By Karen Cohen
Wild Things
As we travel the roads that line family farm fields and rural routes, we notice the abundance of flowers in summer that dot the scenery. Just yesterday on the way to Lake Sherwood, I quickly recognized indigenous plants that I knew by name; they are prolific and common here in Greenbrier Valley. Here’s a sampling of what you can find right now.
Blue chicory was originally native to Europe and was introduced to the Americas by European explorers and settlers. It is a member of the aster family. It grows around here without any help of fertilizers and has bright blue small flowers and toothed leaves. Bees, butterflies, and flies feed on it and it is drought tolerant. Most folks don’t know that this whole plant is edible. Go out and pick some where there isn’t a ton of car exhaust hitting the plants. The chicory leaves are bitter; it’s best to harvest them young and tender. Italy flavors their fava bean dishes with these wild leaves and Greeks serve up a salad of the leaves with a splash of olive oil and lemon juice. Chicory roots can be dried and ground up for adding to beverages.
At our house, we add a tablespoon of chicory coffee to our daily coffee press. If you’ve been to Nawlins, you probably have popped into the famous Cafe Du Monde which serves up their version of coffee and chicory blend. It is delicious and you can even order a container of it online. The root of the chicory plant contains insulins, vitamins, and beneficial oils; it adds a bitter coffee flavor to beverages. The only note of caution is that chicory stimulates bile production, avoid it if you have gallstones. The pro side is that it can help to maintain healthy blood pressure and help with sleep because it does not contain caffeine.
Joe Pye Weed, also called Queen of the Meadow, is another herbaceous and beautiful plant of the aster family. It is an American native perennial plant. It grows five to twelve feet tall and blooms tiny pink and purple flowers in large clusters at the top. It prefers moist soil. Find it in abundance near streams or drainage ditches. Add it to your garden as a no fuss background plant. You can propagate it from digging up the roots in spring or fall. Plant the roots full sun or partially shady spot; it has no specific soil preference. If you harvest seeds from a wild plant, you will need to cold stratify them by storing them in the refrigeration for at least a month. Then plant directly or in a starter mix. They are very easy to grow, are deer resistant, and their bloom period lasts for months-summer into fall.
Fun facts: Joe Pye weed is actually named after a Mohican chief, Joseph Shauquethquet, nicknamed Joe Pye from New England in the 1800’s who used the plant medicinally as a tea to save his entire colony from typhus fever. The nectar is loved by pollinators and has the fragrance similar to vanilla; it is not poisonous. Herbalists use the roots as a tea to treat gallstones and fluid retention.
Jimson Weed, or Devil’s Weed, another common roadside plant found more commonly near barns. Warning: it is highly poisonous for humans and animals including livestock. Ingesting it can cause hallucinations, coma, seizures and not often, death. It is easily identified by its large white trumpet shaped flowers that produce spiny pods in the fall. Eradicate it by hand weeding with gloves on or pile on a heavy top dressing of wood chip/mulch to block out sunlight and prevent seeds from sprouting. The sap may cause skin rashes, take care when handling it. Bag it up, don’t burn it and take it to the landfill.
IronWeed, or Vernonia fasciculata, another perennial member of the aster family, grows up to eight feet tall with intense purple blooms that attract butterflies. You will see it in unmowed fields and deer won’t eat it. It is not poisonous and was used medicinally long ago by the Native Americans. Butterflies, especially monarchs, love the nectar. You can buy seeds or dig up the rhizomes and replant them in the back areas of your garden to add noticeable color. Adding these common flowering plants to your own garden is an easy way to get the pollinators to visit with hardly any effort on your part. Why not take natural beauty that grows wild and spread it around!
Karen Cohen is an organic growers of vegetables, flowers, and plants. Please send her your tips, comments, ideas to natureswaykaren@gmail.com and Happy Growing.