INTERESTING TIMES

 I keep planting things in the yard and then forgetting what they are, so I need to take notes somewhere.  This seems like as good a place as any.  

BEAR'S BREECHES
In the front of our yard, facing the road, is an area that has long been overtaken by bear's breeches (Acanthus mollis).  It was pretty enough with its large glossy dark green leaves and spires of purple & white flowers...but it took over the entire bed and wanted to keep expanding its territory.  I was done with it.  I wanted to plant crape myrtles.  W dug up the bear's breeches last fall, but this year it has been coming back with a vengeance.  I go to the front and dig out more roots every 3 days.  A one-inch chopped-off piece of root will continue to send out leaves for...a long time.  Now when I plant something new I dig up the entire area and sort through the soil, finding every chunk of bear's breeches root and throwing it in a pile.  But there are many places where the roots are still under there, and the leaves keep coming up.  I hope to have that plant eliminated from this bed by next year.  It has become clear what a big job that is.

CRAPE MYRTLES
The two we planted are going to be 20 foot trees, but for now they are not even waist high.  I believe they are the Natchez variety, white flowering in late summer, leaves turning orange-red in the fall.  I planted them because I want the muscular trunks to frame my view from the front porch.  I have seen gorgeous crape myrtles in botanical gardens and arboretums.  I've been studying on what to do on youtube--going to go out and cut a couple of crossed limbs and eliminate suckers when I finish this post!

DIANTHUS
(Vivace rustique?) I just planted a pink dianthus in that front bed.  I planted one a couple years ago and W moved it or maybe weeded it out...if he doesn't know what a plant is, he is mean to it.  Anyway I'm hoping that this will bloom soon as it is covered in buds.

GROUND COVER
A month ago I planted a couple of plants that are supposed to cover a lot of ground and I have no idea what they are called now.  I also planted a maroon-leafed composite that is blooming now with chocolatey flowers.  Wish I knew what these things are.

ROSES
The pale pink rose by the front walk is going HUGE right now, blooming harder than I have ever seen.  All the other roses on the property are looking exuberant as well.  I'm not wild about any of our roses because none of them have great aromas.  I like roses for their smell more than anything.

FOOD
We're eating spinach and asparagus from the garden.
Lots of other greens are on the way.
The green beans germinated well and are growing fast.
The broccoli and peppers and tomatoes are growing nicely.
The blueberries are forming up.
The raspberries are flowering and are covered in bees.
The fig tree (2nd season) has figs all over it.
I just potted a basil plant in a large pot---last year they were up-and-dying in the garden soil so I will keep it in this pot for now.

PEAR TREE GONE
W took out the pear tree last fall and we have not planted another fruit tree in its place.  We'd like an apple tree but basically it doesn't matter how much I study up on it, W will not believe me nor will he go with my choices, so he has to do it himself.  Of course, if I go out and buy something he will plant it, he just won't let me tell him what to buy.

MY LITTLE HERB BED
All I have in there is peppermint, thyme, calendula, and digitalis/foxglove.  The foxglove just started to bloom.  The mint is spreading underneath all the other plants and will have to be trimmed back down to size soon.  Scattered around in other places I have a purple sage and a rosemary, and the oregano is mixed into the grass.  The parsley has bolted and W planted stuff all around it.

I found an awesome tree key online. Here: http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/tree-key/simple-leaf-trees.htm This one is only good for trees with "simple" leaves, meaning that they are not compound, or rather, that only one leaflet is on the leaf stem. Some trees like walnuts and ashes have many leaves extending from the leaf stem.

More than you wanted to know--unless you are into knowing about trees. =-]

Herbal Blogroll: an attempt to catalog the blogs about herbs:
http://methowvalleyherbs.blogspot.com/p/herbal-blogroll.html
This list includes several that I already know to be useful.
Your blog can be included.

7/5/12: found this one: http://aradicle.blogspot.com/2012/07/natural-products-industry-that-isnt.html

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/21/133092677/calif-plants-put-a-wrinkle-in-climate-change-plans

A new study shows that instead of heading for higher elevations as the climate warms up, some plants and insects are shifting their ranges downhill, toward water.

( notes )

His main message is a heads up that our current system is not sustainable, our planet is already over capacity, and we are eradicating the species that could sustain us and the peoples who know know about them. His solution is science. It bears on the way I'd like to practice medicine.
( notes )

COMMON NAME: American cedar, tree of life, arbor-vitae
FAMILY: Cupressaceae
HABITAT: New England and Southeastern Canada
--related to Western red cedar, T. plicata which grows mostly on NW coast
GENERAL: lives over 1,000 years, grows hollow in center making it hard to count tree rings, loves wet soil, rot resistant wood
( more )

Gillian Stansbury is the instructor for two of my classes, and I can see that I will take more electives from this lady. She is an illustrator, herbalist, a philosopher, artist, musician--she has many talents. She is teaching the ND1 class on Naturopathic Philosophy and History, and I am also taking Northwest Herbs I from her. In the philosophy class the other day she taught us two songs. I want to get the words down ( here. )