cotton?????? I have no idea!

[Ruffsta]

I have no idea what this is growing up the side of a friend's house.. but one day I ran over it last year with a mower and it was like cotton shredded all over the place.

[img]https://img109.imageshack.us/img109/9421/52848411.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4706/59412052.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img839.imageshack.us/img839/5675/71672078.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img826.imageshack.us/img826/7350/36704513.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img833.imageshack.us/img833/3558/33112643.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img28.imageshack.us/img28/4130/59327188.jpg[/img]


as you cans see.. tons of seeds inside.. oozes white substance from the bottom.. but not much. I wore gloves just incase... any ideas of what these plants are? I'm positive that these are not edible... some kind of flower???

[!potatoes!]

common milkweed. it actually is edible, but not at that stage. they're perennial, and the shoots are excellent boiled in three changes of boiling water. the pods can be treated the same way, but only when they're much smaller, before the fluff starts to form around the seeds.

they're the food of monarch butterflies when they're caterpillars, and lots of other things when blooming.

[Ruffsta]

ty... but I won't attempt eating them lol...


well, if anyone wants seeds... lol, I have tons and tons available as you can see...

[applestar]

Keep an eye out for Monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars!

Here's a thread about our annual summer project from a couple of years ago.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29501

We are raising them this year, too.

[!potatoes!]

for what its worth, the seeds aren't mature until they harden and turn brown.