Month: September 2006

Driving along the country roads in South Central Pennsylvania in September we see lots of pretty views of yellow goldenrods and purple asters. The scene of a fallow field can be quite beautiful with the natural colors of these native plants shining in the sunlight.

Purple asters along a Pennsylvania country road.

Goldenrod comes in many varieties and most have dazzling, yellow flower stalks. Some are plume-like, while others are flat-topped, club-shaped, or shaped like the branches of an elm tree. There are at least 60 kinds of goldenrod, or Solidago, in the Northeast and Northcentral North America, so certain identification is best left to the experts.

Witch hazel trees are the last blooms that I think we’ll see this season, although I was surprised to see one blooming in September. The long-petaled flowers look a little scraggly. No sepals visible, just thin yellow petals.

I remember last November, as we tromped through the woods in search of the perfect white pine for a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, that we saw a whole stand of blooming witch hazel trees. I’ll be on the lookout for them again this year!

Maple-leaved viburnum is sporting its berries now, too. The black viburnum berries may be a good food source for the birds that stay around during the winter, although I have seen in year’s past that some of the berries last through the winter.

Maple-leaved viburnum provides berries in the oak forest.

Black berries of Maple-Leaved Viburnum.

Some really pretty purple and white asters that we planted at the wood’s edge are starting to bloom now.

Buzzer visits the pretty white flowers.

We are fortunate to have a few native orchids on the property. It is a delight to take a walk in the woods and see these orchids growing in their natural habitat.

Rattlesnake-plantain flowered this summer and all that is left are seed stalks. The rattlesnake-plantains are orchids with their white and dark green checkered leaves arranged in a basal rosette.

Rattlesnake-plantain flowered this summer leaving behind a seed stalk.

Rattlesnake-plantain leaves are easily noted for the white lines that criss-cross a dark green background.

Partridgeberry, Mitchella repens, is a creeping perennial on the oak forest floor. Partridgeberry produced twin flowers in July-August and now has red berries that should last through the winter. The rounded leaves are in pairs opposite one another. The leaf or berry tea was used historically for many female complaints, which earned partridgeberry the nickname Squaw Vine.

Not too many wild herbs are flowering near the end of September. One exception is the group called ‘thoroughworts’ of the Compositae family.

In open areas of the woods and along the lane the white flowers of White Snakeroot can be seen. Native Americans used white snakeroot as a poultice for snakebites and hence the name stuck.

The herb and roots were used for a variety of other ailments, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Drinking the milk from cows that have eaten the herb can be fatal to humans!

Haven’t seen this before…the star magnolia has produced some berries. The little tree is about 5-6 feet tall and 8-9 years old. It flowered beautifully in very early spring. The number of blossoms was twice that of the previous year. The year before that there was only one blossom. Now this small decorative magnolia tree is showing several groups of two or three red-orange berries. What a nice surprise!

Star magnolia sporting orange berries and a winter bud for a new blossom next year.

False Soloman’s Seal is heavy with bright red berries. The terminal cluster of berries is so heavy it weighs the tip of the plant down to the ground. Perfect for repopulating the area with more soloman’s seal plants for next year. The berries are practically on the ground, so many critters would have easy access to them as a food source.

It is really wonderful to have some culinary herbs planted near the front door. Volunteer basil plants sprang up this spring where we planted some basil last year. Periodically the tops are snipped back or leaves are harvested for the kitchen.

Basil bunches provide leaves for pesto pasta sauce.

Borage sprouted out of my herb planting disaster after I dumped the flats in the garden. It’s really starting to flower now that September is here and gone. The bright blue flowers are almost a cornflower blue. Borage would look stunning as an edge plant around a flowerbed.

Borage volunteered in the garden to show off its blue flowers.

The giant blue hyssop did not reach giant status this year, maybe next year. The flowers are not so blue now, but you can see that many flowers are packed closely together on the terminal spikes. Toss one of these on a salad or dinner plate for an anise-tasting treat of a different consistency. The flower heads have a spongy sort of feel when you bite down. The anise flavor doesn’t quite appear at first taste, but rather comes along as you chew the leaves or flowers. Quite nice as a palate cleanser.

Today we harvested the Walla Walla onions from the garden because the tops had died back sufficiently. The once green tails are now brown and dried. The excess dirt was brushed off taking care not to remove the outer layers of skin. The tops were cut back to a couple inches in length.

The onions were placed on a plastic sheet in a protected area that receives sun. The warmth will help to dry the onions for winter storage. Next year, I think we’ll plant two flats of these sweet onions – they are really delicious!

Drying the Walla Walla onions – each onion will be set apart so that no onion touches another while drying.

The weather forecast calls for a snap of cold air, not a frost yet, but cold enough to stop the growth of the Zone 11 Stevia. I harvested the Stevia from the garden, just before it would begin to flower. I considered bringing in the plant to overwinter it, but decided to get a new plant next year instead.

To harvest the Stevia Sweet Herb I used a pair of pruners to cut near the base of each stem that was 2-4 feet tall. I gathered two or three stems together and tied them with twine at the base. The twine was about 2 feet longer than needed for tying the branches together so that it could be used for hanging the herbs.

The herbs were taken to the “drying attic” where we have some spare room set aside just for the purpose of drying herbs. In the center of the room are rafters that the herbs are strung along.

The walls and ceiling of the drying attic are completely finished so there is no worry of loose insulation or anything contaminating the plants stored there. A really nice feature in this attic is the thermostat-controlled exhaust fan. If the temperature gets too hot or cold the thermostat kicks the fan on to bring in some fresh air.

The drying attic with dried herbs hanging near the exhaust fan.

The length of twine holding the Stevia branches together was looped over the rafter with one hand while the other hand held the Stevia bundle so it wouldn’t hit the floor. One hand tied the twine in a couple overhang knots to secure it in place in an upside-down position. This job would be a little easier with an extra hand, but I managed to do it ok by myself. Remember, the herbs will be getting light as they dry so you don’t need to tie expert knots.