Blooming bazaars

Umbels of pinkish poms are pollen stars.
Curved horns protect each feast, blooming bazaars.

The flowering progression of the common milkweed is extraordinary! Consider the closed buds: there’s a subtle star at the tip of its round, lantern-like bud. Look at the emerging flowers: see the small hint of a star that marks the pale center. Study the full bloom: here pale-pink petals arch forth their curved horns to protect the yellow-star center. All in all, a small world of hundreds of magnificent blooming bazaars.

The plant truly is an insect market: each part of the plant is like a little shop with something for more than 450 insects. “[It is not] uncommon to see flies, beetles, ants, bees, wasps, and butterflies on the flowers at the same time.”1

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca),2 is also called butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed. They are highly fragrant, full-sun wonders, and all parts of the plant release a white “milk” (called a latex) when cut. In the fall and winter, the plant’s seedpods split open and release dozens of seeds, each connected to long, silky hairs.

From follicles, the seeds slowly emerge
with full and flossy hair, a silky splurge.