Bee Visiting Lobelia Flowers

Bee Visiting Lobelia Flowers

Bee Collecting Pollen

Hugging That Flower

Great Blue LOBELIA 

(Lobelia siphilitica) is a plant whose above ground parts are used to make medicine. The main parts used of the Lobelia plant are the flowering parts and the seeds.

Lobelia is used for breathing problems including asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough, and shortness of breath (apnea) in newborn infants. Some people take lobelia as a sedative to help them relax. Other people use it to increase sweating.

Lobelia is applied to the skin for muscle pain, joint lumps associated with rheumatoid arthritis (rheumatic nodules), bruises, sprains, insect bites, poison ivy, and ringworm.

Lobelia (Lobelia inflata) or Indian tobacco is an herbal remedy recommended for addressing acute asthma symptoms. It has a long history of use by Native Americans who smoked lobelia as treatment for asthma. The name Indian Tobacco was assigned because the Aboriginal people smoked dried leaves of the plant. Historically, the Aboriginal people were very creative and efficient in using the Lobelia plant for medicinal purposes. The Iroquois used the root to treat leg sores, venereal diseases and ulcers. The Cherokees used a poultice of the root for body aches. They also used the plant for boils, sores, bites and stings. Considered a plant to cure asthma, phthisic (lung disease), croup and a sore throat, it was also used to discourage the presence of gnats. The Crows made use of it in religious ceremonies. In the 19th century, American physicians used lobelia to provoke vomiting as a means of removing toxins from the body. For this reason, it has also been called "puke weed."

The reason you've heard lobelia described as a toxic herb is that high doses cause serious effects: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, profuse sweating, tremors, rapid heartbeat, mental confusion, convulsions, hypothermia, coma, and possibly death.  

It is important to begin with lower dosages and increase the dosage over a period of time.It is also imperative that you never surpass a dosage of 20 mg per day. If you consume a dosage higher than 500 mg, it could be fatal. Lobelia can be taken in a few different forms. It can be given as a vinegar tincture or a regular tincture, as a fluid extract, or as a dried herb for teas or in capsules. It is preferred that the dried herb be mixed in eight ounces of water with other herbs but not necessarily recommended as the best way of consuming it due to its pungent taste.

If you want to try lobelia as a home remedy for a mild asthma attack: Mix three parts tincture of lobelia with one part tincture of capsicum (red pepper, cayenne pepper). Take 20 drops of the mixture in water at the start of an asthmatic attack. Repeat every 30 minutes for a total of three or four doses. But remember that asthma can be a serious health condition and that herbal remedies like lobelia are not substitutes for standard medical treatments. I strongly recommend that people with asthma work closely with an integrative medicine practitioner for optimal care and advice about effective alternative therapies.

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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.

Dahlia Delight

Dahlias

The Dahlia Flower’s Message Is…Celebrate what makes you different. Seek out the new pleasures in life and keep moving through the challenges instead of letting them hold you back. Discover what the world holds for you, and watch out for pitfalls along the way. Pink symbolizes kindness and grace.

Beautiful On A Pink Dahlia

Dahlias In Lovely Peachy Colors

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You can see more of my creations at:

 

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© 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.

Cone Flowers

Tall Cone Flowers 
reaching for the sky!

Purple Cone Flowers
also known as Echinacea. Echinacea's name is rooted in the Greek word “echinos,” meaning "hedgehog," because of its spiny seed head. Technically speaking, this thick and spiky cone is actually hundreds of flowers, all tightly packed together. The entire plant can be used for its immune boosting properties. The purple ray flowers attach to a round, high and spiky cone – hence the common name “purple coneflower.” Technically speaking, this thick and spiky cone is actually hundreds of more flowers, all tightly packed together.

