatened beautiful butterfly. 

A Sweet Summer Scent

Milkweed flowers will always be associated with summer vacation in my mind.  This former school teacher lived for summer vacation and the milkweed flowers marked its beginning.  Now we have given over large areas of our ground to milkweed and goldenrod.  These two plants work together to sustain the monarch butterfly during the important fall season.  Goldenrod flowers serve as a late food source for the butterfly while milkweed nourishes the caterpillar.

Fall is a critical period in the survival of the monarch butterfly.  Newly hatched eggs must develop into the butterflies that migrate to Mexico.  These fall caterpillars need milkweed leaves to feed on but the leaves shown in the pictures will have dried out and fallen by then.  Milkweed is a persistent plant and comes back after repeated mowing.  We have a five acre field that is tended so that it is filled with fresh young milkweed growth in September.  These plants do not flower but their tender leaves nourish the developing caterpillars.   The butterfly will feed on any flower so milkweed flowers are not necessary at this time.  Scores of new butterflies rise out of this field just in time to begin their journey south.

Now is the time to enjoy the sweet scent of the flowers.  One need not approach a flower to catch the fragrance as the air is filled with the perfume.  Bees spend long days working the flowers.  One need not fear a sting while surrounded by so many bees since they are focused on gathering food.  It has been reported that a bee cannot assume the stinging posture when it is loaded with pollen.  I think that both the bee and the person are made mellow by the cloud of sweet smell.

If one is interested in helping monarch butterflies survive, I believe that repeatedly cutting milkweed during the summer will insure a fall food source for the caterpillars.  Some plants must be left to develop seed to insure an abundant crop of new plants but there needs to be a generous supply of tender new leaves to support the eggs and caterpillars during September.

We have already  seen a few Monarch butterflies and the milkweed is ready and waiting!

School Is Out

We found this land when I still had seven more years of teaching school ahead of me.  A quick trip home from work was followed by throwing wheelbarrows and tools in the bed of the pickup truck. The drive to our rural retreat brought me here with several hours of daylight left.  No road existed to the meadow that was to become our home site but the spot where tools were unloaded was surrounded by milkweed.  The scent of these flowers is unusual but incredibly sweet.  That smell came to signal to me that summer vacation was underway.

I am not alone in being drawn in by this sweet smell.  Soon every bee in the area will spend days working these flowers.  One year past, I started squash seeds early.  Squash plants came into bloom at the same time as the milkweed.  Dreams of early squash vanished when they received no pollinators.  It was not until the milkweed flowers were past that we saw young squash begin to grow.

Located in a north south river valley, we are on the migration route.  In years past Monarch butterflies stopped here in great numbers.  Last year they were few in number in our fields.  We have been watching for a glimpse of fluttering orange and black wings.  Two orange butterflies zipped past me today and I wished that a Monarch was here.  Today's butterflies flew fast with frequent sharp changes of direction.  They were also smaller than a Monarch.  Likely, they were Checkers.

Our fields are home to many milkweed plants.  Some have dark colored flowers while others are light pink.  We have no plausible explanation for the difference in color.

Elderberry is common here but the native deer usually eat enough of the bush to limit flowering.  This plant is growing near to the pond where the deer drink.  Somehow it escaped pruning this winter and is now covered with blossoms.  The structure of the flowers is unusual but after my recent confusion about male and female flower parts this picture will have to speak for itself.

As a child growing up in the 1950's, I have a memory centered around elderberries.  Most of the mothers of my classmates were stay at home moms.  Many were farm wives.  My mother had a job in the city.  How she took care of her three sons and her husband while working five days a week  escapes me.  On one corner of our land, two small streams came together.  Between the two streams elderberries grew in abundance.  I would fill a paper grocery bag with clusters bearing ripe elderberries and proudly present this bounty to my mother.  Her time was already overbooked but she did what had to be done to transform my berries into a pie.  I do not remember the pie as being particularly tasty but I do remember my feeling like I had provided food for the family.  Health issues have removed pie from our table now so these berries will be left for the critters.   The flowers did however provide a connection for me with a pleasant childhood memory.