Today at Shangri-Laura

Echinacea is Loved by Birds, Bees and Butterflies

Echinacea is a favorite of butterflies and gold finches

Echinacea, or purple coneflower will happily take over your yard if you let it and more and more I find myself content to let it. Mostly. Well, on weeks like this.

The same plant that enjoys widespread use for treating colds and flu, butterflies and bees love it as well. And apart from it's medicinal uses, it makes for wonderful long lasting cut flowers. It can get droopy if dry or in sun too blazing but it perks up after the heat of the day has passed.

Why has it taken over my yard? Because gold finches absolutely love the seeds. I can't bear to cut the spent flowers when I see a flock of yellow birds feasting on them so, of course, that means the plant is happily seeding itself in my garden.

And let's not forget the importance of helping pollinators who seem to be declining everywhere. In fact, Sir David Attenborough, President of Butterfly Conservation,  has launched the Big Butterfly Count and encourages the planting of butterfly-friendly plants like Echinacea.

It's up to every single one of us to make sure that the spectacle of mid-summer butterflies remains a much anticipated highlight of the season rather than becoming a long-mourned memory.

– Sir David Attenborough

All this to say that if you would like to add some of this beautiful plant to your perennial garden, own a shovel, and live anywhere near me (DuPage County, IL), I will always have plants to share. Make a note of it.

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Bet You Didn't Know This about Chicory

Wild chicory along a bike trail

Every year around this time, my husband must endure my seemingly endless refrain, "I just love those flowers." "Oh, chicory! I just love that color!" "Did I ever tell you how much I love chicory flowers?"

It's just how it is with me when I fall in love with something. These happy little periwinkle-colored flowers are now dotting the landscape along roadsides and bike trails and in local prairies.  It is an edible plant, with leaves similar to dandelion and also having a reputation for being good for the liver.

Also, like dandelion, the leaves become bitter as they mature, so best to harvest them early. The flowers are edible, but can be bitter.  The roots are used as a coffee substitute (you may be more likely to see that in the Southern U.S.)

Now for the part that I'll bet you didn't know...

The roots can be dug and planted in a dark cellar, and the plant will grow small pale leaf heads: we know this vegetable as Belgian endive; it is the same species as roadside chicory (Cichorium intybus.)

Have you ever seen what grocers charge for the weeds we pull out of our yards? Amazing.

I do let it grow in my garden, although it mostly sets itself up along the roadside and on the edges of our black raspberry bramble. It seems determined to bloom so I've even seen plants that have set up in our 'lawn' and get mowed send out blooms in the grass. I haven't ever tried to prune it to encourage bushiness and more concentrated blooms, but I'll bet that would work if you find some in your garden bed and want to keep it from getting overly leggy.

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Bee Balm

Also known as Monarda, Bergamot and Oswego Tea, you can see its wild version in bloom in many prairies and along bike trails right now.

Wild bee balm

It is edible. This member of the mint family has a strong flavor that is best used sparingly (a spicy, almost oregano flavor with minty tones). It is related to the bergamot that is used to flavor Earl Grey tea. In fact, you can use it as a substitute in recipes like this intriguing one for poached pears using Earl Grey tea. Flower petals can also be added to salads.

Whether or not you choose to make culinary use of it, one thing is for certain: bees and hummingbirds love it. It does have mint's tendencies to spread, and in damp conditions can get mildew on its leaves, but with so many cultivars to choose from, it can make a very fin addition to perennial and cottage gardens.

Red bergamot cultivars are a favorite of hummingbirds

 

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Mulberry

Mulberries

One of the things I love about being an adult is that I am now tall enough to reach mulberries right off the branches in the summer.

When I was growing up, the kids on our street would gather in front of our neighbor's house around this time every summer and gorge ourselves on the soft berries that stained our feet and hands a deep purple. Our feet were stained because we were all barefoot and the berries in question were all over the sidewalk, having fallen from the branches well above our reach.

We didn't care. This was a delicacy and we were not going to be put off by the fact that we were eating them right off the ground.  And the black ants that were competing for the fruits with us? We just knocked them off and ate the berry.

I have no idea how many dark ants actually were consumed along with the mulberries. For all I know, those ants possible consumed as a child are the source of my power now.  Hey, who am I to question?