Bumblebee On Echinacea

Bumblebee On Echinacea

Bumblebee On Echinacea

Black Swallowtail Butterfly On Echinacea

Monarch Butterfly On Echinacea

Monarch Butterfly On Echinacea

Monarch Butterfly On Echinacea

Monarch Butterfly On Echinacea

Monarch Butterfly On Echinacea

Red Admiral Butterfly On Echinacea

Red Admiral Butterfly On Echinacea

Red Admiral Butterfly On Echinacea

White Admiral Butterfly On Echinacea

White Admiral Butterfly On Echinacea

Spotted Skipper Butterfly On Echinacea

Green Twister Echinacea

                                              Santa Fe Echinacea

You can see more of my creations at:

 

linktr.ee/elisecreations

or

https://elisecreate.wixsite.com/mysite

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.

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.

Barns Of Vermont 2025

Barnyard Flowers 

There's just something about Golden Glows & Hollyhocks growing next to an old barn.

My photographs are available for purchase

You can see more of my creations at:

 

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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. 

 

Interesting Insects

Lichen Moth

(Lycomorpha Pholus) on Bush Honeysuckle. Some lichen moths have evolved to mimic poisonous insects as a way to avoid being eaten.

Colorado Potato Beetle

Hoverfly On Agrimony

Leaf footed Bug

Acanthocephala terminalis On Lilac

Assassin Bug Nymph

Katydid 

or bush cricket, & A Bee On Hibiscus
In my garden.

Hoverfly On Agrimony

Blue Black Wasp 

On Coreopsis

Black Beetle

Big Black Beetle on St John's Wort plant. If you know what kind of beetle this is, please tell me.

Dogbane Beetle

Western Conifer Seed Bug

The Western Conifer Seed Bug feeds on the sap of developing conifer cones throughout its life, and its sap-sucking causes the developing seeds to wither and misdevelop. It is therefore considered a minor tree pest in North America.

Grapevine Beetle 

or Spotted June Beetle on grapevine leaves.

Orange-collared Scape Moth 

(Cisseps fulvicollis)

on Goose Neck Loosetrife (Lysimachia clethroides)

It has long black wings, an abdomen of iridescent blue, and a bright yellow or orange collar, from which it takes its name. It's other common name is, Yellow-Collared Scape Moth.

The Yellow or Orange-collared Scape Moth is widespread in North America.

Habitat includes fields with flowers as adults are commonly seen visiting flowers during the day, while they also fly at night and are attracted to light.

Season for the adults is from May to October or until the first hard frost.

Adults feed on goldenrod and other small nectar bearing flowers.

The larvae feed on grasses, lichens, and spike-rushes.

Green Tiger Beetle 

(Cicindela sexguttata)
The green tiger beetle is a large beetle with a metallic-green body, long blue-green spindly legs, and long, serrated antennae, and large mandibles. This common green ground beetle is also called the six-spotted green tiger beetle due to the recognizable cream-colored spots on its elytra.
The sizable, fast-moving shiny green tiger beetle grows up to 0.55” (14 mm). It is typically found in deciduous forests, feeding on small arthropods like caterpillars, spiders, and ants. The green tiger beetle is one of the fastest ground beetles and will fly if necessary.

Ladybug On A Wet Canna Leaf

Ladybugs also known as Ladybird beetles, Lady beetles, Ladybirds, or Lady cows, can have as many as 16 spots, but some ladybugs have no spots at all. One of the most common ladybugs is the seven-spotted lady beetle. It has seven black spots on its back.

While most ladybugs are good, there is one nonnative species that people don’t like. The Asian lady beetle was introduced in California in 1916. Today it’s more common in the East.

A ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids a day. They also eat Mites, Whiteflies, Scale insects, Mealybugs, & Thrips. This makes them valuable allies for farmers and gardeners. Their presence in an ecosystem is a sign of a healthy and diverse environment. Ladybugs not only provide natural pest control benefits to humans, but also serve as a vital food source for other insects, birds, and small mammals. By maintaining a delicate balance in the ecosystem, ladybugs promote stability and overall well-being.

Females will lay up to 1,000 eggs within a few months, generally from spring to early summer.

Ladybugs usually protect themselves from predators by either playing dead or they secrete a fluid from their legs to make themselves taste bad.

You can find out about 6,000 different species of ladybugs around the world. There are about 500 species in the United States alone.

