Motley Monday - August 11, 2025

Garden Miscellaneous 

 Lovely plump sweet wild blackberries!

Virginia Creeper berries are turning earlier than last year.  That doesn't necessarily mean an early winter, although it can.  It can also be a stress response to heat and drought as a survival mechanism.  I'd love cooler temperatures, but not an early winter! The berries can be eaten by wild birds without issue, but can be harmful to humans.  The berries and leaves contain oxalate crystals which can cause swelling of the tongue and throat, vomiting, diarrhea, and in rare cases difficulty swallowing or breathing due to the swelling of the throat.  Good thing they taste bad and children don't want a second taste!  Pet birds, particularly parakeets, may have reactions as well. 

European Paper Wasp

These invasive wasps made their first appearance in the US in the 1970s in Boston.   It's thought they arrived in cargo or packaging material.  They are aggressive to the native paper wasps, have higher reproductive rates, and voracious appetites. 

Cupid's Dart, Catananche caerulea is a perennial native to Europe.  I bought mine at a local nursery after failing to grow it from seed.  I have tried growing both this blue and the white ones several times.  I worried the plant was dying earlier this summer, but with a bit of extra water it seems to be okay.

The coleus I bought at the FFA sale in April bloomed. I've never had a coleus bloom before.  Did you know coleus is a mint family member?  It is!  It never occurred to me until I saw the flowers and they looked so like my mint family herbs.  One dead give-away that something is a Lamiaceae (mint family) is the square stem. 

 Lamiaceae is a huge family of herbs.  Mint, basil, sage, oregano, catnip, germander, thyme, lavender... some are annuals, others perennials.  Just because they are herbs doesn't mean you can ingest them!  Germander for one is highly toxic.  Others may interact with any medications, so make sure to check before using any herb.

I like garlic chives' white flowers, maybe better than the purple pom-pom onion chives.  The bloom in late summer and early fall.  The leaves are flat rather than the onion chive's round hollow ones.  

Hope you are off to a good week.  It will be over 100° today, yesterday was 106°.  Thursday is my birthday.  Unrelated to that, or maybe not, I need to make an appointment for an eye exam.  I haven't been happy with my sight since I had cataract surgery a few years back.  Nothing I can do about that, it's mostly an issue with needing glasses to do anything related to reading now, when I didn't before.  Plus, what is called 20/20 isn't really all that good!  Old eyes...