Quiet.
It was a quiet week here at my mountain home. And that’s the way I like it! Quiet days sitting on the patio, drinking water, and watching the birds come to the feeders.
“Peg! I thought you drank coffee all the time,” you say.
And I do love my coffee, but my doctor says I need to drink more just plain water and I’m trying to do that. And you can trust that I have my water with a side of coffee.
I had four male Baltimore Orioles come to jelly feeder. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many males at the feeder all at once like that.
We had such a beautiful day here this past week. Not too hot, not too cool, a slight breeze rustling the trees. We took the girls on a golf cart ride out to the end of Paradise Road.
Crossing our creek, I get another not-so-great shot of the Kingfisher sitting on his branch. If I had one of those fancy-schmancy six thousand dollar lenses for my camera, I could probably get a better picture of him.
These fragrant, starry white flowers are Virgin’s Bower. It’s dioecious meaning male and female flowers grow on separate plants.
Dioecious is pronounced dye-EE-shus.
This wildflower has many other names. Among them are Old Man’s Beard, Devil’s Darning Needle, Traveler’s Joy, Ladies’ Bower, White Vine, Wild Hops, and Wind-with.
Virgin’s Bower is a climber and uses nearby supports to wrap its leaf stalks (petioles) around. In this instance, it chose an Elderberry bush. You can see the naked stems behind it. Elderberry doesn’t last long around here and the birds get them as soon as they ripen.
A bee pollinating goldenrod. Did you know that goldenrod is insect-pollinated and not wind-pollinated like ragweed? That’s why it often gets unfairly blamed for seasonal allergies when it’s actually ragweed’s fault.
In folk medicine goldenrod was used to treat sinus congestion and seasonal allergies. It’s an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial that can help fight off bacteria and fungi. It can be used in poultices and salves to treat minor cuts and skin irritations. And it can be combined with yarrow or elderflower in teas and tinctures to ease the symptoms of a colds or the flu.
Goldenrod flowers make a beautiful yellow dye.
Lastly, it’s a late-season nectar source for bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects.
Teasel. I have mostly the white kind here but I do occasionally see the lavender by the roadside.
The dried heads were once used to raise the nap on woolen cloth, like a natural brush. That’s actually where the term “teasel” comes from: to tease the fibers.
Goldfinches love the seeds, and the bristly heads provide shelter for insects and small critters.
The roots and flower heads can yield earthy tones, though it’s less common than goldenrod or pokeweed.
In folk medicine it wasn’t as widely used as goldenrod. Even so, teasel root has popped up in folk remedies.
Some herbalists use teasel tincture as part of protocols for chronic Lyme disease, though scientific evidence is limited.
Traditionally it was used in poultices or decoctions for aches and stiffness.
It’s also a favorite in dried arrangements. Those spiny heads add drama and texture.
Toadflax or more commonly called butter-and-eggs. The name alone feels like it belongs in a children’s storybook, doesn’t it?
This wildflower is a cousin to the snapdragon and part of the same family.
In folk medicine it was used as a mild laxative, diuretic, and liver tonic. Herbalists sometimes applied it to skin conditions like eczema or sores.
The plant’s tannins made it useful in poultices for wounds and inflammation.
The flowers can yield a soft yellow dye, less vivid than goldenrod, but still pretty.
We passed a whole field full of teasel in the background, in the middle is swamp milkweed, and right in front of that you can see some purple loosestrife.
Some people just don’t worry about their stuff getting stolen.
We have a whistle pig undermining the stones Mike put in to support the bank. Now the rocks are all catawampus.
I set the live trap because I don’t have a dog like Tux Kipp who’ll run ‘em down and finish the job without blinking. The mighty hunter has seven or eight notches on his collar, last I heard. And Mike doesn’t want to shoot them, which I respect.
I believe in leaving critters be when I can, but we can’t have them tearing up the barn’s foundation. It sits on the same bank where the stones are already starting to give way.
I sandwiched peanut butter between Ritz crackers and tossed four of them in the trap. I used another two to make a trail into the trap. I set the trap, camouflaged it with a few weeds that I’d pulled, and walked away.
Since I was out with my camera, I walked around and took a couple of more pictures.
The blue berries of the silky dogwood. This plant’s been used for erosion control because it has a dense root system. It helps to purify runoff and improve water quality in riparian zones. A riparian zone is the strip of land next to a river or creek, often lush with willows, dogwoods, sedges, and other moisture-loving plants.
If the stems touch the ground, they can root and spread.
In native American lore it was seen as a symbol of protection, healing, and resilience. Some tribes considered it a “medicine tree” and a spiritual guide.
In folk medicine the root bark was made into a decoction and used as mild stimulant and tonic.
During times when quinine was scarce, silky dogwood bark was used to help manage fevers, especially in low-grade or typhoid-like cases.
Bark and leaves were applied externally to treat ulcers, blisters, and skin inflammation. The leaves were considered mildly anesthetic and analgesic. It can also be added to bathwater to ease sore joints and muscles.
The berries, though bitter, were sometimes used as a digestive tonic, especially in cases of alcohol-related stomach issues.
My Chinese lanterns are turning red. This plant has a reputation as a garden escape artist. Its underground rhizomes spread aggressively, and even small root fragments can regenerate. I just mow them over when they go past where I want them.
The bright orange, papery husks (technically called calyces) are undeniably striking. They add late-season color and texture to gardens, especially in fall when most blooms are fading. The dried husks are beautiful in floral arrangements and wreaths.
Chinese lantern does have a place in folk medicine but needs to be handled with special care because it’s potentially toxic. So leave it alone unless you know what you’re doing.
Pulling in with the golf cart, I see a crane fly on my garage door. These guys look like giant mosquito. But they’re not. And they’re not mosquito eaters either. They don’t even have any mouth parts at this stage in their life. Their only goal is to reproduce then they die or become bird food. There’s no need to be afraid of them.
The humidity dropped low enough that I painted more flowers and got them hung on the fence.
I also trellised my roses with a piece of lattice that was bound for the dump. I could may have centered it a little better.
Phyllis, my beautiful little sister sent me some rhubarb a couple of years ago. It’s getting big enough that I might have rhubarb next year. I planted it in a raised box but I don’t know if that was the right thing to do. Won’t it deplete the nutrients in the soil? Do I need to fertilize it? Would it be better if I planted it in the ground? I’m so dumb when it comes to gardens.
Most of our land was used commercially, first as a sawmill, then as a truck repair place. That means it was all graveled for log storage, driveway, or parking lot. Needless to say, we do not have good soil. It was many years until we even had grass growing on it. And that’s why I put the rhubarb in a raised bed.
I told you it was a quiet week this week.
Let’s call this one done.
Remember, you're all in my heart.
Done!
