The beautiful common milkweed

By Dorothy McGowan

Earlier I wrote about some advantages of planting native plants. The picture is of common milkweed that we allowed to take hold in part of our yard – The picture does not show the wiggly enthusiasm of pollinators, moths, and butterflies for these beautiful flowers. I wish I could share the movement on the blossoms. At some point the milkweed moths and caterpillars (both have Monarch butterfly coloring) will appear. The blossoms are extremely fragrant. Yes, it is a weed – so we have to monitor its spread but it is beautiful – including the leaves that have distinctive veins. It is a host plant for the Monarch butterfly and the fluffy seeds are used nesting material by goldfinches (they breed late summer).