Autumn has brought out the beauty in the “Bone Yard” of my garden as my blossoms turn into seeds.
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Change.”“This week, show us a change in progress. This can be done in one or multiple photos — we’ll let you decide!”
Pic-Monkey is a terrific site for adding special effects to photographs.
Echinacea is a terrific supplement for enhancing your immune responses. I like to use Echinacea in tea form. The warmth of the brew seems so much more conducive to believing you are being boosted than popping a supplement. The taste is rather nondescript, so to enhance and cool the tea, I add a splash of my favorite fruit juice.
There are some precautions on who should take Echinacea. The University of Maryland has a good article on the do’s and don’ts of using Echinacea.
Echinacea is also a terrific garden plant, and one of the workhorses of my gardens. Not only are they beautiful when cloaked in their summertime blossoms…
They also form attractive seedpods that help supplement the diet of local birds all through the winter. I think they are beautiful dappled with yesterday’s light snowfall.
My Echinacea grows best in 6 -8 hours of sun per day. Planted near the birdfeeder, the plant provides both a meal and a resting place for birds throughout the entire year.
Blue Cardinal Flower (Lobelia siphilitica) is a perennial lobelia. The flowers bloom in late summer. I love this plant, and if you saw my gardens at the moment you would not need an explanation as to why; the plant is growing EVERYWHERE! I started out with one plant over twenty years ago. Blue cardinal flower produces large amounts of seed, microscopic, they make up for their size by plenitude, hundreds upon hundreds of seeds in each pod. Each blossom develops a seed pod. You can imagine the millions of progeny that have been distributed in my garden beds over the years. I have also helped them out and broken pods over each and every flower bed on my property.
Yesterday I spotted a hummingbird sipping nectar from a blue cardinal flower growing in the front garden. I was ecstatic, I thought the small winged creatures had already left for warmer climates. Blue cardinal flower is an excellent hummingbird plant.
Excuse the quality of the goldfinch photograph. The moment was captured through my window screen. Goldfinches are feasting on the seedpods of my echinacea plants. They quickly flutter away anytime I try to approach them with camera in tow. Echinacea is the workhorse of my garden.
Beautiful, and full of goodness also, Echinacea is a tried and true herbal remedy. The maturing seedpods draw Goldfinches. Attracting Goldfinches is always a desire of those who watch birds.
Cockscomb (Celosia cristata), what a beautiful plant, is a perfect choice for an Autumn ornamental. I purchased this plant from a farm market this week. It is a perfect disguise for plants that are beginning to wane and fade away.
Happy Gardening!
I’ve added a new widget to my blog sidebar – “Garden Bouquet.” I thought it would be fun to display an ever-changing bouquet of what is blooming at any given time. Right now, daisies are having their “hey-day” in my flower beds. This bouquet features Echinacea, a Gerbera, and a few Black-eyed Susans. I’ve also added a stem of Four O’Clock, Violet leaves, Vinca vines, and some sprigs of Lavender and Verbena bonariensis.
By the way, after I succumbed to the big writing “no-no” of using a cliche , I wondered where the phrase “hey-day” originated. According to English Language and Usage “hey-day” has its origins here:
Hey·day [hey-dey] noun
1. The stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, etc.; prime: the heyday of the vaudeville stars.
2. Archaic . high spirits.
Black-Eyed Susan
Echinacea
Shasta Daisy
Do you see the ant?
Gebera
MINDING MY P'S WITH Q 