Category: Nature News from Daily News-Record

• Nature News By Marlene A. Condon
• AUG 1, 2023

Gardening is in full swing at this time of year. Sadly, many a gardener will kill practically any kind of insect found on his plants, even if he doesn’t know what the insect is and whether it will even seriously harm the plant he found it on.

One type of insect that has a particularly bad reputation is the caterpillar. Caterpillars are the immature or larval form of moths and butterflies, and, except for the Harvester butterfly whose carnivorous caterpillar eats aphids, they feed on plant material. This week, I want to try to convince you not to destroy caterpillars because moths and butterflies are disappearing from our midst.

In a nature-friendly garden, caterpillars do not create havoc. Defoliation of native trees and other native plants by native caterpillars is rarely a problem due to native-predator populations that evolved along with these insects. Predators help to limit overpopulation of their prey, which limits how much plant material gets eaten. That’s why any area, whether it be a homeowner’s yard or a farmer’s working acreage, is more prone to insect damage if the land is not maintained in an ecologically “smart” manner.

Unfortunately, natural predators are often wiped out due to habitat loss, which is what has happened with Loggerhead Shrikes that had lived around farms in Virginia. These birds (that somewhat resemble Northern Mockingbirds) ate mostly insects. But, they needed hedgerows for nesting and for storing food. Because modern farms have become almost as manicured as most homeowners’ yards (not an ecologically good thing in either case), a hedgerow between fields has become a thing of the past.

Predators also succumb to the deliberate killing of insect “pests” — a term I consider inaccurate — via the use of insecticides. Many predatory insects, such as our native Carolina Mantids, will die right along with the intended “victims.” Because there are naturally a smaller number of predators than prey, it should go without saying that killing those few predators helps to make a garden or farm more prone to overpopulation of the prey insects that then can’t help but cause plant damage. They need to eat!

However, no animal is supposed to eat itself out of house and home. People think caterpillars exist to cause the deaths of their food plants, but that doesn’t make sense. How could their species continue to survive? Dead plants can’t reproduce to create food for current or future caterpillars, which means that at some point, these organisms would not be able to obtain nourishment and would die.

The overpopulation of any species dooms the environment to dysfunctionality. It can’t function properly when it’s out of balance.

A more selfish reason to leave caterpillars alone is so you’ll have the opportunity to view the beautiful creatures that comprise the adult forms of some of them. Many moths and butterflies are as joyful to behold as the painted canvases we must travel to an art gallery to see. But garden properly and these airborne canvases will come to you!

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). You can read her blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com

Nature Notes by Marlene A. Condon

November 5, 2024

From late summer until fall, goldenrods brighten the countryside with deep-yellow flowers that almost seem to glow in the sunlight. Because these native plants can be up to six feet tall, very few people grow them in their gardens, thinking of them as “weeds.” However, you may want to find a field of goldenrods to gather seeds and enjoy these plants in your yard. And now is the perfect time.

There are at least 100 species of goldenrods, and they can be challenging to tell apart. However, it does not matter whether you can identify each specific plant. All these plants share beautiful characteristics that make any of them suitable for the garden — especially for the wildlife garden.

The most valuable service that goldenrods provide is feeding many kinds of insects. The numerous flowers on each stem produce large quantities of nectar. Observe a goldenrod up close, and some of the insects you will see feasting on this sugary substance are honeybees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, many kinds of wasps, and Monarch butterflies.

Many of the insects you notice will die with the coming of cold weather, but the Monarchs are traveling south to escape the certain death that winter will bring to them. These beautiful creatures need energy to keep moving, and goldenrods are a vital source of nourishment. Indeed, for this reason alone, goldenrods are extremely precious plants to cultivate in your yard.

Goldenrod flowers make pollen so they can reproduce themselves, but not all pollen is used for fertilization. Animals, such as soldier beetles, eat some of this protein-rich substance. There are many species of soldier beetles, so named because some species have bright colors that make people think of old military uniforms. There are 4,000 species of soldier beetles worldwide and 468 in North America.

