Clearly, a prerequisite of Milkweed Alley is having milkweed seeds to sow in the alleys. But we certainly don’t want to BUY seeds. So Lilly and I have been scoping out the milkweed pods in our neighborhood, particularly the ones in Peg’s (and her kilted husband’s) front yard on Leclaire. But every time we check, the pods are still green and not ready to harvest. We were getting a little worried about timing.
And then Lilly has a great idea and calls Urhausen Greenhouses. They agree to let her come by and get some pods. When she shows up, they have already cut a bunch of fully ripe pods (actually, kind of over ripe) from their own garden.
What a great score! Lots and lots of seeds, more than we need.
So, cleaning the seeds from very ripe pods that have already split open is quite challenging. The lighter than air fluff (aka floss, aka coma, aka silk) that the seeds are attached to immediately expands and is quite hard to control. Come by my house and you will see the result.
In the meantime, I had been corresponding via email with a gal at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District regarding their free compost, only to find out that she lives at Dakin and Lamon and she loved the idea of BBGP. Hence, I received an envelope in the mail from her with free milkweed seeds. Another seed score!
So, as far as seeds, we have more than enough for this year’s Milkweed Alley. Heidi will be joining Lilly and me. The actual date is TBD, pending weather and other scheduling considerations.
SIDEBAR: Roxy Owens and I have been devoted Urhausen Greenhouses customers for years. If you have never been there, you really should check it out (though it’s kind of late for this year). It’s an old family owned business tucked away in a residential neighborhood in Lincolnwood near Crawford and Touhy. They grow their own plants, the quality is great and so are the prices. And they started accepting credit cards a couple of years ago: BONUS!
Support our independent local businesses!