| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - Apr 28 2007 : 11:26:03 AM
Are there other farmgirls who love to spend time wandering around the farm (or other natural place) and identify the natural plants in the area?
Since we purchased our place, I've really enjoyed identifying what is growing. It is my secret hope that we may find a Giant Palouse Earthworm (see pg. 160 in MJ's Ideabook) there some day. It seems each week something new is blooming.
What wild plants grow and are welcome at your place? How do they benefit you/your critters/your wildlife?
We make a difference. |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alee |
Posted - May 31 2007 : 09:24:39 AM
The University of Idaho has a great one here in town. It is very manicured though so you only see little clumps of native plants, but they have a great sign near everything explaining what it is. I guess it is a trade off, and it is very beautiful to stroll through.
Alee |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 30 2007 : 10:40:37 PM
Do any of you have arboretums in your areas? In Salt Lake City, the largest city in our state, and about 3 hours from me, they have this LOVERLY one called Red Butte Botanical Garden that has some great native plants/wildflowers/gardens. It's an amazing resource for seeing what Utah's native plants look like in "real life," and if you have one close to ya', I'd highly recommend going!
Here's a link to Red Butte, just so you can check it out: http://www.redbuttegarden.org/
XOXO, Libbie
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| Alee |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 10:52:12 AM
Michelle- I am so sorry to hear that your DH used the spray- and even more disheartening to hear that the Toadflax wasn't even seriously wounded! It sounds like you are going to have an ongoing battle with the Toadflax for several years, but for every plant you pull- that is one less seed creator, right? I am so glad that you 15 acres have such good custodians!
Alee |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 10:21:50 AM
Oh dear. DH used the spray on some Dalmation Toadflax, and his spray killed 1 ft. circles all around each plant, and the weed just looks sort of stunned. Like a nuclear explosion with a cockroach laughing at you in the middle with only a bent antennea. I hope those spots recover the native growth next year. I went and pulled out the survivors. Yesterday DH was helping me pull, no more spray. Seems to be the fastest and least damaging to the other plants. We are certainly getting to know those 15 acres of wild land.
We make a difference. |
| lamarguerite farm |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 10:15:41 AM
We've lived in our place for a couple of years. We are surrounded by woods and it has been fun trying to figure out the foliage. I know we have nettle everywhere(thanks Eileen) and gorgeous trillium eveywhere in the spring. I've noticed a lot more wild iris this year. I have the little yellow flowers(can't remember what there called) Along the edge of our tree lines there is a carpet of low growing little lavender flowers. There are lots of daisies and queen annes lace. I had a mystery plant all over my property that looked like small maple trees, but flowered and then had little berries that looked kind of like raspberries. I discovered that they are thimble berries and are great for jam. No berries yet this year, but lots of flowers. We have lots of really cool mossy branches that are fun to make into wreaths. I've used lots of fallen limbs to make an arbor and also made a teepee to grow pole beans on for my son. Unfortunately the slugs are having a hay day on the beans. I have wild holly, tons of ferns. It's just endless out here. I haven't made a point to try and figure it all out, but I guess I should be more observant and appreciative of all that's around me. Thanks for inspiring me girls!!
Blessings,
Missy
If you have a dream, even if you don't feel qualified to accomplish it, just try your hardest.-Maggie Jensen
http://18happyhens.blogspot.com
www.LaMargueriteFarm.com |
| Alee |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 09:48:45 AM
Capital Punishment for all weeds! They can invade my neighbors lawn who doesn't care what grows, but my garden is not fair game! ;)
Alee |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 27 2007 : 10:15:35 PM
I know - that mallow is rough. I have the feeling that it's going to take all of your farmgirl "stick-to-it-iveness" to get it to go away. I have the same issue with bindweed - no matter WHAT I do to that stuff, it comes back. I've even tried talking to it and trying to strike up some sort of deal as to where it would be welcome to grow and where it would not... So far, no deals have been made .
XOXO, Libbie
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| Alee |
Posted - May 25 2007 : 12:02:06 PM
I just went out to the garden today. More mallow coming up. Grr.
Honestly Libbie- I would be happiest if I could get all the mallow OUT and never let the little cheeses develop! I wouldn't mind them so much since the flower is rather pretty, except for the fact that they are so darn invasive. They are trying to kill my garden and reclaim it as their own. They shall now win! So say I as they are merrily growing like (dare I say it?) weeds in my garden! ;)
Alee |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 19 2007 : 8:10:43 PM
Alee - I'm just not sure how to explain what they taste like - sort of a "green and planty" taste? That's pretty vague, isn't it. Try them - you just might like 'em! AND - those nose bulby things are awful - my little ones just start tossing their heads back and forth as fast as they could whenever they see one - just so I can't use it!
XOXO, Libbie
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| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - May 19 2007 : 10:03:57 AM
Now that is interesting. In John Steinbeck's Cannery Row, he mentions common mallow and a gopher eating the "little cheeses" dangling down, but I've never seen this plant that I'm aware of. So, Alee, you have a cheese garden! Glad you are feeling better. Hope you can get out and do some enjoying today.
We make a difference. |
| Alee |
Posted - May 19 2007 : 08:44:04 AM
Libbie- I haven't ever eaten the little fruits, I wasn't sure if they were edible or not :) What do they taste like?
Thanks for the well wishes :) we are glad we are feeling better too. Nora still has a bit of a stuffy nose and she now has decided that the bulb nose thingy is the most evil thing on the planet :) She is doing tons better though!
