#milkweed — Public Fediverse posts

This is one of my first season milkweeds. I foraged the seeds from a nearby plant and got them going indoors and everything. This one in particular got eaten to the ground twice. Both times, it came back as twice as many plants.

One thing I've been learning this year through gardening is that plants are incredible. They have their limits (our sunflowers didn't recover from being repeatedly chomped), but some of them really spring back.

#milkweed #nativePlants #gardening

Oleander aphids (Aphis nerii) on a swamp milkweed seedpod that has been chewed open, I think, by a monarch butterfly larva. Almost all aphid species adopt a headstand posture (facing ground) when feeding. Interesting. #aphids #milkweed #hemiptera #insects #entomology #asclepias

Farmworkers Heal Climate-Scarred Land With #NativeSeeds

At #California’s #HedgerowFarms, specialists produce seeds to #revegetate burned areas, reestablish #wetlands, and transform drought-prone #farmland

By Caleb Hampton

July 7, 2025

"Quiroz and Gómez are seed-cleaning specialists and field workers at Hedgerow Farms, a native seed farm near the #CentralValley town of #WintersCA. Hedgerow’s collectors gather seeds from native plants in the wild, and field workers grow them out at the 300-acre farm to produce more seeds. This spring, neat rows of #mugwort, #PurpleNeedlegrass, and #CaliforniaPoppies sprouted in the midst of neighboring almond orchards, tomatoes, and alfalfa.

"Government agencies, tribes, and other land managers use the seeds to revegetate #FireRavagedAreas, transform #AbandonedFarmland, reestablish wetlands, and repair other damaged or altered lands, creating environments that support local #ecosystems and #biodiversity.

" 'We’re doing something for the planet,' Quiroz said in Spanish.

"Recreational areas have benefited too: Hedgerow Farms’ #SilverbushLupine grows in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and its #NativeGrasses can be found in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area outside Sacramento. The farm also supplies native seeds to seed packet retailers, helping sow #DroughtResistant plants and establish #pollinator habitat in #urban environments.

"Some projects, such as the ongoing restoration of the #KlamathRiverBasin in Oregon and California, involve billions of seeds — from various suppliers, including Hedgerow — spread across thousands of acres. 'Native vegetation is the foundation of a healthy #ecosystem,' the #YurokTribe said in a social media post showing #wildflowers blooming this spring in the scar of a former reservoir.

"After four dams were removed from the #KlamathRiver, the tribe began #revegetating the riverbanks last year, planting species such as #milkweed — a key food source for #MonarchButterflies — that once flourished in the watershed."

Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/07/07/farmworkers-heal-climate-scarred-land-with-native-seeds/

#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSecurity #RegenerativeAgriculture #Restoration #GardeningForPollinators #RestorativeAgriculture

Happy post-postscript: today I learned by very carefully pulling the floret petals apart, I could easily free most mites.

Pic 1: whirligig mites stuck on milkweed, circled in magenta.

Pic 2: a rescued whirligig mite drinking on a tissue I put a bit of water on.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Anystidae #milkweed

Saturday morning visit to the delicious Nectar bakery. Enjoying their garden visitors. I really love small businesses with gardens. #Wisconsin #SpringGreen #July #Monarch #Photograph #Asclepias #Milkweed #Butterfly #MonarchButterfly #Saturday #CoffeeShop #NectarBakery #Garden

Sincere thanks to #CanGeo for covering my PhD research on plant-pollinator interactions in urban green #corridors! Read on for more intriguing stories about conserving Canada's biodiversity in urban & suburban areas.

https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/how-does-your-garden-grow/

#UrbanEcology #greencorridors #milkweed #asclepias #pollinators #urbanization