Strawberries On The Way

Strawberries Flowers are a sign of Strawberries On The Way

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Spring Blooming Of Trees

Red Maple (Acer Rubrum) In bloom. I just learned that they bloom red fuzzy looking flowers. I'm still learning new things every day.

Crab Apple Tree In Full Bloom-Loving spring.

  Crab Apple Blossoms
I love the white Crab Apple Blossoms, especially with the touch of pink of the unopened flowers.

Red horse chestnut (Aesculus x carnea ‘Briotii’) Tree Flowering 

This is a hybrid cross between red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) and Common horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum).

My photographs are available for purchase through EliseCreations.artfire.com

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.

Tropical Flowers

Angel's Trumpet Flower (Brugmansia). Most Brugmansia are fragrant in the evenings to attract pollinating moths. Brugmansia are native to tropical regions of South America, along the Andes from Venezuela to northern Chile, and also in south-eastern Brazil. They are grown as ornamental container plants worldwide, and have become naturalized in isolated tropical areas around the globe, including within North America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. All parts of Brugmansia can be toxic.

 Flamingo Plants

 The Anthurium is also known as Painted Tongue, Flamingo Flower (Flamingo Lily) or Tail Flower. The flowers are contained in dense spirals on the spadix. The spadix is often elongated into a spike shape. Anthuriums are herbaceous epiphytes native to tropical America. Anthurium is a genus of more than 800 species found in the New World tropics from Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay.

 Pitcher Plant - Nepenthes

Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants which have modified leaves known as pitfall traps-a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive fluid. Foraging, flying or crawling insects such as flies are attracted to the cavity formed by the cupped leaf, often by visual lures such as anthocyanin pigments, and nectar bribes. The sides of the pitcher are slippery and may be grooved in such a way so as to ensure that the insects cannot climb out. Pitcher plant, nepenthes, or monkeys cup, are a genus of carnivorous plants that attract & ingest insects. The name monkey cups refers to the fact that monkeys have been observed drinking rainwater from these plants. 

Tropical pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes are distributed in tropical areas of northern Australia, southeast Asia, southern China, India and Madagascar. These plants grow as vines, in the undergrowth, or up in the canopy of tropical forests.

Zebra Plant - Aphelandra Squarrosa, commonly called zebra plant, is a compact shrub growing to 6’ tall in its native tropical habitat in Brazil.

The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa. 

As if bromeliads weren’t cool enough, with their amazing ability to thrive without roots in soil. One of the world’s most beloved fruits, the pineapple, is a bromeliad. At least three types of bromeliads are carnivorous. With urn-like pitfall traps formed by tightly packed leaf bases, they rely on bacteria to break down their prey (instead of digestive enzymes like other carnivorous plants). Other bromeliads take on a more hospitable approach, acting like mini-ecosystems unto themselves: tree frogs, snails, flatworms, tiny crabs, salamanders, and other animals may spend their entire lives dwelling in one such bromeliad. This is just one of the more than 2,700 species native to the Neotropics.

Datura, One Of My Favorite Exotic Looking, Tropical Flowers. Datura metel, also known as devil's trumpets, they are also sometimes called moonflowers, jimsonweed, devil's weed, hell's bells, thorn-apple, and many more. Datura belongs to the classic "witches' weeds", along with deadly nightshade, henbane, and mandrake. Most parts of the plants are toxic, and datura has a long history of use for causing delirious states and death. In India it has been referred to as "Poisonous" and as an aphrodisiac. In little measures it was used in Ayurveda as a medicine from the ancient times. It is used in rituals and prayers to Shiva. It is also used in Ganesh Chaturthi. The larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species, including Hypercompe indecisa, eat some Datura species.

My photographs are available for purchase through EliseCreations.net

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.

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 and mushrooms are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects.

A Wild Foodie’s Guide To Sustainable Harvesting

https://www.urbanmoonshine.com/blog/wild-foodies-sustainable-harvesting/?utm_source=Urban+Moonshine+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1e82f132e6-Herb_Day_Free_Poster_Shipping&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5a1675e218-1e82f132e6-359729409&mc_cid=1e82f132e6&mc_eid=7b376b2b28

The Golden Rules of Wildcrafting 
 These rules keep us safe and ensure that the future of our medicinal plants is secure. These easy to follow rules are: 
Don’t trespass 
Take care of the land you wildcraft on; pick up trash 
Make 100% sure that you know what you are harvesting 
Only harvest what you need and never harvest an endangered species 
Harvest in season Harvest respectfully and give thanks to the plants 
Don’t harvest in a polluted area; this includes roadsides 
Only harvest if the plant community can sustain itself 
Now that you’ve learned the rules of wildcrafting, it’s time to head out!

