Fall in the Piedmont of NC is a rollercoaster of heat waves and stunning fall weather. It’s the slow transition from green to auburn, crimson and gold. It’s the last bloom for flowers before winter settles in on us. It’s hard to drive around town and not admire the resilient tickseed wildflowers in full fall bloom this October.
It’s a wonder to see how pleasantly symbiotic the whole relationship is. The milkweed relinquishes its leaves while maintaining life sustaining energy in its deep taproot and regrows. The caterpillar receives its nourishment, including the bitter toxin from the plant that provides a layer of protection from predators, even as an adult. Pollinators will be by eventually to pollinate the flowers which will create pods of wind-dispersed seeds. Human interactions don’t ever seem this smoothly cooperative.
One hundred and seventy five butterfly species reside in NC and that summer, in my devil’s strip alone, I documented on camera 18 different butterfly species; who knows how many I’ve missed over the years. Since transforming my yard from an HOA approved, socially acceptable landscape to a more wild space I’ve gardened by one motto: If no one is eating your plants, then your garden is not part of the ecosystem.
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