One soldier beetle that is often found on goldenrod is the Goldenrod, or Common, Soldier Beetle. It has orange wing covers that are about one-half black. If you need a reason for wanting to entice Goldenrod Soldier Beetles to your yard, their larvae are predators of other insects, which helps keep their populations at sustainable levels.

If you see Goldenrod Soldier Beetles mating (from August through September and sometimes later), you can rest assured that you will have allies the following year, helping you to avoid the use of pesticides in your garden. Goldenrod Soldier Beetles can be found on a variety of plants, but they are especially noticeable on goldenrod.

If you look very carefully at the goldenrod flowers, you will undoubtedly find other predatory creatures. Crab spiders and daddy longlegs seek out meals by preying upon the insects that visit for nectar or pollen. Ambush and assassin bugs lie in wait for other insects, just as their names suggest.

The goldenrod flowers are the site of much activity. Indeed, the entire plant functions as a cafeteria for a whole host of creatures that visit for a meal.

• Nature Notes by Marlene A. Condon
• October 1. 2024

Many folks view the natural world as something of no real significance to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nature provides our life support system as we travel around the sun and through the universe upon spaceship Earth.

Space travelers in manufactured spaceships always need to bring along oxygen. Without it, a person will not survive. You should remember this fact the next time you observe weeds coming up between plants in your flower bed, in bare lawn spots, or even in the cracks of a sidewalk. Consider their value and perhaps leave them be.

Plants fill in empty spaces not just for aesthetic reasons but to ensure the proper functioning of the environment that supports all life. Nature abhors unused space because it’s not productive. So, it’s a good idea to embrace those violets in the lawn and those dandelions in your flower bed. This variety of plant growth on your property supports a variety of organisms, making your personal part of the world more healthful for you and your neighbors.

You should welcome a variety of critters on your property so they can work for you. Pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, flies, wasps, and many others, fertilize your crop flowers so you can obtain food. Slugs, snails, and some kinds of flies and beetles break down and recycle your plant debris and animal remains to make fertilizer available for new plants in the next growing season.

Birds, for instance, play a crucial role in maintaining balance. They eat many of these small organisms, which helps to limit their numbers. An overpopulation of any one kind of organism harms the ability of other organisms to survive. Natural resources are limited and therefore must be shared.

The same idea applies to plants. When bunnies eat some of your flowers, these cute mammals — adored by children and some of us adults — are limiting plant numbers to prevent overcrowding. Overcrowded plants or animals end up diseased — Mother Nature’s mechanism for reducing the overpopulation of organisms when other control measures have failed.

If you dislike certain animals because you fear them, learning about the critters in our world goes a long way to helping you coexist peacefully.

For example, you may fear getting stung by bees and wasps, but you probably realize we need them to pollinate plants to provide fruits, vegetables, and nuts to eat, and so we can get honey from honey bees. To live in agreement with these insects, follow this basic rule: Pay attention to your surroundings whenever you are outside among plants so you don’t inadvertently touch a bee or wasp or get too close to a nest.

Remember, these animals are not interested in harming you because they could get injured or killed by attacking you. Therefore, they behave defensively, just as you would do if you or your offspring were about to be injured or killed.

If you respect nature, nature will respect you.

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). She writes a blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com/

• Nature News by Marlene A. Condon
• Apr 2, 2024

One of the earliest plants to bloom in spring is the Common Dandelion, sprouting up in fields and yards and alongside roadways. It’s probably the most recognizable flower in the United States, especially to children. They are often taught to make a wish before blowing apart the perfectly formed sphere of seeds that develops at the top of the stem. Although many people think of this perennial as an uninvited and unwanted lawn weed, its bright, cheery, yellow flowers can be a welcome sight, especially after a cold, dreary winter.

The scientific name of the Common Dandelion is Taraxacum officinale (ta-RAX-a-come a-FISH-in-AL-a). Its genus name, Taraxacum, is medieval in origin and means “bitter herb”’, referring to the leaves that are sometimes used in salads. The species name, officinale, derives from Latin for “shop”, and is applied to plants that were sold for medicinal purposes.

