Fall Seeds, Spring Flowers

We often think of fall as the time when things are dying back, getting ready to hide away for winter. But sometimes we overlook the ways that nature is preparing itself for the next season of growth.

The milkweed pods around our house have been bursting open the last few weeks, sending their tiny seeds aloft on feathery puffs.

Milkweed seeds in our area need to overwinter in cold temperatures in order to sprout in the spring. The little puffs will hopefully help them find a home to settle in and germinate come spring.

We’ll be watching for the first shoots in a few months, followed by monarch caterpillars a few months after that!

Compare the seeds you find this fall with the seeds in the book Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move by JoAnn Early Macken and illustrated by Pam Paparone.

Then, keep an eye out for other ways that the Earth is using the fall to get ready for the spring!