MILKWEED PODS AND SEEDS AT WALNEY VISITOR CENTER

 In the front garden bed in front of the old house, now the visitor center, there are several Milkweed plants. There is an initiative to plant Milkweed throughout North America, to help save the Monarch Butterfly. This simple looking plant could be key to saving our much-treasured Monarch. 

The Milkweed is vital to the survival of Monarch butterflies. They lay their eggs on milkweed and the caterpillars feed on the leaves, making it the only food source for them. There are over 100 species of Milkweed in North America and while the plant is toxic, some insects can tolerate its sap and benefit from its defenses. 

I was happy to see the milkweed floss that had escaped from the pods. I haven't seen it in this stage in I can't remember when. They were a beautiful sight to see, especially with the sunlight on them. 

Milkweed has a history of helping humans also, from weaving to medicine, and its fluffy seeds provided fiber for life preservers. Another interesting website on medicinal benefits can be found here. 

Milkweed seeds are attached to the silky hairs, forming fluffy parachutes that allow them to be carried by the wind for dispersal. 

The large pods are called follicles. These are stuffed with tiny seeds, each bearing a bunch of silken, fluffy hairs called the coma. When the follicles ripen, they split open and the seeds are carried off in the wind by their plumes of fluffy hairs. 

The pappus, the fluffy hairs making up the coma, are hypoallergenic and super soft. They can be used for making allergy-free pillow stuffing and blankets. 

They were also used in life preservers during World War II when the makers were no longer able to get the material from the Kpok Tree.

That's all for today's post. It has been interesting for me to find out more about this plant.

Thanks for visiting and 

I hope your week has gone well.

MORE PHOTOS FROM MEADOWLARK GARDENS - SATURDAY 2-10-24

 I am starting off today with a photo of Lena Lake.  We walked down the hill and made our way along the adjacent path. The garden holds its own beauty at this time of the year.  

Next to the tree is a Panicle Hydrangea, in its dried form. Also known as Peegee hydrangea, with its botanical name Hydrangea paniculata. The first link will give you more information and show you its blooms during the warmer months. I also have a few photos on a previous post taken at the Williamsburg Botanical Garden in September 2019, where I share the same information. You can see them if you scroll down the page. There are three photos with them in bloom.

It is a native to Japan and China. This small tree can grow between 3 to 16 feet, with a maximum diameter of 8 feet. Its leaves contain cyanide and need I say? It should not be ingested. The hydrangea bloom colors come from the soil's pH.  If the soil is more acidic, the bloom will be more of a blue color. However, if the soil is more alkaline, the flowers will be pink. At this time of the year it is dried and would look very pretty in botanical arrangements I'm thinking.  

These leaves nearby are from the Common foxglove. I didn't recognize it as such. It has many names and I will pick a few; Lady's glove, Fairy's glove, Dragon's Mouth, Fairy Bells, Fairy's Petticoat and Gloves of Mary. Its botanical name is Digitalis purpurea. Native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa, you can see its blooms at this link. Unfortunately, it is severely toxic so best to keep it away from children and pets. It loves acidic soils in woods, heaths and mountain grasslands. The name comes from the medieval English, fox-glove, and was first known by the Anglo-Saxon name Foxes glofa. There is a very interesting article here on Wikipedia that I enjoyed reading.

Here it is again, this time next to two clumps of Carnations, minus blooms. Also called Clove pink, Border carnation and Mini carnation, its botanical name Dianthus caryophyllus.  An interesting story I read was that some scholars believe that the name "carnation" comes from "coronation" or "corone", which refers to the flower garlands, as it was one of the flowers used in Greek ceremonial crowns. Others think the name stems from the latin "caro" or "carnis" which refers to the original color of the flower.  

The carnation was imported to the USA from France in 1852 via a French shipment to Long Island. No one is 100 percent sure from where they originated, but old publications strongly indicate that its native home may have extended from Greece through Asia Minor to Persia. Theophrastus referred to carnations as Dios Anthos (the flower of the gods) which became known, in later usage, as the divine flower. I love these journeys I take online, one link leads to another and here I am reading about a man born in c 371 BC, who was a friend of Aristotle. So, a skip along several steppingstones, from the Carnation to an ancient Greek named Theophrastus, whose friend and teacher was Aristotle, isn't that something?

This is the back of the visitor center. They always have a lovely display, and it is completely covered in flowers in the warmer weather. I think they did a nice job at this time of the year also. The tree looked real at first, and then you look closer and see that it is a fake one. The flowers on the branches are lights. It must look beautiful when the lights are turned on as the sun goes down. 

I have a few more photos from the garden but I will share them another time.

MORE PHOTOS FROM MEADOWLARK GARDENS - SATURDAY 2-10-24

I found these cabbage plants very interesting. You can read about them on this website. I am curious whether they are actually edible and this is what the website had to say about them. "While Ornamental Kale and Cabbage are technically edible, they’re not very palatable. Their main purpose is to serve as decoration in the cooler months of Winter and Spring, especially in decorative pots. While one wouldn’t usually think of vegetables as being particularly decorative, these plants come in beautiful shades of pinks, greens, purples, and whites." I also read on my plant app that "Native peoples selectively cultivated the wild cabbage over centuries to produce broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, and more."

The name cabbage comes from the word caboche, from the middle English language meaning 'head'. Coincidentally, its circle-shaped appearance looks like the shape of a head, hence its name. Also, its botanical name is Brassica cleracea." 

The Johnny Jump-ups above were growing nearby also. I mentioned them in this post from November 2020.

Did you know that there are 20,000 known bee species worldwide and 4,000 of them are native to the United States? They range from the tiny (2 mm) and solitary Perdita minima, known as the world’s smallest bee, to kumquat-sized species of carpenter bees. The link to the tiny bee takes you to a great illustration on Facebook, showing the comparison in size of each bee.