The roots of dandelions have been roasted and ground for a caffeine-free coffee substitute in different countries during various ages, and their flower heads can be made into wine. The common name is from the French, “dent de lion”, meaning lion’s tooth, and probably refers to the teeth on the jagged leaves. Dandelions belong to the Sunflower Family.

The first sign of a Common Dandelion is a formation of irregularly toothed leaves radiating from a central point at ground level (known as a basal rosette). Shortly thereafter, a yellow flower head, up to 1½ inches across and containing 100 or more tiny flowers (called florets), rises from the center on a hollow stalk.

If the flower stalk gets cut before it sets seed, the next flower stalk will be shorter, a scheme to make it less conspicuous to grazing animals—or lawn mowers! Eventually a flower head will come up that is completely stalkless, level with the ground and far less vulnerable to decapitation. With luck, it will exist long enough to produce seeds for another generation, demonstrating a wonderful strategy for these plants to survive the many hazards of life.

Dandelion flowers are an extremely valuable food source for the first insects to emerge in the spring. Even though these plants are introduced from Europe, many insects make use of them, content to find nectar at a time when few native or cultivated plants are blooming. After pollination by a variety of insects, a “blowball” of parachuted seeds develops that is perfectly adapted to dissemination by the wind—or children!

Other animals, such as rabbits, graze upon the fresh green leaves. You should watch for the wide variety of creatures that visit this plant.

If you’re lucky, you may chance upon an entire field of Common Dandelions only recently gone to seed, each plant still holding high its orb of silky-haired achenes (small dry single-seeded fruits which remain closed at maturity). Gaze upon this sight, as it is surprisingly beautiful. It’s only after the globular clusters of seeds have begun to break up that these plants acquire a disheveled look that people love to hate.

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). You can read her blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com.

• Nature News by Marlene A. Condon
• Mar 5, 2024

I feel extremely fortunate that I received my degree from Virginia Tech. For a nature lover, such as I, the campus and the Blacksburg area where Tech is located provided plenty of opportunities to observe wildlife.

I lived a few miles away from the university in a rented trailer that was surrounded by farmland. One morning when I left for class, I forgot to close my bedroom window. Much to my surprise (and delight, to be honest with you), when I returned home later that day and walked into the bedroom, I found a momma opossum with her babies clinging to the fur on her back!

Young opossums accompany their mother in this manner during the final month that they are suckling. I was absolutely thrilled to see such a cute sight, but of course, the opossums weren’t thrilled to see me. The entire family left quickly by way of the same window they’d entered by.

Many folks do not like this mammal because they consider it to be ugly and rat-like in appearance. People tend to be afraid of rats, so they are often afraid of opossums as well. But there’s really no reason to fear either one of these mammals. As a child, I had a black-and-white pet rat named Melvin that I remember fondly to this day.

Wild rats and Virginia Opossums are both members of Mother Nature’s cleanup crew. You are most likely to see rats at farms where spilled grain has been left on the ground where it would become wet and moldy if rodents didn’t feed upon it. Agricultural-supply centers that leave spilled grain on the floor also invite mice and rats to visit, and homeowners shouldn’t leave pet food outside where numerous kinds of wildlife will be attracted to it.

Opossums recycle dead plants and animals, which helps to keep the environment functioning properly. Sadly, this role causes them to get run over when they try to feed upon animals that have been hit by traffic, which is why you see so many dead opossums on the roads.

Opossums are omnivorous, eating just about anything that they find, including insects and other invertebrates (animals without a backbone), small birds and mammals, amphibians (such as frogs and toads), eggs, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

If you drive slowly after dark (opossums are nocturnal, or active mostly at night) on rural back roads or even along city and town roadways, you might spot an opossum and get to watch its ambling gait as it searches for food.

A Virginia Opossum has a small brain, which is supposed to be indicative of low intelligence. However, all animals possess just what they need in brainpower to survive, and that’s what counts.

This species does very well, even though an opossum skull can only hold 26 navy beans, as opposed to a Common Raccoon’s skull that can hold 139. I never would have thought to measure intelligence with navy beans, but yes, a scientist did make this measurement!

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). You can read her blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com.

