Fun Among the Milkweeds

 Yesterday morning I set out to find milkweeds going to seed, and I was pleasantly surprised to find one Red Milkweed Beetle still wandering about.  Well, I'm exaggerating.  It probably wandered a total of a half inch in the ten minutes I spent at this spot.  Most of the pods of Showy Milkweed were still intact, but dry and brown, so I'll be checking this patch over the next few days.  I love the various configurations of milkweed seeds bursting out of their pods.  And, on windy days, it's fun to watch them get launched.

 I've often photographed aphids being tended by ants, but mostly the greenish black aphids on Salsify, other composites, and roses, and they have been the tiny brownish black ants.  This was the first time I'd seen the yellow aphids on Showy Milkweed, and their herders were the larger red and black ants.  Needless to say, I haven't learned the different species of ants and aphids, but I really enjoy watching their work.

 Another shot of that Red Milkweed Beetle shows my hand for scale.  This one's around 5/8" long.

 My next stop was out beyond Oakland Camp where I photographed all five local species of milkweeds during the summer.  The Purple or Heart-leaf Milkweed is long gone.  They were the first to bloom and the first to go to seed.  All that's left now are dry, brown stems and husks of their seed pods. 
The Narrow-leaf Milkweeds, however, were very photogenic.  Most plants had some green pods as well as some brown ones bursting open.  I would love to see a time-lapse video of the pods bursting open.  The still photos stir the imagination.

 Here's a plant still bearing green seed pods, one covered with aphids.  Remnants of flowers, too, although they mostly wilted and produced seed pods a month ago.

 After wandering around a large patch of a hundred or more plants, and getting my boots filled with seeds of wild grasses, I found one plant that still had a few blooms.  They lacked the bright pinkish-purple color they had at their peak, but the flowers were still intact.

 While nature hikes in this area all summer, I told lots of Bay Area people about the wonderful show of color produced by the Umbrella Plant during October.  I hope not too any people make the long drive just to see that because it's looking like this year they're turning brown.  Tough summer, very dry.  Oh, well.  The broad-minded hiker will still see lots to enjoy.

 I usually get pretty angry when I find trash in the woods, and I occasionally rant here about slovenly behavior around my favorite hiking trails.  Then, it occurred to me that this bright red jewel in the dry grass might be just as aesthetically pleasing to some people as the beetles and aphids are to me.  So, I've titled this photo "Redneck Flower."  There were many others in the vicinity, some blues, greens and yellows, too.  It must be awfully difficult to bend over and pick these up.