Button Bush

Button Bush at the beach. Cephalanthus occidentalis L., Common buttonbush, Buttonbush, Button willow, is a shrub whose flowers are distinctive, dense, spherical clusters (heads) with a fringe of pistils protruded beyond the white corollas. Buttonbush is a handsome ornamental suited to wet soils and is also a honey plant. This distant relative of coffee (family Rubiaceae) grows in wetland areas. Ducks and other water birds and shorebirds consume the seeds.

This photo is photo of the day on TreeHugger September 8, 2015
http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/readers-photos/photo-spherical-white-flower-relative-coffee/

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Happy National Dog Day!

Happy National Dog Day! 

This one was looking longingly at ice cream at the farmers market.

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Farmland Rolls

Field Full Of Hay Rolls

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A Visit To Mom's Garden

 Me And Hollyhocks

Really nice Basket Of Veggies from mom's garden.

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Mushrooms Galore

Giant Mushroom

Berkeley's Polypore

This is the biggest mushroom I've ever seen. It has to be close to 2 feet across. Found under a big tree, in Colchester, Vt.

Mushroom emerging from under the leaves.

 Shiny Copper Colored Mushroom
found at the end of July, in Essex, Vermont. Tawny Grisette, Amanita fulva.

Pigskin puffball Mushroom (Scleroderma citrinum)

Gem Studded Puffball Mushrooms (Lycoperdon perlatum)

Russula Mushroom

Marasmius rotula commonly known as the pinwheel mushroom, the pinwheel marasmius, little wheel, collared parachute, or horse hair fungus.

Golden Gilled Bolete (Phylloporus pelletieri) Mushroom and Autumn Leaves.

This is probably a Suillus Bolete.

Bolete Mushroom - Cream Cap With Brown Pores, And A Moth, Growing Under A Hemlock Tree. End of September, in Essex Jct. Vermont. If you know what kind of Bolete this is, I'd love to know.

Bolete

Growing under an oak tree.

If you know what kind of Bolete this is, I'd love to know.

This photo was Awarded Photo of the Day, on Capture My Vermont, for October 31, 2017.

Bolete

Bolete with a cream colored cap with nibbles taken out of it, and yellow pores, growing near A Hemlock Tree. Here's a view of it's bottom.

If you know what kind of Bolete this is, I'd love to know. 

Polypore - Shelf Mushroom, Ganoderma Applanatum

Curled mushroom amongst curly moss.

If you know what kind of mushroom this is, I'd love to know.

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SaveSave

Rose Of Sharon Hibiscus

Blue Chiffon Rose Of Sharon Hibiscus

(Hibiscus syriacus). A member of the mallow family.

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Blue Vervain

BLUE VERVAIN 

is a tall wild edible and medicinal plant. Other Names: American blue vervain, Blue Vervain, Herb of Grace, Herba veneris, Simpler’s Joy, Swamp Verbena, Vervain, Wild hyssop, Wild Vervain. Blue Vervain is a North American native perennial herb, found growing along roadsides, in open sunny fields, and waste places throughout the United States and southern Canada. Depending on the geographic location, the blooming period occurs anywhere from late spring to late summer and lasts between one to two months. 
Edible parts: Blue vervain had many uses in First Nation’s culture as food and medicine. The seed are edible when roasted and is ground into a powder (although they are somewhat bitter to taste). Leaves can be made into a tea or tossed into salads, soups, etc. The root can be collected all year round. The flowers can be tossed on top of a salad and eaten. (Dried, powdered flowers were once used as a snuff for nosebleeds).
 
Externally, this plant can be used as a poultice to help heal wounds and hemorrhoids. Internally the leaves and roots are a valuable alternative medicine. 

Used by herbalists the leaves and roots of Blue Vervain are an antidiarrheal, analgesic, anthelmintic, antiperiodic, astringent,  diaphoretic, emetic, emmenagogue, expectorant, sedative, tonic, vermifuge, vulnerary. It is useful in intermittent fevers, ulcers, pleurisy, scrofula, gravel, easing pain in the bowels and expelling worms. A very strong infusion is emetic. As a medicinal poultice it is good in headache and rheumatism. An infusion of the plant is a good galactagogue (increases breast milk) and used for female obstructions, afterpains and taken as a female tonic. The infusion is used to help pass kidney stones and for infections of the bladder. Used as a sudorific and taken for colds and coughs. Also useful for insomnia and other nervous conditions.

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Castor Bean Plant

My Castor Bean Plant flowering and fruiting.

Castor bean plants are stunning with their mammoth star-shaped leaves that can reach 2-3 feet in length. Castor Bean plants typically grow one or more, smooth, reddish colored central stalks with very large palmate shaped, glossy, deep green to dark purple leaves, white or pinkish flowers, and reddish, spined fruit.

Castor Bean Plants (Ricinus ommunis) are native to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but are widespread throughout tropical regions. Commonly found in the wild along stream banks, riverbeds on low lying areas. They have been naturalized in warm climates all over the world, and are widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant.