Alee |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 18 2007 : 8:48:37 PM
Common Mallow is icky - you're right. I think your best bet might just be to pull it out, but BOY, is it a chore! On the upside - did you ever eat the little "button" fruits when you were little? We always called them "cheezits" and I'll bet I've eaten over a million of them over the course of my life... Alee - I'm so glad that you're back and feeling better, Alee - and that Nora is, too. That is such a hard thing...
You know, I have this book that really is my ultimate weed reference book - it's called "Weeds of the West." It's great.
XOXO, Libbie
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| Alee |
Posted - May 18 2007 : 8:13:06 PM
UGH! I am being invaded by Common Mallow! It is trying to take over my garden, or more specifically, I am trying to reclaim a garden space from it...
Just identified it. Now I need to figure out how to get it out! Hand weeding and hoeing have helped a lot, but it's root system is amazing well established (some of the tap roots are as big around as my forefinger). Each time I go out to my garden I see more of the little leaves popping up.
Alee |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 14 2007 : 07:10:54 AM
Thanks, all, for the websites! I can't wait to do a field inventory of the farm - it's such a great way to really get to KNOW where you live... You gals are wonderful!
Alee - I have bindweed here - it's a nightmare...a TOTAL NIGHTMARE...I'm starting to shake just thinking about it... I'm sending you my very best "bindweed-be-gone" vibes!
XOXO, Libbie
In honor of Mother's Day, "If it's not one thing, it's your mother... |
| momjolly |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 7:22:33 PM
Here is a great website to help with wildflower ID or just for looking at them!
http://www.wildflower.org/
I love plants and study them all the time..what's native, what's not, who's invasive. We are constantly trying to keep the honeysuckle bush & vine at bay so our wildflowers can grow in the spring. If you post a pic I can probably ID it for you although I don't have much experience with southern plants. |
| Alee |
Posted - May 09 2007 : 8:46:58 PM
Thanks for the links Michelle. Looks like I have Bindweed in my yard. I think I have wild rhubarb trying to take over as well.
Alee |
| highlandgirl |
Posted - May 09 2007 : 8:45:02 PM
One place I've found helpful in identifying those mystery plants is the DOE guide to noxious weeds. They have really great pictures and descriptions of a lot of the plants that grow along roads and in those corners where we don't mow.
I especially like this time of year for identifying plants because everything is fresh and blooming. We have an old homestead and I am still finding things that were planted here a long time ago.
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| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - May 09 2007 : 5:08:11 PM
I have found some good websites to help corroborate/refute initial identification with my book "in the field". It really helps to use more than one source to make a positive ID. Of course, if you have a local expert handy, that's nice too, but my local expert (DH) calls them all bushes, weeds, or flowers. ;)
//plants.usda.gov/ has great lists by state
//www.nativeplantnetwork.org lists wild plants by scientific name and has great information on means of propagation.
Once you've got a scientific name, image searches really help to.
We make a difference. |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 08 2007 : 9:42:03 PM
LOL! I SO had a day of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, too!!!" It's true - there are many things that need to be done that just almost *deserve* to have that song playing in the background...
XOXO, Libbie
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar..." - Helen Hayes |
| Alee |
Posted - May 08 2007 : 6:51:40 PM
LOL Michele! You are too funny! I spent an hour weeding my tiny garden and thinking "these plants will never EVER need to be preserved- they are so good at it themselves!" Where do you get all your plant identification materials? Any good websites?
Alee
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| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - May 08 2007 : 3:21:56 PM
Fantastic! DH and I will be there.
I finally solved my panic issue. For a moment I thought I had a rare plant...but it was just my inability to properly identify something. Two days of image searching helped me finally rule out that possibility. Kind of sad, how finding something rare (or thinking you did) can put your dreams into a tailspin. I imagined myself secretly scattering seed somewhere else for someone else to "discover" on state land. No need. Whew! Yay! I did find a bit of ground that was used to pasture livestock, so if/when we get critters, we can put them there and still protect our wild spaces. I've earned myself "hand-spray duty" for the afternoon/summer. So, I'm off to do weed patrol, since I'm the one who has been so busily getting to know the local flora. Maybe one day dalmation toadflax will need a wildlife preserve. Until then, my theme song is the one from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". Whew-whe-whew-we-who...wa.wa.wa |
| Alee |
Posted - May 08 2007 : 12:44:45 PM
Michelle-
Nora and I will try to make it!
Alee |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - May 07 2007 : 8:11:59 PM
Oh, yes. I just double checked...had my facts mixed up. Here's the excerpt from www.palouseprairie.org:
"The May Palouse Prairie Foundation meeting will be a presentation, "Linking social and biophysical conservation perspectives in an endangered ecosystem: the Palouse as a model," by UI students Chris Looney, Shannon Donovan, Yaniria Sanchez de Leon, and Thor Hanson, at 7pm Thursday May 10 at Neill Public Library Edith Hecht Reading Room, 210 N. Grand Ave, Pullman WA. Attendees should enter through the door on the east side of the building, near the parking lot."
Guess I got students and location mixed up.
We make a difference. |
| Alee |
Posted - May 07 2007 : 5:40:41 PM
You are talking about the one at the Public library?
Alee |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - May 07 2007 : 4:29:13 PM
Yep, here's the website: palouseprairie.org
It would be fun to meet up there. The more I find out, the more I realize I need to know more.
We make a difference. |
