Dandelions & Forget Me Nots

 

Forget Me Nots & A Dandelion. 

Happy National Wildflower Week!

Forget-me-not, Myosotis sylvatica. The word "Myosotis" in the species name comes from Greek words meaning "mouse ear."

Wet Forget Me Nots

Wet Forget Me Nots

White & Blue Forget Me Nots

Forget Me Nots & Dandelions

Dandelions

Taraxacum are one of the first foods for native bees in spring. Before the invention of lawns, people praised dandelions as a bounty of food, medicine and magic. Gardeners often weeded out the grass to make room for the dandelions. But somewhere in the twentieth century, humans decided that the dandelion was a weed. Dandelions are good for your lawn. Their roots loosen hard-packed soil, aerate the earth and help reduce erosion. The deep taproot pulls nutrients such as calcium from deep in the soil and makes them available to other plants. While most think they’re a lawn killer, dandelions actually fertilize the grass.

For millenniums, people have been using dandelion tonics to help the liver remove toxins from the bloodstream and as a gentle diuretic that provides nutrients and helps the digestive system. Dandelions are actually more nutritious than most of the vegetables in your garden. The flowers, leaves, & roots can be used as food and medicine. The flowers can be used to make wine. Dried or roasted roots can be used as a no-caffeine coffee substitute.

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Disclaimer

My blog is meant to inform and I strive to be totally accurate. It is solely up to the reader to ensure proper plant identification. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects.

Tulip Delight

 Tulips

One of my favorite signs of spring, and they come in so many colors. The tulip is a member of the Liliaceae (lily) family. Tulips actually came from the Central Asia where they grew wild over a great territory in Asia Minor through Siberia to China. Turkish growers first cultivated and hybridized tulips as early as 1,000 AD., and Historically, Europe considered Tulips as the symbol of the Ottoman Empire. There are now over 3,000 different registered varieties of cultivated Tulips. Every year billions of Tulips are cultivated, a majority of which are grown and exported from Holland.

  Tulips

  Tulips

 Tulips

Fringed Tulip

I love this lavender colored tulip.

As a member of the Lily family, Tulips are edible but not particularly medicinal. The same flowers that were valued so highly by the Dutch in the 1600s became emergency food rations for the country during World War II because the starchy bulb provides a surprising amount of calories. The petals are also edible, leading to dishes with stuffed Tulip blossoms.

Red

Tulips With Mini Daffodils

Unusual Color Combos

My New Favorite Color Of Tulip

Unusual Stripes

MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

THANKS FOR YOUR VISITS, FAVS AND COMMENTS. AS ALWAYS, APPRECIATED VERY MUCH!

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ELISE T. MARKS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE ON WEBSITES, BLOGS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION.