Did you love milkweed when you were a kid? Who could resist that fairy fluff? When the pods split open, the seeds and fluff would pour forth, carried on the wind like tiny silken parachutes. What a source of fascination they held. The silky airborne strands were an invitation to play.
During the Second World War, milkweed floss was gathered as a substitute for kapok, which was useful in life preservers because of its buoyancy.
A rare & happy memory from childhood was playing with milkweed on my mother's birthday at a local conservation area. I still remember the bright colours of that sunny day. And then going back home afterwards with windblown hair to have cake and presents for her. My mother was wearing a bright, mint-green dress. Emme
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