I have ridden my bike past this butterfly milkweed for years. It is a roadside survivor, living dangerously just out of reach of that mower that trims the road edges. Rooted in road bed gravel, it copes handily with winter salt and summer drought and never seems to spread.
Its copious nectar provides a feast for local butterflies. Its milkweed leaves are the only kind that can sustain the caterpillar stage of the monarch butterfly. Its solitary splendor here outdoes every other roadside blossom and there is not another like it along the miles I ride. I’m very happy to say hello to it again this year and encourage more milkweed on the land.