• Nature Notes by Marlene A. Condon
•  January 7, 2025

I’ve had some unusual outdoor experiences over the years.

For example, in spring, I enjoy sitting on my deck to feel the sun’s warmth penetrating my skin and joints, which are painful due to rheumatoid arthritis. One day, I started falling asleep in my chair and heard the flutter of wings near my head, but I was so sleepy that I didn’t look up immediately. I listened to the sound come and go a few times, and I thought that a bird wanted to visit the nearby birdbath but was afraid to do so because I was close to it.

Suddenly, I felt a flutter of wings right at my head. I quickly opened my eyes and saw a tufted titmouse. It apparently had been working up the nerve to grab some of my hair for its nest. I had read that these birds would pluck hair from snoozing animals. Now I know from first-hand experience it’s true.

One winter evening, I was reading in my living room when I heard a sound from the window facing the deck. My deck is attached to my house just outside the kitchen and living room, and tall Chinese Photinias (Photinia serulata, or Red-tips, as they are often called) surround it.

When I looked out, I saw a dark-eyed Junco (a species that visits Virginia from more northern states every fall through spring) fluttering at the glass. It was pitch black and freezing out. I could not imagine what this little bird was doing, flying at night and seemingly trying to get into my house. It was spooky.

I thought about this and remembered that I had sometimes gone by the Photinia bushes at dusk and inadvertently frightened juncos out of them. These visitors to my yard were spending the night in the evergreen Photinia bushes, which provide good shelter from cold and/or wet winter weather.

I concluded the junco at the window must have been frightened out of the bushes, and because its vision was not good in the dark, it had flown to the illuminated window where it could see ahead of it. I wanted to help the junco find its way back into the bushes, so I put on the outside deck light and shut off the indoor living room lights, and indeed, the junco returned to its roosting site.

Since that time many years ago, this situation has happened again a few times, and I’ve learned what scares these birds out of the bushes — raccoons visiting to look for seeds that have fallen from the bird feeders on the deck. If a raccoon climbs to the deck via a Photinia bush with roosting juncos, the birds may be frightened and fly out, immediately heading to an illuminated window.

Now that I understand this phenomenon, it’s no longer eerie, and I know just what to do: put on the deck light, shut off the indoor lights, and peek out the sliding doors to watch the raccoon.

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). She writes a blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com/

• Nature News by Marlene A. Condon
• Jun 3, 2024

Just about now, hillsides throughout Virginia are taking on the pink and purple hue of Perennial (or Everlasting) Peas. These plants are also called Wild Peas, and their scientific name is Lathyrus latifolius.

 These non-native vines of southern Europe “escaped” from garden cultivation to grow “wild” (or on their own) throughout the countryside. Although many people plant Perennial Peas solely for the beauty of their blossoms, I enjoy having these vines — which can grow up to 9 feet long — in my yard for wildlife.

 The blooms of Perennial Pea attract many kinds of insects, especially butterflies and bees. The flower petals easily support either kind of insect while it’s making a meal of nectar, thus allowing it a chance to rest instead of hovering while it eats. But what I find most interesting about Perennial Peas is their attraction to American Goldfinches.

 Pick up any book about American birds and you will read that goldfinches eat almost exclusively seeds, even feeding their young regurgitated seeds instead of insects. These birds possess a conical bill to easily crush seed shells, whereas insect-eating birds tend to have thin straight bills for poking into crevices (where insects often hide) and “spearing” them.

 It’s very rare for parent birds to feed their chicks only seeds because developing babies need, as a rule, animal protein to grow properly. However, one day I discovered that American Goldfinches do eat insects — aphids.

 I had planted Perennial Peas around my lamp post so they could cover it with flowers throughout the summer after the clematis growing there had finished its spring blooming. As I looked out the window one afternoon to see if anything interesting was happening in the front yard, I saw some American Goldfinches poking around among the pea vines. They remained there for such a long time that I knew they had to be eating something.

 Yet they were not poking at seed pods as if trying to get seeds, nor were they around the blossoms as if trying to get nectar (finches and orioles feed upon nectar just like hummingbirds do). I was dying of curiosity, but I waited (im?)patiently for the birds to fly away.

