Gardener

Where was I before getting side-tracked by that bear?

The end of June, that was it. Grant came in from his morning rounds one day, urging me to take walk out to the upper field.

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Although I look out frequently from a back window to admire the grassy slope, I admit that I had failed to notice that patch of pink which was something new.

According to PlantNet, this is Common bent – Agrostis capillaris.

Native to Eurasia, thriving everywhere.

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Reportedly, it makes a nice lawn, if you keep it mown, presumably.

But I like it better this way.

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Since I was out, I took a photo of the bottom field where milkweed was in bud.

The field is a tangle of all sorts including a dense patch of brambles and a variety of invaders which is why at the end of Fall we get the field brush-hogged to clear out all those and make way for next year’s growth.

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Poking around, I came upon this bizarre-looking plant which is identified as curled dock.

Like almost everything in my garden it is classed a weed and it is, in my view, no great beauty. Indeed it is one of those things I prefer not to look at because it makes me feel peculiar.

However, that does not mean I cant be interested and I learned that the plant although considered toxic to livestock, does have medicinal uses. Additionally, the leaves are edible and the seeds can be ground into flour.

Good to know if we get desperate.

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Adjacent to the curled dock – Common Saint John’s Wort which is used for mild depression. I never tried it, but reportedly it can cause a number of side-effects.

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The Yucca was coming into bloom. It is fully out now and I will post photos of the flowers, but I like the different stages. You can see stalks of the other plant in the background.

Pruning them caused a real growth spurt!

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Evening primrose also has medical uses.

The flowers are pretty but they die too soon and something is attacking the leaves.

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We have a large crop of wild carrot, aka Queen Anne’s Lace.The flowers are works of art. Young roots are edible, says Wilipedia, but the foliage, when wet, can cause skin irritations.

It has a more useful purpose, as far as we are concerned. I noticed recently that some unknown creature has been devouring it, which we hope will distract the attacker from savaging the sunflowers.

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Sunflowers get variously mis-treated. We are not sure how this one got bent. Perhaps a large bird misguidedly thought to use it as a perch, or maybe it was a strong gust of wind that bent it in half. As you can see, it had been tethered, which did not save it.

Sunflowers, however, are very determined…

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Earlier on, the above sunflower had been found lying on the patio, having been dug out of the ground and its stalk stripped. Grant came huffing indoors, furious. They are his babies.

Going to view the damage, I noticed that a couple of roots were still attached to the naked stalk, so I inserted it back into the ground and offered it some water and a couple of sympathetic words.

In no time at all, it was sprouting new leaves, as you can see.

At it’s base, with pale blue flowers, Lanceleaf sage. It has very fragrant leaves.

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Not long after, the wild carrots grew tall and offered an alternative snack to the intruder.

It turns out that wild carrots are resilient too. They regenerate promptly.

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As of today the sunflowers are 7 feet tall, the one that was bent now recovered.

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Sharing the bed with the sunflowers, a few others:

Beside the garage – Great mullein which is also 7 feet tall and still growing.

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Vetch grows on the slope by the lilac bush where I leave bits of carrot for our little friends.

There are one or two other pictures from the garden but for now I’ll leave you with Lily “gardening”:

A crop of catnip grew beneath the spruce by the garage.

Lily is especially keen.

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