milkweed II

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

This plant is the larval host for monarch and queen butterflies.  It's also an important food source for native bees, honey bees, and bumble bees.  I'm proud to say I grew this plant from seed.  It has spread in my yard just a little bit.

LINKS:
my last POST on milkweed (with more information and links)
Information and Growing Guide (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)
Monarch butterfly  Monarch Watch.org
Queen butterfly Butterflies and Moths of North America


photo by me © 2013  all rights reserved

milkweed

common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Beautiful, fragrant flowers abound on the common milkweed plant!  This plant is most associated with being nectar food for the larvae of monarch butterflies, but is also enjoyed by a host of pollinators.
The numbers of monarchs have drastically fallen in the last 10+ years.  Its caterpillars depend solely on milkweed for food.  And milkweed is being destroyed due to herbicide spraying both by homeowners as well as farmers on genetically engineered crops.
Deforestation due to illegal logging and environmental factors has reduced the acres of available over-wintering sites for the butterflies that make it to Mexico.

LINKS:
Washington Post article about the destruction of monarchs
Monarch Watch.org
monarch population chart (scientific study)
Center for Biological Diversity
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center explore

milkweeds (Asclepias--There are >140 species):
common milkweed
swamp milkweed
butterfly weed

Consider planting one or more of the beautiful milkweed plant varieties in your yard!

Wordless Wednesday/Wordy Wednesday--where I linked up:

Create With Joy (Those Irresistible Eyes)

A Southern Daydreamer (Lantana)





photo by me ©2016   all rights reserved 
(This photo was taken at the Cincinnati Nature Center where there is a small "milkweed forest" at the Herb Wall.)

flight

I'm fascinated by butterflies and inspired because I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior, and..it's gardening season!

monarch

nectar table at The Butterfly Farm in St. Martin

People are always enchanted with the butterflies during the  exhibit at Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I love watching the interaction.  (The first photo of this POST is of a butterfly on a girl's nose!)

LINKS:
The Butterfly Farm  St Martin (Caribbean) --Monarch butterfly caterpillars need milkweed plants on which to feed.  Find out how, in the US, you can get free milkweed seeds.  There is a link to a USA state by state guide of where butterfly exhibits can been seen. 
Krohn Conservatory
Monarch Butterfly website --lots of information
The Butterfly Site --awesome site with a plethora of information.  Look under "Gardening" for a list of plants liked by a variety of species of caterpillars and butterflies.  There are links to butterfly varieties found state by state in the Us as well as other countries.
Barbara Kingsolver

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is  "F." Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!  


Thank you, Ms Jenny, for hostessing another round!

  
photos by me  © 2010 and 2011   all rights reserved

orange

random orange things....

 Bryce Canyon, Utah

monarch

butterfly weed, a plant I started from a seed

detail of sculpture:  Power Surge by David W. Martin, powder coated fabricated steel @  $22,500; currently installed in Krutch Park, Knoxville, Tennessee.  (In the middle of this sculpture you can barely see part of another sculpture--long vertical green leaves--Whimsy by Pamela Reithmeier.)

daylily with rain droplets

Power Surge

LINKS:
sculpture  in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee --Dogwood Arts Festival  
my posts which contain some sculptures in Krutch Park, Knoxville:
the heart of Knoxville
Krutch Park 
Scavenger Hunt Sunday 

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "O." Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun! 



photos by me © 2010 - 2013   all rights reserved