 As soon as they did, I rushed out to the lamp post to try to figure out what those birds had been after. What I found were aphids, tiny insects that tend to become numerous on plants suffering from a lack of water, and, indeed, we’d been having a dry spell. I hadn’t watered because I prefer plants in my yard to make it on their own.

 Because I had never read that goldfinches eat aphids, I wondered if that was, indeed, what the birds had been eating or if I was mistaken. However, it’s been many years since that initial observation, and every time I’ve noticed goldfinches poking at leaves on my Perennial Peas or any other kind of plant, I have immediately checked the plant and there are always aphids to be found!

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). She writes a blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com/

• Nature News | Marlene A. Condon
• January 2, 2024

The following nature story appeared as a letter to the editor in the fall 1999 issue of Virginia Tech Magazine, and was submitted by Everette M. Prosise, class of ‘68.

“I always wondered why a fighting gobbler was used to depict Hokie [the Virginia Tech mascot] fearlessness. A turkey is a turkey, at least so I thought. Its image as a fighter I accepted on blind faith. But now I have seen the turkey hen fight with a passion that would make the eagle seem tame.

“I was starting a grill at my farm and weekend retreat in Dinwiddie, VA when I saw a turkey coming into the back field. She had about 10 babies about the size of large quail walking with her. I watched with great pleasure the beginning of a new cycle of wildlife.

“Without warning, the hen took off vertically as if she had stepped on a land mine. About 20 feet off the ground, she intercepted a hawk that was coming in for a baby. The hen hit the hawk with its feet first and with its back almost parallel to the ground.

“The hawk flew toward the back of the field with the hen in pursuit; it turned back towards the babies, and the hen hit it again. They both fell about 10 feet and were fighting with their feet, until the hawk headed for the tree line and kept going.

“The hen returned to her babies. When they went back into the pines, the babies were very close to their mother’s feet. It was unbelievable. A mid-air fight between a hawk and a turkey. From now on I’ll be proud of our turkey mascot. Wish you could have seen it.”

So don’t make fun of the Virginia Tech mascot that’s based upon a very courageous creature!

Now for a personal nature story. One day I discovered first-hand the origin of the name “Touch-me-not” for our native orange-flowering Impatiens capensis.

As I sat by my pond observing the wildlife in and around it, I kept feeling tiny impacts upon my face. There were no obvious insects around me, nor were there any clouds in the sky possibly sprinkling upon me. Each time I felt something, I would look around, but the source remained a mystery. Finally, I’d been pelted enough to get serious about finding the answer to this mysterious occurrence.

I scrutinized my surroundings and smiled as I spied the Touch-me-not plants across the way. It was fall and the plants were covered with seed capsules. A slight breeze was blowing, causing the capsules to touch one another or other parts of the plants.

Touch-me-not seed capsules have elastic sides at maturity, and the slightest touch causes the sides to spring apart. As each side twists spirally, seeds are sent flying through the air with enough momentum to take them several feet away, where I interrupted their travels.

The breeze had not heeded the warning of each seed capsule to “touch me not”!

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). You can read her blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com.

• Nature News | Marlene A. Condon
• December 5, 2023

I spent my first year of college at a campus in Massachusetts that was perfect for me. The college was situated on a hillside and a great deal of forest had been preserved beyond its buildings. A trail ran through the woods for quite a way, and I walked there often.

Whenever I recall those forays into the forest, I think of all the chipmunks that seemed to keep me company. The habitat was ideal for these adorable little creatures. As a result, they were numerous and seemed to be everywhere. I will always associate chipmunks with my first year of higher education.

I subsequently transferred to Virginia Tech to finish my degree requirements and I never left Virginia. When my “dream home” near the Blue Ridge Mountains was built, I was absolutely delighted to see chipmunks on my property. Now I could cohabit with these furry critters instead of only visiting them as I had as a student in Massachusetts.

I quickly discovered that chipmunks love sunflower seeds, just as many birds do. I therefore saw them often around my bird feeders, even during the winter when chipmunks are less active because they semi-hibernate. In other words, they rouse themselves to eat during the winter whereas true hibernators go into a very deep sleep or torpor and do not eat until spring.

