Amazing Marsh Milkweed

Here’s the entire package–almost. The bark makes excellent tying thread. Stalks grow up to 6’ tall, splits easy, and the tiniest thread, stripped off the bark, is nearly impossible to break. And, the stalks make pretty good drone reeds.

Glad I didn’t stop looking around after discovering curly dock. I found a couple other species I really like. More on that later, keeping the best mum for now.

This lady thinks Milkweed is pretty artistic too. She draws them, we draw air through them…

See video for demonstration on how thread is made, and hear the reeds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8LSgTsgl70&list=UU6XwuhHnN57lo_VPYLJx1vA

BTW, don’t know if you remember the pictures of those hemp tubes I posted, but milkweed is about as close as you can get to hemp. The smaller tubes have a dirty looking chocolate pith like hemp, and the bark is really stringy, almost hair-like, super strong, and makes good rope.

Who needs cannabis? Well, I haven’t tried any…yet.

…Asclepius incarnata?

Yes, I think so. There’s like a hundred varieties and the one I found is actually called Swamp Milkweed, not marsh. I found it growing beside cat tails in a marshy area. Feels like silk!