New to Me

I've only been observing monarch caterpillars for a few years, and this is the first time I've witnessed one eating a seedpod.

Seedpods

Eastern red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) seedpods.

Winter Interest

Here is another picture from today:

Butterfly Weed Seedpods

My butterfly weed is starting to make seedpods. The largest one had lots of flowers but no seedpods for the longest time. The one beside it already has a huge, nearly mature seedpod and lots of others approaching maturity.





Now I'm starting to see some seedpods on the largest one. The picture shows how fuzzy/furry it is. I didn't even realize. I'm gonna have to go back out and touch it.



I'm looking forward to collecting more seed and planting them for next year. So far I only have four mature plants. Only three of the five that I bought the first year survived. They were tiny, single stemmed plants and now are very full. I bought another one this spring in a gallon pot and planted one that I grew from seed. Next year, I'm hoping to have tons more to plant.