Monarchs and Milkweeds

I hate growing milkweed plants. Well, it's not the plants I hate. It's the sticky orange aphids that always seem to infest milkweed plants that I truly loath. And "infest" is not hyperbole; in fact, it probably understates the problem.

But after hearing about the collapse of the monarch butterfly population on the west coast, I figured that, once again, I must get over my aversion to pulsing, brainless orange bugs and plant some milkweeds.

So this summer I researched which species of milkweed are native to my area, and planted Narrow Leaf Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis). In a pot, and far away from any other plants that those orange buggers also might want to colonize. And each time I water the milkweed, I always wear work gloves so that I can smash, smush, squish and squash them into oblivion. A festival of murder and mayhem every two or three days. All without getting my hands dirty.

And the payoff for all this hands-on grossness? Three days ago, I found the first little monarch caterpillar munching away. It's a little late in the season, but maybe s/he can pull it off. And if not this season, no matter. There will be more chances next year because this time around I won’t give up on milkweeds and monarchs just because of some icky-sticky orange bugs.

On a Pedestal

Tiles ready for installation

It all started in ceramics class. Or maybe it all started with a mosaic flower pot which needed to stand a little taller. Or maybe it doesn't matter how it started, it was a silly idea, regardless.

But I designed and made, underglazed and glazed, these blue tiles to cover a 12" square cinder block (yup, a simple-pimple cinder block). I made a few extras, just in case. And then a few tiles actually did go missing. Disaster planning in action.






It didn't take long to tile the block, just a little patience to allow the first ones to set up before moving  on to the other sides. And grouting was pretty darn easy, too.

Installed

Installed & Grouted

And then it got a bit harder - which planter gets the privilege of the high seat? I had originally thought of the pedestal for the gold "Egyptian" planter. But the new blue and red one looks pretty good up there, too.

No doubt it will all come down to the lucky vegetable or plant that gets to live in either of the pots.