Growing With Science Blog

The queen butterflies are visiting our desert milkweed plants again.

The female queens are laying eggs on the flower buds, which are apparently a favorite food of the caterpillars.

The eggs are often laid in pairs.

Today they’ve started to turn dark. Does that mean they are going bad?

No, it means the eggs are going to hatch soon…

…into one of these caterpillars, which will turn…

…into one of these beauties!

For photographs of a queen butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, check this previous post.

Our mystery seeds are about twice the size of a tomato seed.

They are from a plant that grows wild in Arizona.

Any guesses?

Edit:  The answer is now up.

The mystery seeds from last week were apple seeds, Malus domestica.

How many times do we eat an apple without even glancing at the seeds?

Yet there is the potential to grow a new tree nestled inside (see below).

Well, if you don’t cut them in half with a knife, like I did

Wild apples are thought to have originated in Asia. Over the years, different varieties have been selected for commercial production. Most of the apple trees grown commercially are started from cuttings grafted on root stock.

That way the apples produced on the plant are the same as the parent stock.

Because of their unusual genetics, it can be difficult to grow apples from seeds obtained from commercial varieties. Any seedlings that do grow will produce apples that a very different from their parents.

If you would like to try growing apples from seeds, there’s more information on the Growing With Science website.

You might also be interested in finding out whether apples float.

Apples are such wonderful symbols of fall. Do apples grow where you live?