It’s a good news/bad news type explanation. I’ll start with the good: The plant I marked as Joe-Pye weed is actually milkweed. (Swamp milkweed or Asclepias incarnata) Ansley had insinuated as much, but two years ago when I bought plant starts for milkweed and butterfly weed, one of them didn’t make it. I assumed it was the milkweed but in retrospect it must have been the butterfly weed that failed to thrive.
Bad news: these are not ladybug eggs but aphids, common milkweed pests. Shari: The lady bug we spotted near the “eggs” must have been eating the aphids! I will treat the plant with soap today so we can get the plant healthy now that the Monarchs are here. I saw one in the garden yesterday, along with a bunch of red admirals and a couple white cabbage. -Denise
Update 7.29.14: After two days of soapy water spraying, the aphids appear to have perished. I’ll keep checking up, but I think treatment worked.
Concord Village EarthLab 
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