Thus, if you live in an area that has chipmunks, you may well view them at this time of the year, especially if you feed birds. The Eastern Chipmunk is a member of the squirrel family and is known as a ground squirrel because it spends most of its time on the ground. However, it’s capable of climbing trees if it wants to get food or needs to escape a predator.

The characteristic trait that most folks probably think of when they hear the word “chipmunk” is probably the large internal cheek pouches that line a chipmunk’s face. These pouches can each be stuffed with a heaping tablespoon of seeds. One

reference says a chipmunk was found to be carrying more than 3700 blueberry seeds in its cheeks!

A chipmunk places food into its pouches with its forefeet, and uses those same feet to push on the external surface of its cheeks to get the food out when it wants to do so. The inside of its cheeks is not wet like your mouth, but dry like your skin so the food doesn’t get wet.

Chipmunks forage for food during the day, gathering it to store in their underground tunnels. Although chipmunks are primarily vegetarians, they do also eat meat. Earthworms, snails, insects, insect larvae, frogs, salamanders, small snakes, birds, bird eggs, and mice have been reported as chipmunk food. There is even a report from 1939 of a chipmunk robbing a junco nest and of capturing a young robin here in Virginia.

Chipmunks are thought to live from two to four years in the wild, although in captivity, some have lived as long as eight years.

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). You can read her blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com.

• Nature News | Marlene A. Condon
• November 7, 2023

Autumn’s the time of year to look for the dried seedpods of Common Milkweed. This food plant of the Monarch Butterfly often comes up along rural roadsides, where it’s likely to get cut by the Virginia Department of Transportation when it performs its fall mowing. However, short plants might get missed by the mower blade, while taller plants might get pushed aside rather than cut.

If you are lucky and find a pod (no need to take home more than one), you can spread its seeds where you’d like the plants to grow next year. And if you are truly lucky, a Monarch will alert you next spring to the new plants in your garden as she lays her eggs.

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a flowering plant that often comes up in dry fields where it typically grows 3-5 feet tall. It starts to bloom in early summer, and if you smell the uniquely shaped flowers, you’ll be rewarded with a wonderful scent worthy of expensive perfume.

The overall impression of these plants from a distance is one of ungainliness and coarseness, so many folks don’t like to plant them in manicured gardens. But a close look reveals lovely flowers that attract a great many pollinators.

Blooming sometime in June, they attract numerous species of butterflies to the goblet-shaped flowers that hold a generous amount of nectar. You might catch a glimpse of Silver-spotted Skippers, Great Spangled Fritillaries, Zebra Swallowtails, American Ladies, Tiger Swallowtails, Eastern Tailed Blues, and Spicebush Swallowtails. You could even spot an unfamiliar species! On June 18, 1999, I saw my first-ever Variegated Fritillary feeding at Common Milkweed in my yard. It spent an afternoon in my milkweed patch before disappearing. And, of course, milkweed could bring in the Monarch whose caterpillar prefers this species of milkweed.

Bumblebees love milkweed nectar, although they are sometimes killed when their legs become trapped inside a flower slit. You can see these slits if you look closely at the flowers. Little bags of pollen are within each slit and they become attached to an insect’s leg if it slides into the opening. The insect then carries the pollen to another milkweed plant where it fertilizes a flower if all goes well. If this plan fails, however, you could notice a dead or dying bee caught on a flower head. The fertilization process is so complex in Common Milkweed that very few flowers ever get fertilized. From each cluster of up to 75 flowers only two seed pods will normally develop.

Numerous other kinds of interesting insects can be found on Common Milkweed, including orange aphids! In June, orange-and-black insects appear on the plants. Called Large Milkweed Bugs, they suck the juices of developing seeds, which kills the seeds and thus helps to keep Common Milkweed from overpopulating an area. You could also get to see the Small Milkweed Bug that is black-and-red and serves the same function of limiting plant numbers.

Consider Common Milkweed an insect delicatessen!

Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of “The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People” (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). She writes a blog called “In Defense Of Nature.”