Random Narrative

Materia Poetica Sage is wisdom. Sage is wise. Protecting your space with ancestral allies. Salvia officinalis is bitter and savory. Use leaf, root, and flower - their really quite tasty. Sage lives in the house of the mint Family, and it grows in most gardens quite aggressively. White sage is quite sacred to Turtle Island natives, so use garden sage...

Materia Poetica Oh, Goldenrod, Solidago, you’re misunderstood. Your blossoms are pretty and your medicine’s good. With dozens of species hailing from New York state Insects are eager for nectar and pollen on their plates. You bloom in late summer as the sun begins to fade Draw out birds, bees, and butterflies like a nature parade. Huang Hua reduces swelling and...

Materia Poetica (Sung to the tune of, "You Are My Sunshine.") You’re known as Bee Balm, and Wild Bergamot. You make bees happy, when in full bloom. You’re a fast grower, and will take over Just like mint, you need lots of room. Monarda fistulosa is native to the US But named in honor of a botanist in Spain. The Native...

American Red Raspberry, you’re native in the states. For luscious berry treasures, we longingly await. A thorny bush of shelter you motherly provide small plant and animal protection under and inside. When birthing a baby, Fu Pen Zi leaf tea will aid in and shorten a mother’s delivery. Dried Rubus strigosus leaves smell like black tea. There’s no nervous jitter...

Linden, oh linden, you flowering tree You know how to soothe so much nervous in me I pick your sweet flowers to make a nice tea Then you help to soothe me and set my mind free Tilia americana, my sweet smelling trees Your lime blossom qualities really are the bees knees All the stress I experience and trauma I...

Spring is here and so are the bees! Let’s meet one of your friendly neighbors. A bumblebee, also referred to as a bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee, is in the genus Bombus, within the family Apidae, one of the bee families, and is any of over 250 species. Bumblebees are important pollinators of plants in your backyard garden, such as…

Early spring always brings about an internal giddiness. As I drove down I-295 this weekend, the subtle hue of color told me that the trees are just beginning to wake up from their winter slumber. Mother Nature has pulled off their covers and is rousing them awake like children after the holiday winter break. “Get up you sleepy heads. There…

Tonight I am planning on making a fancy mocktail called the "Color-Changing Butterfly Pea Flower Botanical Drink." I have many of the ingredients to make it, but I need lavender flowers to make the lime-flower ice cubes. Lucky for me, I have permission from my friend Ramona to pick her French lavender - Lavandula x intermedia 'Provence' (Lavender). I have...