Text from Wildcrafting with Kids: What You Need to Know - LearningHerbs
Read More at https://learningherbs.com/skills/wildcrafting-with-kids/
Copyright © 2017 LearningHerbs.

Orchids

Orchid Miltoniopsis, is commonly known as pansy orchid.

This photo was awarded "Photo of the Day" on Capture My Vermont, for May 6, 2017.

Masdevallia  Orchid

Moth Orchids (phalaenopsis)

 Moth Orchids (phalaenopsis)

Moth  Orchids (phalaenopsis)

Moth Orchids

Moth Orchids (phalaenopsis)

 Moth Orchids Miltoniopsis

 Moth Orchids

Moth Orchids Miltoniopsis

My photographs are available for purchase through EliseCreations.artfire.com

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.

My Spring Foraging Adventure

Check out my Spring Foraging video through this link:

https://youtu.be/NPDhclt1VP0

Shitake Mushrooms growing On A Log

Shitake Mushrooms

I got the log and Shitake spores from MoTown Mushrooms, who I took a workshop with, 2 years ago. Yes, I waited 2 years for my first harvest. Shiitake mushrooms are one of the healthiest foods on the planet, used extensively in ancient Chinese medicine. Shitake mushrooms are great for your immune system, the cardiovascular system, and are a very good source of iron, are rich in B vitamins, such as B2, B5, B6, Riboflavin, and niacin. Additionally, they are rich in minerals, being an excellent source of selenium and copper, a very good source of zinc, and a good source of manganese. They are also a good source of vitamin D and dietary fiber. They also provide a wide variety of unique phytonutrients. Lentinan, a potent antifungal protein in shiitake mushrooms, was found to have cancer-preventing properties.

 Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable. These fiddleheads I found in the wild in Vermont. Though all ferns have a fiddlehead stage, it’s the Ostrich fern, a specific edible species, that has become synonymous with the word “fiddlehead.”  Their taste is often described somewhere between asparagus, broccoli and spinach. Pick them before they unfurl, when they’re about one to four inches in height. Wash off the the feathery-brown, paper-like material that covers the sides of the coils. Boil the fiddleheads for 5-7 minutes. Pour off the water, then saute' with garlic in olive oil. Enjoy! Though they are not hard to find, many keep their locations secret so they will not be over harvested.  And I feel the same way! I would recommend an experienced guide the first time to be on the safe side.  Some fiddleheads look like the Ostrich fern varieties and are not only not edible but can be toxic. 

There are also some good guidebooks that will help you identify fiddleheads and other wild edibles. I recommend:

The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer, or Peterson's Field Guide-A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants
                                  

 Fiddleheads & Shitake Mushrooms

My photographs are available for purchase through EliseCreations.artfire.com

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.

Signs Of Spring

Goldfinches & A Woodpecker at my bird feeder on a lovely spring day that felt like summer.

CROCUS

In the iris family, the crocus is a genus of flowers that derived its name from the Latin word crocatus, which means saffron yellow.

The spice saffron is obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus, an autumn-blooming species. Saffron from the crocus flower is used as a spice to season foods, and is also known as an anti-carcinogenic and an antioxidant and boosts the immune system. Its fragrance is used in perfumes and cosmetics.

Gathering At The Burlington Waterfront On A Lovely Spring Day

Male Downy Woodpecker Enjoying Some Wood In My Yard

Pretty Petunias

A plant of the nightshade family with brightly colored funnel-shaped flowers. Native to tropical America, it has been widely developed as an ornamental hybrid.

Forsythia

Forsythia suspensa has a long history of medicinal use in its Native China and is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs in Chinese herbology. Forsythia fruit is combined with another backyard favorite, honeysuckle, in one of the most widely used cold remedies in China. 

Preparation Methods & Dosage :The dried fruit is used in teas, and extracts, the powdered form is found in capsules. 

 The fruit of this olive relative is used to treat colds, viral infections, and fevers in traditional Chinese medicine.

 Forsythia sticks are used to bow a Korean string instrument called ajaeng.

Driftwood Sculptures at the waterfront, amongst natures sculptures, make interesting pictures.

The Boathouse & Boardwalk Are A Good Place To Visit When The Rhododendrons Bloom On The Waterfront. This photo was Awarded Photo of the Day on Capture My Vermont, for May 22, 2017.

Swinging Amongst The Rhododendrons

Beautiful Girls Amongst The Rhododendrons

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.