Welcome to WildeHerb!

Hello! Welcome to WildeHerb!

WildeHerb.com is destined to become a sort of online catalog of our little mountain top world. Rural, country, in-the-sticks, or just plain backwoods – we love it, and we’re putting down roots.

Living in south-central Pennsylvania we are privileged to have many of the trees common to areas both to our north and to our south, which makes for interesting scenery and plant life. Our location is far enough inland that we avoid many of the Nor-easter storms that bring extremely heavy snows to our southeastern neighbors. We are also protected from Great Lakes snows by being situated on the eastern edge of the Tuscarora Mountain. Our little slice of heaven is high above the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers, so the scenery makes for some beautiful drives.

How did I get the WildeHerb idea? Well, one early Spring day a few years back, while taking a break from my graduate studies, a friend suggested that I tag along to see the woodland flowers on a trail nearby. I had never observed such delicate and beautiful flowers as the early Spring blossoms that were popping up all around us. That day I started a new hobby — wildflower walks!

The wonder and amazement of seeing such beautiful blossoms among the brown leaves on the forest floor was awe-inspiring. My friend knew their names and had favorite trails from which to see her favorite posies. I was impressed by the whole uplifting experience. And believe it when I say that during the final stages of completing a graduate degree, one needs a place to let their mind wander away from the books and the latest research hurdles to be overcome.

Anyway, I am excited to see what new plants I can find and photograph this year. Expect to find lots of nature pictures here at WildeHerb.com as I add to this blog. By now I have learned quite a few names of the early Spring woodland flowers and seek to learn more about them and their uses that extend beyond their beauty. From my woodland flower walks I have developed an interest in aromatic and medicinal herbs, and quite naturally, will be gardening beside them again, very soon.

The name, wildeherb, came from a love of herbal plants and the notion that they are naturally from the wild. The “e” in the middle could mean e-Herb, which fits nicely with this online blog, but was originally thought of as a tribute to Wilde, as in Oscar. I was fortunate to see Vincent Price perform a one-man play that brought Wilde’s witticism to my heart. I will always remember the tone of the performance – it was one of inspiration! Before me was a man that I had admired in those old scary movies, but he was playing the part of a literary wit with that softly-haunting voice. A fitting tribute to Oscar, I think, that Vincent was playing his role. Indeed, Mr. Price was simply superb that evening!

Something that I learned that night during the play was that one must be true to oneself, as if Vincent was being true to himself by playing a character who was ostracized from society. I feel some commonality with Vincent and Oscar in my self-imposed exile here on the mountain top. So, my tribute to Oscar, Vincent, and the many queer performers and artists that have gone before us, is this blog — WildeHerb.com — a collection of wild herb and wildflower sightings.

15 thoughts on “Welcome to WildeHerb!”

  1. Thank you for such nice comments, Beth. There is so much to learn about the wildflowers all around us. I really do find that pictures are worth a thousand words! Good luck with your wildflowerhunter blog!

  2. Thanks, here at your site I found out that holly berries are not poisonious to pheasants, I had a young female come and cleaned every berry off my bush and I know they are poisonious, I was concerned and looked at alot of other sites and no answer!!!… Thanks again great site, nice pics….

  3. It seems that animals have a sixth sense that tells them what they can or shouldn’t eat.

    Every year my father complains that the deer ate the red berries from his holly bushes – so they must be relished by other critters, too.

    Thanks for the nice comments and stop by again!

  4. thanks for the facts ..really beautiful place ,I posted a picture of our Yucca plant as it grows here. you will see it is a far cry from what your country grows.

  5. As a matter of fact, just this past week dear ‘ole Dad let me know that he caught a robin sitting in one of his holly bushes on the morning that the red berries seemed to all disappear.

    Perhaps a lot of our other feathered friends enjoy eating holly berries, too.

  6. Hello flower,
    I couldn’t see the yucca image on your site – but maybe that’s because I didn’t recognize it ;)?!

    Your flower arrangements are similar to what we can buy here in the U.S.A. with the exception of the baskets of flowers and fruit together. Never saw that before! Very interesting!!

    Thank you for the nice comments. Stop by again!

  7. Hey!

    i’ve just uploaded a demo version of complete natural herbal remedies database: http://www.herbsinlatvia.com
    Please check it out if you’re interested! Any comments and suggestions are very welcome!
    Additionally forums with lots of Q&A are to be launched soon so see you there!

    Warm regards!

    Janina Veisola

  8. Hey Janina!

    Looking good!

    Check out your search feature – right now its giving out a 405 error “method not allowed – The requested method POST is not allowed for the URL /index.html.”

    You also might want to add a webmaster link or some other way of contacting you.

    Good luck and keep smiling!

  9. Thanks Wilde for suggestions! 🙂

    Yeah! Your right! I’ll try to fix these problems!

    Smiling for ever!

    Take care!

  10. Hello, I am a caterer and I have a client who has a request. I am looking for Ground cherries or Husk tomatoes. I am in Bloomfield Hills Michigan and I can’t find them anywhere. I also would like to grow them for next year. I have had the and they were GREAT but do not have a source here. I have gone to the farmers markets and had no luck. Can I buy them from you when they are ready and also seeds??? I am hoping you can help me. Thank You Mary Ann

  11. Hey Mary Ann,
    The harvest is looking promising, but I’m pretty sure I won’t have enough to be your supplier as a caterer. We can keep in contact via email to see what we can work out. Seeds are a go, but we’ll have to wait and see about enough fruit.
    Thanks for asking!

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