Reseeding Flowers - Why Did I Do That?

Years ago, when I decided to garden with native and perennial flowers, my sister, Sissy, said I needed some Queen Anne's Lace (QAL) since it grew so abundantly along the roads here in the piney woods of east Texas. And, hubby's grandmother had said "you always need something white in your garden." So my fate was sealed.

Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota L. )

Running the back roads out here one summer day, Sissy said, "pull over and I am going to get you some seeds." Well, maybe it was more like me saying, "get out and get me some seeds." 

Anyway I ended up with a treasure trove of QAL seeds to plant and I did. And, they came up, looked glorious that first year and re-seeded. I need not go on. . . .

My good friend, herbalist Lee Ann, convinced me to dry the QAL flowers and use them as snowflakes on the Christmas tree. 

I found this easiest to do by snipping off the stem really, really close to the flower. Then press the flowers in a heavy book or flower press, by laying the flowers between two pieces of paper towel. Press the flowers for a week or until completely flat.  

When dry, place flattened flower heads on newspaper and lightly spray with hairspray and air dry (here is a chance to get rid of that hair spray that gives you a bad hair day). 

Store the flowers, flat, in a plastic bag until you are ready to use your 'snowflake.' You can spray these with fake snow, glitter or just leave them natural. There are a myriad of ways to use creations. I think next year I will try to use them for Mother's day.

But I have more QAL blooms than decorations I want to make. So doing the research, I found a recipe for Queen Anne's Lace Jelly at cooks.com but it said,  "WARNING - Please do not attempt to use this recipe if you cannot positively identify and distinguish Queen Anne's Lace from poison Hemlock, as Hemlock is extremely poisonous and looks very similar."

So, I have decided it is in everybody's best interest NOT to make this jelly. If you do, let me know how it comes out.

Click on this link if you want to know the The Difference between Queen Anne's Lace and Poison Hemlock

I love the ethereal look of these flowers and because their height is about 2-3' they make a wonderful backdrop in the garden. Downside - they reseed. Upside - you can make decorations from the blooms. Upside - you can make jelly from the blooms. Downside - you could die.

What Goes Around, Comes Around

What is four stories high, round, red and over 115 years old? Why the Round Barn of course! Located 20 miles northeast of Oklahoma City near the town of Arcadia (population 320), this barn has become one of the state’s best known landmarks and is a must stop on vacation travels.

The structure was built by William Harrison Odor, a teacher from Potwin, Kansas, after he and his wife, Myra, moved to Oklahoma Territory in 1892. “Big Bill” Odor built a saw mill on the property and began milling native bur oak for the boards. These boards were soaked while green, bound together and forced into the curves needed for the walls and roof rafters. The barn is 60 feet in diameter and 43 feet high with a foundation of the local red rock. The barn housed hay, grain and livestock but from the start served as a center for community activities. During construction, workers realized it would be a ‘fine’ place for dances and persuaded Big Bill to let them lay flooring suitable for dancing. A second level was then incorporated for use as a community gathering place and dance hall. The round oak floor is bigger than a basketball court and is surrounded with simple benches. No one knows why he chose the round design but there is some speculation that the barn was built to protect it from the devastation of tornadoes.

Photo Courtesy of Oklahoma Historical Commission

From time to time over the next 25 years, barn dances drew crowds and musicians to the Red Barn from all over the state and country. Mr. Odor compared the barn’s acoustics with those of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. I couldn’t find any information regarding the acoustics or whether the Odors (sounds Amish) were Mormon. The town of Arcadia developed near the structure and prospered with the arrival of the MKT railroad. Arcadia became a center of agriculture supplying cotton, produce and livestock to urban areas of Oklahoma. In the 1920s the newly-commissioned Route 66 was aligned through the town, passing next to the Round Barn. Over time, the barn became the most photographed landmark on Route 66 and a milestone for weary travelers.

Due the reduction of traffic along Route 66 following the arrival of Interstate 35, Arcadia and the barn declined.

Photo Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Commission

In 1988 the 60 foot diameter roof collapsed. Mindful of its colorful past, volunteers, known as the over-the-hill-gang because most were over 65 years of age, stepped up to save it. The restoration project was completed in 1992. Now, the ground floor serves as a visitor center with historic photos and mementos displayed for perusal. A really neat video shows the restoration project of this historic structure. The upstairs is used for weddings, parties, political meetings and church services.

Listed in the National Register of Historical Places since 1977, today the Round Barn is a tourist attraction and visitors admire the architectural and engineering details of America's only truly round (as opposed to hexagonal or octagonal) barn. So if you are cruising Route 66, get your kicks at the Round Barn in Oklahoma!!

I Think She Might Be Like Me!

Sweet Baby Girl

I haven't been able to post for a while but that is a good thing. I was fortunate in that I was able to take care of my granddaughter for 4 days. I try to keep my grands busy with new experiences and 'projects' so they can learn and, of course, it has to be nature oriented. To my horror, the Goober will have nothing to do with bugs, butterflies and bees. Maybe it is because he was stung by a bee once. But, Sweet Baby Girl, I think, will have an affinity for nature.

One of the projects we always do first thing in the morning is feed the birds. As Sweet Baby Girl and I were walking down the path on Sunday, I noticed something hiding among the Salvia Greggii.

A Speckled King Snake (Lampropeltis getula)! Woo, hoo! I gently grasped the little guy behind his head so Sweet Baby Girl could have an up-close and personal encounter with her first snake. Of course, Harriet Beecher, my Catahoula Leopard dog, had to be in the photo too.

