Discovery Journal Topics

The Great Black Wasp has been visiting the gardens every day. Unfortunately, it has been less cooperative about landing and staying put, so I have failed to get a good picture for a positive ID until yesterday. In the late afternoon, I finally caught this very large, very black wasp pausing to pollinate the 'Ice Ballet' cultivar of Swamp Milkweed.

Everyone knows that planting milkweed is good for the Monarch butterfly. But did you know that milkweed is beneficial in other ways? In addition to feeding monarch caterpillars and to being a great plant for pollinators, milkweed fibers are particularly suited to being used in the construction of oriole nests.