Little Ranch House On The Prairie

I begged Buds to come outside with me last week because I wanted additional confirmation from his phone that I had found an unexpected plant I was thrilled to see.

I was right, it was swamp milkweed.

I planted three swamp milkweed plants on the back forty that I drove to the native plant nursery 25 minutes away to buy. One of those seems to have survived.

The wild one, planted by the grace of the gardening God, or a squirrel, is small and thriving.

As I wander in our wreck of an overgrown yard, that my dad would have detested, I’m filled with gratitude. The chickens wandering around. The sunflowers bobbing their drooping heads, the wildflowers and the cantaloupe all intertwined.

That swamp milkweed would have never had the chance to grow if we were mowing like normal. The yellow butterfly that just buzzed me, where would its path have taken it if our yard were the typical?

I don’t know what we’ll decide to do next spring, but I’m sure enjoying the now.