The Speckled King Snake is one of my favorite snakes because: 1) it is non-venomous (that is a good thing) and, 2) their diet includes other snakes and rodents (another good thing). This snake's name is derived from its black background with small yellow or white specks on every scale.

The Speckled is generally found in central and southern parts of the United States. This creature can grow to over 48 inches long and (oh, here is the fun part) when threatened the snake will shake its tail much like a rattlesnake to deter its predators. They kill their prey by constriction and will musk, defecate or bite when threatened. If you are wondering, yes, I had to wash my skirt after handling this fun little creature. The speckled can be docile and is frequently kept as a pet. But, as I ask my grands, "Do wild creatures make good pets?" Nooooooooo!

Having a cottage garden packed with herbs and Texas native wildflower, I like any creature that will subsist on other venomous snakes and rodents, I feel safe working in my garden just knowing this snake makes his home there.

Now, Sweet Baby Girl - how do you feel about bugs?

In the Garden this Morning

The Unique, the Strange and the Downright Weird

Every spring we have three plants that pop up like clockwork here in east Texas. The three Musketeers if you please. They are Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia), May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum) and Bladderwort (Utricularia spp.).

The Red Buckeye is one of the first native plants to leaf out and bloom in the spring. Chances are you miss it in the woods unless you are looking for it. I am lucky because mine is at the edge of my driveway. Leafing out begins with large, bronze buds which morph into shiny, dark green, palmate, compound leaves. Red Buckeye can grow to 8’-10’ tall. But the best part is the bloom. In early April, showy, erect 4” long panicles of bright red tubular flowers, which are hermaphrodite, appear. Hummingbird scouts that come through our area in late March and April use the flowers as a nectar source during migration. In the fall, a smooth, light brown fruit appears. Don’t eat – it is highly poisonous. Red Buckeye typically grows as an understory tree in the moist, rich, slightly acidic soils of the Pineywoods, but it is found as well on the Post Oak Savannah. Positively unique in many ways, don’t you think?

Red Buckeye

Red Buckeye bloom

Red Buckeye fruit

The strange Mayapple or Mandrake, Devil's apple, hog apple, Indian apple or umbrella plant (you decide) is an herbaceous perennial plant native to deciduous forests. The stalk which is 5-7 inches long will be topped with 1, 2 or occasionally 3 leaves which are deeply divided into lobes on the reproductive plant, or one umbrella-like leaf on a sterile plant. A single white flower, which has 6 petals located at the axil (V where the two leaves meet), will produce a yellow-greenish fruit. The ripened fruit, which our feral hogs love, is edible in moderate amounts, though when consumed in large amounts the fruit is poisonous. Some folks make jelly out of the fruit but with a name like Devil’s apple, I think I will pass.

Mayapple

Field of Mayapples

Mayapple flower

Mayapple fruit

Floating on our local lakes right now are the free-floating bladderworts which are annuals. They resemble a small wagon wheel with a flower stem in the middle. Inflated stalks form the spokes of the wagon wheel which support masses of submerged leaves coated with small round bladders called utricles. These submerged parts of the bladderwort provide habitat for many micro and macro invertebrates which in turn are used for food by fish and other wildlife. Sweet yellow 3-lobed flowers with a ‘spur’ are above the water. These plants are carnivorous and capture small organisms with their underwater leaves. (Insert theme from Twighlight Zone.) Sensitive, hair-like projections surround the utricle's closed trapdoor. Water fleas, protozoa and other passing organisms that touch the hairs instantly trigger the flattened bladder to open. Like a suction bulb, the utricle inflates and inhales both water and prey. The trapdoor snaps shut, and the plant then secretes enzymes, which dissolve the organisms into nutrients. Weird! These plants can form dense mats but die off by July. The dead plants are decomposed by bacteria and fungi and provide food for many aquatic invertebrates. Bladderworts are one of Texas’ four flesh-eating plants.

Bladderwort

Bladderwort - picture taken
while kayaking

Bladderwort down by the dam

There you go. Not necessarily the good, bad and ugly but the unique, strange and downright weird.

FIFTH SEASON

Where I live we have 5 seasons - Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter

and Green Stuff.

Yes, we have an entire season of Green Stuff.

 The pollen from all the "new" is everywhere and it seems it never ends. 

But it does - just about the time the heat sets in.

So, if you don't like the cold, can't take the heat and have allergies to pollen, you are pretty much doomed here in the piney woods of east Texas.

And, then there is the lovely green stuff.

What's With the Cold???

For the second day in a row, I got up to dreary damp cold weather. What's with that? Doesn't Mother Nature know the average date for our last freeze here in the piney woods of east Texas is March 15 and the average date for last frost is March 21-31?

We have already experienced a slight freeze that ruined tomatoes (if you were silly enough to have them planted already) the flowers of the Loropetalum (Loropetalum chinense) 

Loropetalum after the freeze

Before the freeze

Ground Orchid

After the freeze

and the ground orchids (Spathoglottis Plicata).

Blackberry

Did you know that the old timers refer to this cold snap in late spring as a Blackberry winter? This cold snap usually happens when the blackberries are in bloom and may help the blackberry canes to grow. In other areas of the country, it is referred to as Dogwood winter, Whippoorwill winter, Locust winter and Redbud winter. Some of these terms originate from what is blooming in a particular area during a cold snap.

 Another resource calls this time of year Linsey-Woolsey Britches winter which refers to a type of winter long johns that could be put away after the last cold snap. Linsey-woolsey is a combination of the words linen and woolen. It is a coarse fabric, most common in the United States during the Colonial era.

Makes me itch just to think about it. And cold.