It is a myth about ladybugs is that you can tell their age by their number of spots.

The Most Interesting Caterpillar I've seen is the Io moth (pronounced as EYE-oh), Also known as the peacock moth. The name Io comes from Greek mythology in which Io was a mortal lover of Zeus. Once hatched, these caterpillars begin feeding voraciously on the leaves of their host plants. They consume a wide range of vegetation, including oak, holly, boxelder, elm, maple, aspen, alder, hickory, willow, locust, cherry, pear, sassafras, and sweetgum trees, as well as others. These caterpillars go through several instars, shedding their skin as they grow, becoming more robust and colorful as they progress through these stages. It has venomous spines that provide protection against potential predators. Do not handle Io Moth caterpillars, as its poisonous spines causes skin irritation and a lot of pain.

My photographs are available for purchase

You can see more of my creations at:

 

linktr.ee/elisecreations

or

https://elisecreate.wixsite.com/mysite

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. 

 

Late Summer Wild Flowers

Golden Wildflowers In Late Summer In Monkton. 

Golden Wildflowers In Late Summer In Monkton. 

Cattails, Goldenrod & Joe Pye Weed

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.

Monarch Butterflys

Monarch On Echinacea
Danaus plexippus on Echinacea purpurea.
The entire plant can be used for its immune boosting properties. The purple ray flowers attach to a round, high and spiky cone, hence the common name, purple coneflower. Technically speaking, this thick and spiky cone is actually hundreds of flowers, all tightly packed together. Echinacea's name is rooted in the Greek word “echinos,” meaning "hedgehog," because of its spiny seed head. 

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar
On Milkweed.
Which end is which on this Monarch Caterpillar On Milkweed. Monarchs can’t survive without milkweed. They need it to lay their eggs on and their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants. The monarch butterfly population is in danger because milkweed plants are disappearing, due to loss of habitat stemming from land development and the widespread spraying of weed killer on the fields where they live. We can help monarchs by growing milkweed in our yards, fields, and gardens.

Monarch Butterfly On Echinacea 11

Monarch Butterfly On Echinacea 17

Monarch Butterfly On Purple Loosetrife

Whatever they say about Purple Loosestrife being invasive, I still think it's pretty. It is not nearly as destructive to habitats as it is often made out to be and it has a bunch of medicinal uses. 

There is a fascinating article about it at:

https://www.herbcraft.org/plants/loosestrife

Purple loosestrife offers great potential as a valuable and useful medicinal, possessing an admirable balance of astringent and mucilaginous properties. This may seem odd if you think of astringents as being drying and mucilage as being moistening, but  astringents do not dehydrate tissues, they tighten and restore tone to them, and in doing they lessen oversecretion. So purple loosestrife restores tone to tissues while also bathing them in a soothing mucilage, which eases inflammation and ensures lubrication. Including more leaves and stems in preparations yields a more astringent medicine, while collecting mostly the flowering spikes increases the presence of mucilage in water based preparations. 

This plant appropriate for diarrhea, bacterial or amoebic dysentery, enteritis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), leaky gut syndrome and as a gargle for sore throats. Perhaps most practical among these possibilities is the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery. Purple loosestrife tightens the tissues and therefore helps to quell the looseness of the bowels, while at the same time doing much to soothe the irritated tissues. In addition, research has suggested that loosestrife is markedly antibacterial, and so may help to combat any infection while simultaneously healing the tissues and relieving the distressing symptoms of such complaints. It's highly effective against candida albicans.The herb can also be used as a vaginal douche for leucorrhea and bacterial vaginosis, and as a nasal douche for nose bleeds. Topically the ointment is used for ulcers and sores and a poultice is soothing to bruises, abrasions and irritated skin. The stems can be used as chewing sticks to prevent bleeding gums caused by gingivitis. Purple loosestrife also provides an excellent eyewash for soothing dry eyes, or any ophthalmic irritation or infection characterized by dryness. 

Monarch Butterfly - Danaus plexippus on purple asters.

New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae). Another plant to ease wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tension and congestion.

