Lmst

Since our Desert Senna’s been blooming again lately & our Desert Milkweeds look like they're forming new flower buds, this seemed like a good time to post this Perpetual Journal page of mine, from a few months ago. And YES! 🥰We’ve seen a Gila Monster more than once this year!!!

#NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #flower #wildflower #BloomScrolling #Milkweed #lizard #reptile #GilaMonster

My 2025 Perpetual Journal watercolor and pen art of Desert Milkweed flower buds; my 2024 Perpetual Journal watercolor and pen art of Desert Senna in bloom with a yellow flower; & my 2023 Perpetual Journal watercolor and pen art of a Gila Monster, all in Tucson, AZ.

I saw my first bust-open milkweed pods of the year today.
#milkweed

A milkweed pod with seeds starting to escape. Each seed looks like a teddy bear ear attached to a white silk tassel.

Large Milkweed Bugs on #milkweed pod #native plants #NY #insects

Closeup of milkweed pod.

#milkweed #naturephotography

Black and white close-up of a dried milkweed pod opening, with delicate silky fibers and seeds spilling out.

A honey bee visits a summer milkweed, pollinia hanging from her legs. Illinois.

#bees #milkweed #bloomscrolling #insects

Photo of the top of a milkweed plant, dramatically lit, with flowers in various stages of development. A small bee hovers at top left over a giant pink ball of open flowers.

When milkweed pods erupt

#milkweed #SeedPods

White fluffy seeds caught by nearby remaining stems from plant blooms near the opened dry gray milkweed pods. There are very few remaining tiny pink blooms on the red stems that have risen above the bright green leaves of their plant in the background.

Oh, and of course all the stuff that's gone wild -- #Milkweed, #Asters, #Catnip and #Oregano. Our #pollinator friends appreciated that. Saw the last young #MonarchButterfly about to fly south the other day.

#GardeningForPollinators #GardeningThoughts #SolarPunkSunday

Harvested some milkweed seed pods for my lovely sister who is working on de-monoculture-ing at her place. It's a beautiful day!

#Garden #Milkweed #SeedSaving

Can you spot who’s visiting the milkweed?

#dragonfly #milkweed #autumn

A brown dragonfly with silvery wings perches on a cluster of 4 milkweed pods, surrounded by grasses and other wild plants.

Fifth-instar Monarch caterpillars (Danaus plexippus) stop feeding and often wander away from milkweed in search of a safe pupation site—sometimes traveling up to 10 meters before forming their chrysalis.

#MonarchButterfly #MonarchCaterpillar #Pollinators #ButterflyLifeCycle #Milkweed #NatureFacts #WildCalifornia #Nature #Wildlife

And that's a wrap for this year! Fifteen of the monarch caterpillars we found on our yard milkweed made the transition to butterfly and successfully lifted off in time for migration. So happy to have helped add just a few more endangered lovelies to the planet.🧡🧡🧡

#butterflies #monarchs #nature #photography #NaturePhotography #milkweed

One perfect monarch with outspread wings perched on our purple butterfly bush. The sun behind it makes it shine like stained glass.

Milkweed Seedpod Explosion Season outside of the neighbours. #BloomScrolling #milkweed #Alberta #photograghy #iphone13

Brown seeds with long white fuzz for flight of the milkweed family emerging from long dull white seedpods that are approximately 7cm long

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

Elongate, green seedpod with wall eaten away, exposing brown flat seeds within. Exterior is covered with covered with bright yellow aphids, most of which are pointed down.

5th-instar large milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) on Asclepias incarnata. I know a lot of people go to great lengths to get rid of them, but they're gorgeous and not competing with the monarch larvae so I just let them be. #milkweed #bugs #aposematic #hemiptera #lygaeidae #insects #entomology

Orange bugs with black legs, black antennae, black wings, and black abdominal spots.

My swamp milkweed finally has monarch caterpillars. I counted approximately 12 yesterday but I likely missed a bunch. Now I'm obliged to take hundreds of photos. #monarch #butterflies #lepidoptera #insects #milkweed #conservation

Caterpillar with yellow, white, and black bands munching upside down on a lanceolate leaf.

People grow milkweed for Monarch Butterflies, and it is easy to see why; however, many other species also need the plants. While they aren’t Monarchs, the Large Milkweed Bug is just as important a part of the ecosystem and is most welcome on the milkweed plants in my yard. #milkweed #nativeplants

Took this about a week ago, playing with a few close-ups of some milkweed pods. Didn't look at it until just now.

Caterpillar cameo at the top of the frame!

I think my day was just made!

#Milkweed #Caterpillar #Nature

A close-up photo of a milkweed pod against a background of foliage. At the center-top of the frame, easy to miss, is a striped caterpillar hanging down, presumably from a leaf that is out of sight.

Chompie sighting! Two of them!

#GardeningForPollinators #MonarchCaterpillars #Milkweed #SolarPunkSunday #Chompies

Two monarch caterpillars chomping on two different milkweed leaves on a plant next to a rotted tree stump.

Monarchs have been laying eggs on our milkweed plant all summer! The monarch eggs have a 2-5% egg survival rate in nature and are listed as a threatened species, so we have been raising quite a few of them lately. Super excited to see our first butterfly emerge 🐛🦋✨

#butterfly #caterpillar #monarch #eggs #nature #milkweed #summer #chrysalis #enclosure #plants #migration #beauty #release #wild #wings

A bit washed out in the sunshine, but always nice to see a Monarch on the Swamp Milkweed.

#monarch #butterfly #NativePlants #milkweed

#Milkweed

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