Witch Hazel

I was out to dinner the other day, and the topic of conversation fell to trees. I am not sure how we got there, fall leaves maybe. Anyway, I was telling my scary tree story, you know the one about the tree with the screaming face over by the dead boy bridge…. What, you don’t know about that tree or the dead boy bridge? Goodness, Ok. I’ll come back to that.

ANYWAY, the scary tree story led to a discussion of Halloween images-- crows, haunted houses, ghosts, witches, dead, gnarled, twisted branches raking a leaden sky, dusty tinctures with ancient peeling labels…people that go way overboard in decorating their houses and lawns. You get the picture. After everyone had named all their favorite iconic Halloween images and gossiped about their neighbors, there was a lull in the conversation. I offhandedly mentioned that speaking of tinctures, I have Witch-hazel growing on the property and although it is a leggy shrub, it could fit into the creepy tree category. Astonished by the lifted eyebrows and blank stares I started to tick off it unusual characteristics.


It has small snaky yellow blossoms in October when all other trees bloom in Spring.

It spits seeds for long distances rather than letting them fall to float on the wind.

The inner bark has long been used to brew a tincture to ward off skin ailments and relieve pain.

Its branches were and maybe still are used as dowsing rods to find water or minerals underground.

It is a rebel, grows wild in the woods….

The flow of conversation turned to Witch Hazel from Bugs Bunny abandoning the plant to conversational oblivion.

I like Witch-Hazel and I do have lots of it growing at the top of the property and it is in its glory right now.

Wordless Wednesday

Indian Pipe Flowers

The rain came down in a steady drizzle drazzle. I went up to the wooded part of my property to look for the Timber Rattler that my neighbors swear they saw; I saw no snakes but I did see lots of these. Pretty cool, huh.

Mulberry Fruit

For the record, mulberries are edible.

Having arrived early for my writing class and not wanting to wait in the hot car, I decided to explore a nearby park on the Hudson River. Three young boys with ball gloves hanging from their handlebars pedaled past me as I walked along the shaded road. Drawn by the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle, I ambled over to a copse of trees. I stood in the dappled shade taking in deep lungsful of the sweet smell trying to make an olfactory memory for the long winter months ahead. Looking up I saw that the trees supporting the vines were mulberry and that the fruit was ripening. Reaching up I pulled off a few berries, rolling their sweet-tart flavor around on my tongue. I fell back in time to my youth when we ate the warm berries from the trees and used their rich purple juice as “lipstick”.

The boys came back up the street obviously disappointed from whatever mission they had been on. One of them saw me plucking fruit from the tree and shouted “Hey lady, you can’t eat those, they are poisonous.” I looked over at them. “No they’re not,” I shouted, “these are mulberries.” Curious, they rode over to look at the tree. “How do you know?” I plucked ripe berries from the tree, putting the purple fruit in their sweaty hands. They watched carefully as I ate some more then nibbled on the berries. Surprised, they looked at me like was I wise woman, sprung from the ground. ”They’re good!” One boy play-punched another, “You said they were poisonous.” I took the opportunity to talk with them about eating things in the wild and being careful to know exactly what it was before putting it on their mouths. We talked about mulberries, examined the leaves and the fruit. They pedaled off, their hands and mouths stained purple. Smiling, I walked back toward class with purple “lipstick.”

Wildflower Gardening by Default

I am taking a laissez faire approach to gardening this year. I have not pulled a weed. (Well, accept for dandelions, clover, garlic mustard and vetch. Oh yeah, and globe thistle sproutlings. Egads, what was I thinking when I planted them?) In the beginning, I was too busy, but then I noticed the miniscule white blossoms of mountain sandwort, a blushing pink lady’s slipper and a burst of purple from a dame’s rocket, so I had to leave them. I never got around to weeding a bed close to the woods only to discover that what I had been pulling all these years is wild sarsaparilla.

I have decided to catalog what it is that I have growing instead of trying to tame it. Here is the list so far. I'll update it as the season progresses

Wild Sarsaparilla
Pink Lady’s Slipper
Beardstongue
Mountain Sandwort
Mountain Laurel
Highbush Blueberry
White Wood Aster
Whorled Loosestrife
Two-flowered Cynthia
Witch Hazel
Butterfly Weed
Common Mugwort
Lady’s Thumb
Dame’s Rocket
Yellow Hawkweed
White Campion
Philadelphia Fleabane
Ground Ivy
Cow Vetch
Sweet Fern
Bracken

Native Flowering Dogwood

Nothing is prettier in the sparse spring woods than the white clouds of dogwood gleaming through the tender green haze of new leaves. Dogwoods grow in fertile, moist areas in open woods and along roadsides. We have pockets of them up here on the mountain. You can see them from afar. Summer dogwood fruit is eaten by about 40 species of birds and the flower buds are eaten by squirrels and birds like turkey, ruffed grouse, bobwhite, and pheasant. Double click on the photo to open it up. It is a lovely flower.