I have let a patch of Milk Weed grow in my yard…yes I know…it is a weed, but I love it.
Not only does it smell good, it attracks
Bees!!!!
I also like the big, busy
Bumble Bee!
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm
Life on a Colorado Farm (All Rights Reserved)
Life on a Colorado Farm 
I love milk weed too…and what a great bee photo!
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Milkweed is also a nesting habitat for the Monarch butterflies, isn’t it? I thought I remember reading about a Monarch project on the net where if you grow a certain foot length of Milkweed, you qualify as a Monarch conservationist.
Sure is pretty!
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Hi Linda,
I have tried to grow our native milkweed for butterflies a few times and it always dies!! It grows great in the field as a “weed” but it does not like my house. 😦
And your milkweed may indeed be a native and you just don’t know it. There are plenty of native ones which grow in CA. So I bet you have some in the CO flora as well.
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Reminds me of going to play with my cousin when we were both way younger…WAY younger. We’d go out in her ditch in front of the farmhouse and pick milk weed and pretend to have tea parties with it. Since then I have heard it is poisonous. But I doubt that we knew it then. Photos look very familiar to me though.
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Love that picture of the BIG bumble bee, Linda. Someone said that they are on the endangered list now… That would be a shame.
I think the wildflowers are probably better for most of our ‘critters’ than some of the fancy flowers we plant….
Hope you all have a good weekend.
Hugs,
Betsy
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very pretty
and cool bee (o:
I remember having that in the fields around my house
and breaking a stem for the fun of the oozing ‘milk’
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And don’t forget the monarch butterflies! The farmers around here have been so thorough about taking out the weeds that there are hardly any milkweed. So–NO monarch butterflies. Glad you are preserving a few homes for them.
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Love the picture – and your blog! Come fall, you’ll have those beautiful seed pods, too.
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My goats don’t let the milk weed get that tall! It does smell yummy though. It was fun to read and catch up on your posts. Happy Birthday to your 6 year old. Does she visit more now that she can ride her bike all the way?
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Late August here in Maine you will find milkweed popping up here, there and everywhere. Linda your photos do the milkweed justice, very pretty. I do believe you would “love” Heliotrope and yes I do think it would grow fine in your area ( I am a zone 5) sun to sun/part shade. If it were possible I’d share mine with you!
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It is native to Minnesota..that one you have is called Common Milkweed or Asclepias syriaca. Milkweeds are the only host of the Monarch Larvae..and in the early spring Orioles will use the old stalks from Milkweed as nesting materials..not only that they smell heavenly..and look closely at the flowers what an intricate design!! 🙂
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Interesting……we call something else milk weed….I’ve never seen this plant before.
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Great shot of the bumble bee. Isn’t a weed just a plant growing in the wrong place. If it is not bothering you its a plant. Thank you for commenting on my posts while I was away.
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Yeah, there are several different kinds of milkweed. Wonder if yours would grow here or if it’s a “desert” plant?
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