Thursday, September 4, 2008

A Blizzard of Flowers

The Doctrine of Signatures says that a plant’s appearance tells you for what it can be used. My observation is that some plants predict the coming season. For instance, the bright colors of crocuses foretells the riot of summer color. The warm yellow of the daffodils foretells the increasing warmth of the sun’s rays. The exquisite perfume of roses foretells the fragrance of summer blossoms. In the fall, the airy white flowers of the Eupatorium look just like the coming snowstorms of winter. At least until the advent of Global Warming.

Eupatorium is a native plant which is just a polite term for weed. Now that I have a healthy clump of it established in my yard, probably courtesy of the birds, it is popping up all over. This is a good thing. Not only do I love flowers that readily self-sow, but its umbrelliferous flowers attract beneficial insects.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have a native white eupatorium here in western PA that we call boneset. It looks a little wilder than yours. It was thought to heal broken bones.

OldRoses said...

There are a couple of white eupatoriums (eupatoria?). The boneset has leaves that are joined at the stem, surrounding it. The leaves on the one in my yard don't do that so it is another variety.

ThrtnWmsFam said...

Your photography is wonderful. I don't usually grow non-food plants and even for my food stuffs I often forget my camera inside the house, but just wanted to say ... bravo!! Keep it up. Vikki near Denver, CO // www.thorntonwilliamsfamily.blogspot.com

OldRoses said...

Thanks for the lovely compliment. I try to make it a habit to always bring my camera with me when I'm out in the yard or going somewhere with lots of nature.