#hemp dogbane

[kitpikz]

Hemp Dogbane

[dvoeverie-stitches]

Wetlands Walk Part 2

New alder cones are starting to develop

More poisonous plants, Carolina horsenettle is a variety of nightshade, and hemp dogbane,which is not just poisonous to dogs, but humans too—and the sap can cause skin blisters!

Canadian meadow garlic, use like chives, medicinal for colds and flu; I gathered a little bit yesterday. It is a different variety than the allium vineale I was gathering in the foothills, so I’ll have to let you know what I think.

I’m keeping an eye on the native black cherries to make wild fermented cordial (😋 🤤), and willow fluff.

The trail was cleared since the last time we attempted to walk it, when much of the trail was blocked by downed trees from a bad spring thunderstorm.

Daisy fleabane, woodpecker holes, tickseed

I love watching the reflections from the water.

[untamed-mi]

[vandaliatraveler]

It was oppressively and unnecessarily hot today - in the low 90′s - so I eschewed any grand adventures and made homemade salsa instead with batches of newly-ripened goodies from my tomato and pepper pots. My sole foray outside was a mid-morning hike around Fairfax Pond-Rehe Wildlife Management Area, whose beautiful, interconnected ponds and waterways seemed right for the occasion. Swamp rose (Rosa palustris) is a bit past peak now, and riddled with Japanese beetles, but it makes a grand display starting in early July.

From top: swamp rose, a native perennial shrub that forms dense, colorful thickets along streambanks and ponds; rose milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), another wetlands-loving perennial with high-wildlife value; Allegheny monkeyflower (Mimulus ringens), an adorable colonizer with whimsical, double-lipped flowers; blue vervain (Verbena hastata), also known swamp verbena, a graceful, moisture loving perennial whose flowering spikes bloom from the bottom up; a silvery checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) cooling its jets on Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum), also known as hemp dogbane; fringed loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata), yet another wetlands-loving perennial, whose droopy yellow flowers are quite beguiling; six-spotted fishing spider (Dolomedes triton), also sometimes referred to as dock spider for its habit of rapidly vanishing between the cracks of boat docks; and a male widow skimmer ((Libellula luctuosa) finding the perfect perch for scouting females and prey. 

[untamed-mi]

5/28/26

[dvoeverie-stitches]

Afternoon foraging

Spent part of the afternoon foraging passionflower leaves and came across some pretty wildflowers: climbing dogbane, hemp dogbane. Queen Anne’s lace, and purple lobelia