I thought I was strong enough to tackle a trail where I knew, from earlier experience—which is to say, before surgery—had played host to Butterflyweed, that orange-flowered lepidoptera magnet I've always wanted to include in the wilder sections of what passes for a garden around here. Asclepias tuberosa is a member of the Milkweed family of plants, and though A. tuberosa is not a major nursery for Monarch Butterfly caterpillars, it's not bad, and it is a boon to other butterfly species. It's also native and gorgeous, so off I went, hoping to find some seeds. Alas, what I found was the story I've experienced all of the late fall and early winter: I was too late and all I found was a group of spent seedpods. As we used to say about the Red Sox, "wait 'til next year." I'm confident that I'll be back.