We’re in the thick of it now; yes, it’s high summer. So far, it’s been a bumper year for tomatoes; my black krims and brandywines at home are covered with ripe fruit. This summer has been hot a lot. The olives in the Medicinal Herb Garden might even produce a crop worthy of the table. The same heat we are enjoying here is magnified on the drier, hotter east side of the state where huge wildfires (one of which, the Carlton Complex, is the largest in state history) have been burning for many weeks and causing a lot of damage to homes in the area. Hang in there, east-side friends.
I’m off again to the mountains for a backpacking trip, but before I leave, here are a few images from the garden.
Olea europea (leccino olives) section A border
Jaltomata procumbens (jaltomato, creeping false holly) section A
Rosa nutkana (Nootka rose) fruit in Cascara Circle
I’m already collecting seeds from many of the garden’s plants and some fruit is ripening.
Leonotis nepetifolia (lion’s paw) section C
Castilleja integra (wholeleaf Indian paintbrush) section C
Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod) section B
Lion’s paw looks like a cross between a UFO and a Dr. Seuss flower. Hummingbirds love it. Stand nearby and you will see hummingbirds.
I’m growing three species of paintbrush this year. They are semi-parasitic, meaning they are partly parasitic and partly photosynthetic.
Goldenrod is another bee magnet. This picture was taken early on a cool morning, otherwise the flowers would be covered with bees.
Datura inoxia (sacred datura, tolguacha) section C
Sagittaria latifolia (wapato) Cascara Circle
Orthosiphon aristatus (cat’s whiskers, Java tea) section C
Sacred datura is a powerful entheogen which is, fittingly, pollinated at night, usually by hawk/sphinx moths (in the family Sphingidae).
Wapato tubers have spread through the Cascara Circle stream and are growing in any available muck. Next spring the ducks will be well fed. A pair visits every spring to feast on wapato.
Cat’s whiskers or Java tea is used to treat kidney stones and other urinary problems. It needs a lot of heat to be happy.
Limenitis lorquini (Lorquin’s admiral)
Lorquin’s admirals are all around the Medicinal Herb Garden. Many of their larval host plants such as Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen), Prunus virginiana var. demissa (western chokecherry) and several species of Salix (willow) are represented in Cascara Circle. The adults visit a wide range of the garden’s flowering plants.
up above the world
tacking like a wind-whipped sail
Lorquin’s admiral
See you in the garden.