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Well, I found it, it is a variety of milkweed that we have up here. It is the Asclepias syriaca L. Seemed to coincidental that I'd remember that name, but the pictures you had didn't look exactly like our version.
Oh, I found it in a book called "The Magic and Medicine of Plants" which I recommend highly.
It has a picture and an illustration of each plant, a description of how it was used in the past and current knowledge on plant. In addition to its habitat, range, identification info, and its uses.
It is very interesting, and because of the exactitude of descriptions, you can't go wrong when you find the plant in the field - this to the great chagrin of my Hubby who groans whenever I eat some plant I've just found in a field or in the woods (A great believer in grocery stores, Hubby is.)
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Oh, I found it in a book called "The Magic and Medicine of Plants" which I recommend highly.Oh, that sounds good. I'll have to check it out and see if I can get it on half.com or something. I'm a bit of an amateur botanist. I almost majored in botany actually, but was dissuaded by a certain college professor who didn't believe girls belonged in that department. But that's another story. I just looked up Asclepias syriaca L. and I see that it's called "common milkweed". The leaves are broader than on the plants in my garden. And the pods seem to hang on a lot more prominently as well. Seems well endowed for sure.  http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=ASCSYRDo you have this species in your garden, belMarduk? If you'd be interested in the species I have here, I'd be happy to mail some seeds to you. (Though is that allowed between here and Québec?)
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I almost majored in botany actually, but was dissuaded by a certain college professor who didn't believe girls belonged in that department.
I guess he figured you didn't have the anatomy for it. Go figure.
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Allo GF
I don't have any Milkweed in my garden. I haven't seen any in years. At one point, they were considered common weeds, and now, can hardly be found in the city or adjacent area. A shame really, I like rustic plants.
I'd be really interested to see if your variety would grow in my garden since this is a different zone. You're an angel to offer. I'll send you my addy by PM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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(Though is that allowed between here and Québec?)
if your variety would grow in my garden
oy... I'm probably the only one, but it seems to me that there's a reason that some things shouldn't be shared...
formerly known as etaoin...
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oy... I'm probably the only one, but it seems to me that there's a reason that some things shouldn't be shared...I do agree with you. We have lots of invasive plants here in Florida that do not belong here. It's a big problem. Don't know if this will put your mind at ease, etaoin, but, according to my plant books, Asclepias tuberosa is actually native to North America from Canada to Florida. So, I won't be sending anything to the Great North that isn't already there.  It's here in a list of plants native to Canada: http://www.trca.on.ca/events/take_action/default.asp?load=native_plantsI'd be happy to send some to you, too.
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Great belMarduk! Consider it sent.
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to send some to you, too.oh, no, thanks. I got plenty of milkweed here in my own yard already... we have on occasion, fried up the buds in a bit of butter, before the leaves start to spread. quite good... and thanks for setting my mind at ease...
formerly known as etaoin...
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With all of this talk of milk weed, it got me to thinking and remembering. When I was growing up, we used to go out and collect all of the pods we could find; which was a lot of fun, especially considering how sticky we got and how long we were allowed to stay out searching for these sticky surprises that would explode sometimes in our hands. Anyway, I digress. As I was saying, I was remembering that we would collect these pods and then we would dry the "fluff" if you will or "silks" in these wire mesh drying racks, once the fibers and seeds were dry then we would gather them up and then fill pillows and blankets or re stuff the saddles for the horses if they were in need of this treatment. They were surprisingly soft and comfortable. I even recall a time where we tried mixing the silk fibers with wool from the sheep, very interesting combination.
I find myself curious to know if anyone else has had this experience and if so, would you happen to know the boiling recipe for the pods so that they are not poisonous?
Thanks for the memories.
Rev. Alimae
Rev. Alimae
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oh yes--a recipe.
only milkweed- still considered a weed, is getting rarer and rarer here in the NY area, and i suppose i shouldn't be collecting them to eat. chicory and thistle survive.. chicory thrives in NYC-it is the most common 'road side' plant along the edges of highways.
i have collected daylily flower buds to eat, but they are so cheap in the chinese grocery (1lb of dried flower buds are just $1!) that its hardly worth the effort to collect them. --and common daylilies are so pretty. (but my garder was filled with fancy hybrid types mostly!) the common ones had a spot in the back by the compost heap.
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Oooo, I used to have daylilies in my back yard before I moved. The buds were quite tasty steamed (again, eaten to the chagrin of Hubby who thinks one shouldn't eat the decor  ) I think I shall plant some here.
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Hi Alimae
The book, Magic and Medicine of Plants, states that the young shoots, flowers and pods may be used as vegetables, but they must be boiled in three or four different batches of water to remove toxic substances and make them safe to eat. The cooking water should be thrown away.
It also mentions that Milkweed was once cultivated for the silky down from its giant seedpods, which was used to stuff beds, pillows, and - during World War II - life jackets.
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Prophets are not without honor save in their own country,but I never heard that said of poets.
Could it be that prophets are regarded as nothing more than misty-eyed visionaries, like poets, until their 'prophecies' crystalize into reality?
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Pooh-Bah
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Could it be that prophets are regarded as nothing more than misty-eyed visionaries, like poets, until their 'prophecies' crystalize into reality?
More likely 'people don't honor those who criticize them.' Of course, Jona wasn't honored and he was in a foriegn country.
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Hi Bill!
You'd asked why Frost moved to England. Well, today happens to be Frost's Birthday. And I just heard this on the Writer's Almanac. It may answer a few questions at least:
It's the birthday of Robert Frost, born in San Francisco, California (1874). Although he's remembered as a New England poet, he didn't move east until he was eleven, when his father died. His mother supported the family by teaching school. He dropped out of college, married, moved to a farm in New Hampshire, and held a series of odd jobs, writing the whole time. He estimated that his income from poetry amounted to ten dollars a year, and his family was destitute. Then it occurred to him to sell the farm and move to England, where prices were still low after the war. There, his poetry began to receive real attention. He published his first collection, A Boy's Will (1913), to great acclaim when he was thirty-nine, and the following year North of Boston (1914) got even better reviews.
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Carpal Tunnel
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bel, you should see the milkweed in Puerto Rico. It thinks it's a tree there! You whack it back and that just gets it's dander up and it comes roaring back. The pods are huge, too. They are the size of your larger avocados or your smaller grapefruits, whichever is easier for you to imagine. The blossoms are large as well. Each floweret is the size of a phlox blossom and are a creamy white with purple accents. Amazing pesty things!
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