Despite its name, is not a true bean.  

Despite its poisonous reputation, the castor bean, also known as Palma Christi, has been grown for thousands of years and has been used for everything from lamp oil to medicine.

As far back as 4,000 B.C., castor beans have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. The valuable oil from this tropical beauty was used thousands of years ago to light lamp wicks.

The seeds are extremely poisonous, but the toxins do not pass into the oil.

These days, about a million tons of castor oil seeds are grown worldwide, for making everything from paint and varnish to lubricant for jet engines, nylon, transparent soap and contraceptives. The seeds have also been considered as an alternative energy source for motor and diesel fuel. And scientists involved in cancer and AIDS research are studying the seeds' compounds.

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Flowers On The Farm

Flowers At Adams Farm
This photo was awarded Photo of the Day, on Capture My Vermont, for August 12, 2017.

Lisianthus In A Flower Garden

Lisianthus, also known as Texas bluebell, prairie gentian or prairie rose and botanically called Eustoma grandiflorum, is a small genus in the gentian family. They are native to warm regions of the southern United States, Mexico, Caribbean and northern South America. It is the birth flower of the Sagittarius astrological sign. The deep blue varieties evoke a sense of peace and openness.

Joe Pye Weed,

 (Eutrochium) is a North American genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the sunflower family. They are commonly referred to as Joe-Pye weeds. They are native to the United States and Canada. Joe Pye (Jopi in the Native tongue), an Indian healer from New England, used E. purpureum to treat a variety of ailments, which led to the name Joe-Pye weed. Folklore says that Joe Pye used this plant to cure fevers, that American colonists used this plant to treat typhus outbreaks, and that the Indians used Joe Pye Weed in the treatment of kidney stones and other urinary tract ailments.

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The Beauty Of Bee Balm

The Beauty Of Bee Balm
Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot , Scarlet Monarda, Oswego Tea, Bergamot, Horsebalm Botanical Name-Monarda didyma

In the language of flowers, Monarda symbolizes compassion and sympathy.

The M. didyma and Monarda fistulosa can be used interchangeably.

Monarda is in the Lamiaceae (mint) family and is a perennial from Zones 4 – 9. It has the mint family’s trademark – square stems and opposite leaves. It is pollinated by bees, so it is a good one to grow in your gardens to help our ailing bee population. Bee Balm herb is edible and medicinal. All above ground parts of the plant are edible and used as a pot herb, and also used as a flavoring in cooked foods. The flowers make an attractive edible garnish in salads.

Bee Balm herb is noted for its fragrance, and is a source of oil of thyme. The fresh or dried leaves are brewed into a refreshing aromatic and medicinal tea. An infusion of young Bee Balm leaves used to form a common beverage in many parts of the United States.

Bee Balm leaves and flowers and stems are used in alternative medicine as an antiseptic, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic and stimulant. An medicinal infusion is used internally in the treatment of colds, catarrh, headaches, and gastric disorders, to reduce low fevers and soothe sore throat, to relieve flatulence, nausea, for menstrual pain, and insomnia. Steam inhalation of the plant can be used for sore throats, and bronchial catarrh (inflammation of the mucus membrane, causing an increased flow of mucus). Externally, Bee Balm is a medicinal application for skin eruptions and infections. Bergamot’s distinctive aroma, found in both the leaf and flower is wonderful for use in potpourri. While a fragrant herb in its own right, Wild Bergamot is not the source of the commonly used Bergamot Essential oil. 

Due to the presence of a high thymol content which is a strong antiseptic (also in thyme), Monarda has been used in infusion form for a variety of ailments in its long past: colds, flu, upper respiratory problems, gas, diarrhea, nausea, fevers and whooping cough, and topically for skin problems and wounds.

The boiled leaves were historically wrapped in cloth for sore eyes, headaches, muscle spasms, fungal infections, and under bandages to slow bleeding. The leaves can be chewed and used for this purpose.

Used as a mouthwash, a strong infusion seems to give relief from sore throats, toothaches, and mouth sores. You can make monarda honey, elixirs, and oxymels, all of which are helpful and tasty. Monarda honey isn’t only great in teas, but also on burns and other wounds. The leaves are helpful in steams to clear the sinus and to make the whole house smell nice! They can also be added to a sock or muslin bag and thrown in your bath for the same effect, and additionally if have sore, tired or achy muscles. It's also good as a foot soak for tired sore feet.

Lemon Bee Balm

Monarda citriodora, Purple horsemint, Lemon mint, Plains horsemint, Lemon horsemint, Horsemint, Purple lemon mint

Horsemint has a distinctive citrus or lemony scent when the leaves are rubbed or crushed. It is very easy to grow and often forms large colonies. Bees and butterflies are attacted to this plant. Leaves used raw or cooked for flavoring in salads, cooked foods, and for tea.

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