Milkweed by the road!

Driving out of the Altapass Orchard parking lot back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, what did I spy but the elusive milkweed!

Had to stop traffic and take its picture.  This is the only plant that our area supports Monarch Butterflies to lay their eggs on, and which is eaten by their caterpillars.

Of course in the fall there's not much left but the tailtell seed pods.

I hope these plants continue to thrive here.  They are not Roundup resistant, and many farmers have killed them in the dusting of crops when the wind blows Roundup into the ditches where Milkweed used to florish.

Quote for today:

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.

Vaclav Havel