Honeybees are not native to North America. They were originally imported from Europe in the 17th century. Honeybees now help pollinate many U.S. crops like fruits and nuts. In a single year, one honeybee colony can gather about 40 pounds of pollen and 265 pounds of nectar.  This information came from here. As we know, every colony has a queen. She controls it with a special pheromone, which unifies the bees in her care. A Queen bee can lay up to 3,000 eggs in just one day. Worker bees feed her and cater to her every need. 

I have seen bee hotels at the garden for a while now.   I found a website that gives instructions on how to make one. You can see it here and more info here.

Ginny, our dear blogging friend over at Let Your Light Shine, asked a great question via her husband Phil. It made me even more curious to make a further search for their answer.  I found this at the forum Quora.  I didn't provide a link to that because you have to join up so if you are interested, I thought you could just put it in your search engine.  Anyhow, the answer I found to Ginny and Phil's question was this: "Before the introduction of the honeybee, North America (USA and Canada) was home to a variety of native pollinators, including bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and hummingbirds. These native pollinators played a crucial role in pollinating native plants and crops before the arrival of the honeybee." Thank you Ginny and Phil for such a great question about how did things get pollinated beforehand. This is how I learn, and I always love learning something new each day, especially in my favorite topic, all about nature.

It was lovely seeing the crocus growing all over the garden, and the snowdrops among a tangle of fallen branches.    

A favorite focus of mine is the gazebo, this time with branches of witch hazel in the foreground.  

Gregg caught a small flock of geese as they flew in and these two were perfectly in frame. Always happy to see them.  It was very overcast that day.

That's the last photo for now. Still plenty more but it's time for me to put the computer to sleep. Gregg was over in Bethesda with our son today. They had some great father-son time. My day went quickly as I did a few chores; tidy-up time, fresh linens on the beds and I even got round to making a batch of cookies. If they turn out I'll post them sometime.  I had to use up ripe bananas and I wanted a change from banana bread.  (Added note: I was a wee bit disappointed in the recipe I found, so I will not be sharing.  Onwards and Upwards :))

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE!

Thank you for all the well wishes here, in texts and in my e-mails.  I am feeling almost back to normal after my short break. I love our blogging community for the kind and thoughtful people you are. I will be answering your comments and visiting your blogs over the next few days. I have missed doing that and look forward to catching up with you all.

It was good to get out today.  The temperature was 63 degrees, cloudy skies but perfect walking weather.  We drove to Meadowlark Gardens.  Our last visit was in September of last year.  I will be sharing more photos this coming week, but today I show one of favorites.  I was delighted to see the Witch Hazel blooming.

I have shared it before and may be repeating myself. The Haverford College website is a wealth of interesting information. Click here to read more.

"Witch hazel is a winter-blooming shrub. It can reach a height of 12 to 15 feet and is considered either a large shrub or a small tree.  It is a hardy perennial with fragrant, wispy yellow to orange flowers and are from the family Hamamelidaceae. 

Native to eastern North America, it may be found growing along woodland margins and stream banks from Canada to Mexico. The genus name Hamamelis comes from the Greek word hama for ‘at the same time’ and melon, which means fruit and refers to the fact that the plant can have both flowers and fruits appear at the same time, a somewhat rare feature. The species name virginiana means the plant is from Virginia.

 A year after blooming, the fruit capsules mature and eventually split open to release seeds.  Once dry, the witch hazel's capsules can catapult the small seeds as far as 30 feet.  This is the only tree in North America to have flowers, fruit and next year's leaf buds all at once. You will see it brightening up the forest throughout the autumn and the winter months, providing a source of food for birds, deer and other small mammals that eat its fruit capsules and seeds.

Witch hazel has a long history and has been used by people for centuries. Widely known for its medicinal and cosmetic uses, the extract from the leaves, bark and twigs of witch hazel have been used as an astringent to treat irritated skin and inflamed tissues for hundreds of years. Native Americans used the plant to treat the common cold, eye and liver conditions and other illnesses. Early settlers also used the leaves to make tea for various medicinal purposes. Today, witch hazel is used in a variety of products, including ointments, soaps and lotions. 

The name "witch hazel" also originates from folk history.  Natives and early settlers used the witch hazel to find sources of water underground.  As they walked over the ground that they were surveying, they would carry a forked or bent witch hazel branch, which was used as a divining road.  If the branch twisted or dipped, which they believed signaled that they had found water.  This practice was called "water-witching" and led to the plant's common name, witch hazel."

GREEN SPRING GARDENS - GREGG'S PHOTOS - PART 1

 I am sharing a few of Gregg's photos today.  I enjoy looking at his.  He sees things I don't see and then we sometimes find that we have taken photos of the same plant, like this one.

We decided to wander around the two ponds on this visit.  We go to the top part of the garden also, but not today. Here things are allowed to be less manicured.  The deeper into the woods there are lots of wild plants and flowers, and the various trees are interesting to look at.  We enjoy this area as much as the other.There is a stream that runs along the pathway.  The ponds on one side, the stream on the other.This outing’s doggy fix!

This path is just before we get to the second pond.American Robin

It was another splendid walk, and that evening what a surprise!  I look out the window before I went to bed, and there were two young fox kits playing in the front garden.  We have had foxes making a home nearby for several years now.  It is my first sighting in 2023.  

The two I saw were playing with each other and running around in circles, play fighting, jumping and yipping, having a lot of fun.  It was a sweet end-of-the-day gift to see them.  Perhaps their mother was hunting for food, or they could have been out on their own.  They didn't look as young as the ones I have seen before.  No photos, way too dark but a lovely memory.