Better Know a Wild Flower: Widow's Tears

I introduced you to the happily self-seeding Celandine Poppy  recently and want to introduce you to another repeat bloomer. Widow's tears are also known as Virginia spiderwort, spider lily or trinity flower. Commonly found growing in moist prairies, meadows and woodlands, the plant is a vigorous grower in the wild and in cultivation. The blooms don't last very long, but the plant produces many throughout the growing season.

And all those blooms does translate into lots of seeds, so prepare to see this plant show up elsewhere in your yard. That isn't necessarily a problem but it can definitely get leggy and floppy in sunny areas. And if you feel bad about pulling it out when it seems past its prime, just remember, it has left you with a lot of seeds already handily sown for you. You'll be sure to see it again! 

Better Know a Wild Flower: Celandine Poppy

One of the happy inhabitants of our acre is the Celandine (or Wood) Poppy, a delightful yellow flowered plant that seems to be perpetually in bloom.

I've seen it mentioned that it is relatively uncommon now, one of the plants that is being impacted by invasive garlic mustard. However, in my yard, it seems to be doing just fine. Sprouting up freely and self-seeding with abandon. Here it is, voluntarily lining my front porch.

It stands about 12-18 inches tall, preferring at least partial shade and garden beds where you never actually planted it. I'd take exception to that if it wasn't such a cheery plant. Yes, the blooms mean it is perpetually dropping seed, but hey, continual blooms...that's a nice feature in a perennial.

I do nothing to encourage it, nor do I discourage it. Also a nice feature of wild flowers. They don't ask for much. If you like a nice border plant with a sunny disposition, I'd recommend it.

White Campion Growing Like a Champion

...because that is what weeds...er...wildflowers...tend to do. Campion has been enjoying my garden (and the surrounding fields and trails and...) because between birds, and wind and nature's whims, wildflowers always show up in my gardens. Whether they get to stay and in what numbers is a matter of my own internal debate and whims. I always have to remind myself of one bit of folk wisdom:

One year's seed is seven year's weed.

Virginia Waterleaf

One of the joys of having a substantial part of this acre that is wild, is that there is a wonderful diversity of wild plants and flowers to enjoy. There is also poison ivy, which I will devote a post to later.

One of the easiest wildflowers to identify is Virginia Waterleaf, so named for the 'water-stained' appearance of its leaves.  It's a fairly low lying plant, growing up to a foot tall and sporting clusters of light purple flowers (which I will show you when I find some in bloom here).  It likes shady, moist areas and can be an aggressive grower.

I do find it sneaking into my garden beds from time to time. Sometimes I let it stay, because it really is a pretty little thing, and then I'll realize later how much it has spread and I'll pull it out (the roots take a little effort). And then I'll see one again, all by itself and I'll think, "Oh, you are so pretty, I will let you stay."

And then...well, you get the picture.

In the woods, though, it is lovely and very welcome.

Two Things You Should Know if Your Woodland Walk Looks Like This...

Let's just say, the paths I walk on in the woods aren't exactly groomed. In the winter and early spring they are passable, but once the vegetation gets going, they devolve into animal paths (which could explain why I have developed such a knack for finding animal bones).

And eventually, I might find myself in waist high weeds. (This patch surprised me as a couple years ago it was a very nice path.)

So, what are the two things you need to know? That, yes, you DO need to check yourself for ticks, more than once. Some are quite small and they take some work to find if they have made it into your hair.

And secondly, you should know what this is. (Read this post for the answer and important info on the subject.)

A Sense of Place...The Wild Onions of West Chicago

Wild onions. The name "Chicago" is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa,  for the wild leeks, onions and garlic that grew abundantly in the area.  The internet tells me the first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir.

Nowadays, hot restaurants in the city hire urban scavengers to go find these tiny aromatic bulbs for discerning patrons. In fact, I've seen some concern expressed online that forest preserves might be crawling with illegal scavengers soon if we aren't a little more hush-hush about it and might decimate the species if left to their own devices.

All of which is to say, I'm sitting on a veritable gold mine because our acre is full of them.

For a long time I ignored them. And then I tried weeding them after I decided that I'd had enough of what looked like unmown grass all over my woods and garden. But goodness that is a life's work And then I thought I'd harvest them (they really are quite delectable).  Now I just...surrender to them, mostly.

I think about those folks in Chicago, scrambling all over trying to find their tasty (if slightly stinky) origins, now lost to so much concrete and I smile.

One woman's garden bane is a restaurateur's prized ingredient. Who knew?