Poetry Friday round-up is with Elizabeth Steinglass.
Ladybug larva on milkweed feasting on aphids.
We went out to the garden yesterday for the last 20 minutes of class, and Jennie was there. I sat down next to her, and we talked about all the aphids on the milkweed. “But you see here,” she explained, “this is a ladybug larva.” Jennie taught me about the life cycle of the ladybug. The larva go through 5 exoskeletons and eat thousands of aphids. She called them meat eaters.
I called the kids over (they were picking buttercups) to hear her impromptu instruction. We will come back next week to see the progress of the ladybugs, and if there are any new monarch caterpillars.
She thanked us for spending time in the garden and gave us seeds to plant, sunflowers and beans. She explained that these are sister plants. The sunflower has a strong stalk for the bean vine to climb. I enjoy time in the garden as much as or maybe more than my students do.
Here’s a may-ku about ladybugs:
Ladybug larva
feast on garden aphids
before blooming red.
–Margaret Simon, 2019
adult ladybug
Reflections on the Teche 
Learning & poetry = perfect May love match
Learning & poetry = perfect May love match
Great haiku, photos, & info! Thank you for sharing. I always wondered what those weird orange and black insects were.
Well, I certainly know much more about ladybugs and aphids than I did before I stopped by! I love the image of a ladybug blooming red, Margaret.
I love that, too!
Ah, so lovely that “blooming red”, Margaret. I spied one recently, but it flew away too quickly for a picture. Yours, I see, are getting ready.
Oh, clever! Love that “blooming red”, Margaret.
Love your learning poem. I did not know all this about ladybugs. Now I am full of more questions and will have to go and find out more.
I too love this blooming red line.
I’m working on a flower garden quilt and added some blooming red ladybugs in it.
I love that your class has a garden to enjoy and learn from at school. The beauty of the garden can’t help but inspire lovely poetry like the ladybug mayku you shared.
Lovely. I hope you are writing about everything happening in your duck house.
Oy. Those aphids are a vision of my summer nightmare! I need more ladybugs!!
Yea for ladybugs! And for learning in the garden.
Lovely haiku and image Margaret. Your milkweed looks very different than ours in Chicago. Is that just a top branch–the stalk is significantly narrower and the leaves smaller, interesting. Our milkweed hasn’t even popped out of the ground yet it’s been so cold, I’m looking forward to it’s emerging. Thanks again for swapping with me for the next Poetry Friday coming up this week!
I guess there are different varieties depending on the climate. What time of year do the monarchs arrive? The naturalist told me that they may have two more rounds of eggs this season.
They arrive soon, though they do feed on other plants in addition to milkweed, but it’s the milkweed they lay their eggs on.