Monarch Butterfly on purple asters.

Monarch Butterfly On Butterfly Weed
Danaus plexippus on Asclepias tuberosa, a species of milkweed native to eastern North America.

Monarchs can’t survive without milkweed. They need it to lay their eggs on and their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants. The monarch butterfly population is in danger because milkweed plants are disappearing, due to loss of habitat stemming from land development and the widespread spraying of weed killer on the fields where they live. We can help monarchs by growing milkweed in our yards, fields, and gardens.

                         

(Danaus plexippus) on purple cone flower.

Echinacea purpurea. Echinacea's name is rooted in the Greek word “echinos,” meaning "hedgehog," because of its spiny seed head.

Monarch Butterfly On Echinacea, 

From A Different Angle
This photo was Awarded Capture My Vermont, Photo of the Day, for August 17, 2018.

Monarch Butterfly On Goldenrod

Monarch Butterfly On Milkweed 

This photo was Awarded Capture My Vermont, Photo of the Day, for July 20, 2018.

Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed. They need it to lay their eggs on and their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants, which is why I always let some milkweed grow in my garden. The monarch butterfly population is in danger because milkweed plants are rapidly disappearing, due to loss of habitat stemming from land development and the widespread spraying of weed killer on the fields where they live. We can help monarchs by growing milkweed in our yards, fields, and gardens.

Monarch Butterfly On Pine

Monarch Butterfly On Bee Balm

                              
Monarch Butterfly On Young Crabapples

Monarch Butterfly In Flight

Monarch butterfly alert: There are concerns about the alarming decline of the western monarch population, which has plummeted by 95%, from more than 10 million in the 1980s to less than 30,000 in 2018. Insects can bounce back quickly when conditions improve, but unfortunately the numbers were not any better in 2019. A recent census of the wintering sites along the California coast revealed mostly empty trees once festooned with monarchs. The decline is due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and drought triggered by climate change. None of us can turn around those big trends individually, but what each of us can do is make our backyards and public spaces more attractive to monarchs by planting the right milkweed plants. Plant, and they will come! Monarchs can’t survive without milkweed. They need it to lay their eggs on and their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants. The monarch butterfly population is in danger because milkweed plants are disappearing, due to loss of habitat stemming from land development and the widespread spraying of weed killer on the fields where they live. We can help monarchs by growing milkweed in our yards, fields, and gardens.

Monarch butterfly on Blue Billygoat weed
(aka floss flower, bluemink, blueweed, pussy foot, Mexican paintbrush) The easiest way to tell a male monarch butterfly from a female monarch is by looking for two dark spots on the hindwings—the female butterflies don’t have these spots. A female monarch in the wild can lay up to 500 eggs on milkweed plants throughout her lifetime. The adult monarchs you see fluttering through your backyard when the weather’s warm typically live only about 4 or 5 weeks — just long enough to mate and produce the next group. It takes four generations of monarchs to complete their annual migration journey before ending up in your garden again. However, the fourth “super generation” that overwinters in Mexico can live for as long as eight months. Monarch butterflies can flap their wings up to 12 times a second when flying at their fastest. Monarch butterflies fly a long distance during fall migration, farther than any other tropical butterfly—up to 3,000 miles. 

Monarch Butterfly On Purple Vervain

The purpletop vervain or Verbena bonariensis is a perennial originating from South America, but in our latitudes it is not sufficiently hardy and therefore rather short-lived. Therefore it is often used as a summer flower – even though it can grow in the garden for years by self-sowing. Its flowers attract over 40 different species of butterflies!

Monarch On White Zinnia

They say that the name Butterfly is of unknown origin, but I believe that they were originally called Flutterbys, as I like to call them, and that someone (perhaps a child), probably mispronounced it, and it stuck. They are fascinating creatures who take to the air on gossamer wings. They've come to symbolize metamorphosis. These remarkable pollinators display a diversity of colors and patterns.

My photographs are available for purchase

You can see more of my creations at:

 

linktr.ee/elisecreations

or

https://elisecreate.wixsite.com/mysite

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.