Tuesday, September 11, 2007

jewel weed

I promised you an update on the jewel weed. The pics I took last week were alllll blurry. Yesterday I decided to foil the camera and give it *only* the jewel weed to focus on (rather than letting it get carried away by its facination for the ground, say). I took a manilla folder out with me.............

You can see its leetle pod..... The flowers are about an inch long, so you can tell that pod is tiny.







When I was taking the jewel weed pics, I noticed this other volunteer.

It doesn't have enough sun to do anything, and it's far too late in the season for a tomato plant this small to do anything, anyway.

I miss my garden. (The spot in the back yard in which I used to grow peas, beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers has been so overgrown by trees that it is too shady to grow vegetables.)





One thing I love about fall is that I am allowed to pick up the color and bring it home.

People tend to frown upon you if you pick their flowers (and with good reason!), but no one minds when you pick up autumn leaves and bring them home. This is the first leaf to come home with me this year.

5 comments:

734elizabeths said...

When the jewelweed pods are ripe they pop open - kaboom - at the slightest touch.

I need orange said...

I read that. :-)

I read that if one wants to collect seed, one better bring a paper bag.......

I was thinking I'd try to take some seed out behind the garage. I moved some daylilies out there, when they were digging up the end of my driveway, but it's pretty sparse at this point.....

If the pod were bigger, I could imagine putting a bag around them in advance, but they are so teeny......

I'm hoping I can save some pods for tiny little assemblage, assuming they hold their shape when dry..........

Anonymous said...

Really lovely photo of the single stem!

Anonymous said...

I haven't been by in a while. I have so much to see here. You've been busy!
Jewelweed is the antidote for poison ivy. An old mountain woman told me this, and once when I was elbow deep in the ivy, I washed off, and slathered jewelweed juice from the crushed watery stems (very like aloe vera) all over my arms, and got no poison ivy. I was surprised, but quite pleased!

I need orange said...

There we have it, folks, an actual arm-witness report. :-)

I do hope it continues to grow in my yard!