Sunday, May 26, 2013

Mystery plant + Instant gratification with pineapple coleus


The wheels. There are lots of things growing here, from left, lemon balm, bee balm, the pot with the woodbine and pineapple coleus, more bee balm, and Golden Alexander.Close-up of the new pot (a gift) with coleus and woodbine in it. (This would be formatted a lot better, if I knew more about how blogger works.)



Mystery plant I spotted on the highway. Yes, I pulled over, backed up and took pics. It's who I am. It's about shin-tall. 

UPDATE! It's common scurvy-grass, cochlearia officinalis! Thanks to ValRay Town for the ID!

 Just a close-up.



Golden Alexander Zizea aurea.
They say the flowers are good in salads if you remove the main stem. It's said a tea of the root can be used as a fever reducer. It ALSO says it likes moist woods, which answers my question on why it's not really big after 6 years. I have full sun, little shade, and it has done well each year, but not enough to divide or harvest. Learn something new every day!

2 comments:

Red Road Herbs said...

The plant in question looks to be Inland Ceanothus, from the Buckthorn family, a relative of New Jersey Tea. "blossoms occur in a showy, dense cluster called a panicle. The leaves are ovate, or egg-shaped with fine serrations" What do you think?

raptorrunner said...

http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/ancient/wild-food-entry.php?term=Common%20Scurvy-grass

Not totally sure. Should have taken a plant and pressed it.