Ep 68. Gift of Meadows & Mountain Mint

An invitation to a pool party inspires gathering flowers from the garden to bring to the hosts. One of the lovelies, Mountain Mint, reminds me of a walk in the meadow with my birder buddy and naturalist I look forward to sharing with you. 

Plus, we chat about other magnificent meadow plants and wrap up with a tale of wildlife visitors; Dennis Briede has a unique way of re-counting. 

Link to Related Stories:

Gift of Meadows & Mountain Mint 

Link to Stephanies Front Lawn Alternative and Steep Woodand Garden

The more extended version of A Walk in the Meadow 

Queen Anne's Lace Anomaly

Cicadas Sing 'Back to School'

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Kind listeners, I'd love to hear about your garden and nature stories. And your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. Please email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. 

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Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page

Thank you for sharing the garden of life,

Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer

Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com 

More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
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Transcript

Ep 68 Gift of Meadows and Mountain Mint 

Sat, Aug 6, 2022. 4:34 PM 10:21Owner: Mary Stone

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

garden, flowers, hydrangeas, Dennis Briede, Queen Anne’s Lace, meadow walk, meadow plants, pollinators, garden dilemmas, bouquet, nature, mountain mint, butterflies, bobcat

 SPEAKERS Mary Stone

0:00

Podcast Intro: Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about. 

 Good morning, it's Mary Stone. Welcome to the screen porch. I'd actually hoped to record last evening, but the cicada sounds were so loud, and we still hear them now. It is definitely the sound of back to school in my mind; although we're still a few weeks away, we actually spoke about cicadas back to school in episode three, which also includes a story about gardens glow, which is one of my favorites. 

 So anyway, I so enjoyed hearing back from several of you; since the last episode where we shared garden blessings with Rosemary DeTrolio, nature and gardens can sure be soothing and therapeutic, right? 

 So today, I look forward to sharing a story inspired by a party I was invited to with folks that I had never met. And so, I thought bringing a bouquet of flowers from my garden would be nice, and maybe a few things from along the road, just a few. Then I added a favorite plant to the bouquet, but not many know about reminding me of a walk in a particular meadow I look forward to telling you about, and it starts like this. 

 Hello fellow readers. I was delighted to attend a pool party over the weekend and decided to make a bouquet for the hosts. I gathered cuttings from the garden, including robust hydrangea flowers- a gorgeous deep bluish purple. They are the same hydrangeas Curt kind-heartedly pruned close to the ground and early spring a handful of years ago. He confused them with butterfly bush I asked him to cut back as they benefit from rejuvenation pruning each spring, but not so much the hydrangeas dear Curt, in fact, don't ever cut hydrangeas down that far.

 After two summers with no flowers, the hydrangeas that bloom on old wood were planted by previous owners, so I have no idea the varieties rebounded to be profuse bloomers, their recovery and the colorful display are why I've grown so attached to them. Curt has such happiness of the outcome of his blunder is unintentional rejuvenation pruning. I snagged a few Queen Anne's Lace along the road while walking Jolee, leaving plenty for pollinators. 

Queen Anne's Lace is also called Wild carrot. Today's edible carrots were cultivated from Queen Anne's Lace, which is also a companion plant to crops. They can boost tomato plant production when kept nearby and provides a microclimate of cooler, moister air for lettuce when intercropped amongst them.

 On the other hand, the USDA has listed it as a pest in pastures as its seeds persist for two to five years. Yet beneficial bugs such as caterpillars, and the eastern black swallowtail butterfly, eat the leaves, and pollinators drink the nectar. When we returned home, I clipped stems of my short tooth mountain meant now flourishing and a swath below where two stately hemlocks one stood. Its silvery bracts are showy below the pinkish flowers. The bountiful bees and butterflies dancing from July to September make the best of show. 

 It's really true when you walk by this whole swath of them, you should see the dance of the pollinators, and it really lights up a garden. 

 Not many people know about Mountain Mint. I first learned about it from a client who wanted a front lawn alternative, and later we renovated her backyard, which had a severely steep slope, making it into a usable space with garden steps and landings. Stephanie wished for short-toothed Mountain Mint, and I had the benefit of leftover plants that are now thriving in my garden. 

 I wrote about Stephanie's steep woodland garden and front lawn alternatives that you can look for on the garden dilemmas website. I'll put the links in the show notes. In fact, maybe it should be a future episode. A side note on flower brackets such as those that mountain men have. They are modified leaves that mother nature created just below the flowers to help protect the budding flower and attract pollinators.

 MS

Mary Stone

4:36

Most know that the leaves of poinsettias are bracts, and their flowers are the tiny yellow bud-like thingies in the center. The same is true of the lovely white and pink display of dogwood trees in the spring. 

 Short tooth mountain mint grows about two to three feet tall with multiple stems. It's happy living along the woodlands edge or in a meadow. Speaking of them brings memories of special walks with my friend and go-to mystery solver of unknown critters and plants. Dennis Brady nurtures nature with glorious fields surrounding his home in Blairstown, New Jersey, with views of the ridge where the Appalachian Trail runs through it. As we meander the paths among the meadow are thriving native perennials loved by pollinators and songbirds. Most are highly deer resistant. 

 There's golden rod with masses of bright golden flowers, Blazing Stars, which is Liatris with spiky rose-purple flowers rising above its grassy foliage. Plus, bee balm, which is also called bergamot, the botanical name is monarda, with puffy mops of light purple flowers and the classic sunny yellow native Black-Eyed Susan’s. Rudbeckia hirta mixed with Cone Flowers, which is echinacea with lavender petals and orange-brown centers. It's the same echinacea used to make herbal tea or supplements to strengthen the immune system. 

 Dennis's narrow leaves, Mountain Mint, and Virginia Mountain Mint are different varieties that mine, creating clouds of white flowers and waves throughout the meadow. His enthusiasm was coming upon three Juniper Hairstreak butterflies was contagious, I had to look closely to appreciate the ornate green, taupe, and white streak details of these rare-to-see petite beauties with only an inch wingspan. 

 The next day he recorded 16 Juniper Hairstreaks in a two-hour butterfly survey, during which he found 20 species-- a very productive day. He's recorded like 70 species of butterflies on his property to date. He is kind of a quirky fellow in the sense that he just sits there and records them. I don't know if quirky is the right word. I think he’s somebody that marvels over nature, as we all do, right? 

 My favorite marvel during our walk was a Virginia Tiger Moth. When her wings are closed, she's a beautiful light beige with black zebra stripes. When she opens her two-inch wingspan, red with black polka dots reveal quite a fashion statement that hopefully never goes out of style. Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com. 

 So, of course, there are photographs of these beauties on the garden dilemmas website. I'll put the link to the column in the show notes. 

 There's also a longer version of the walk in a meadow when I was walking with Dennis years ago, and afterward, he sent a very funny story which I'm going to share with you. He has such a gift of sharing accounts of critter visits. 

 Remember the bluebird that tapped on the glass from mealworm handouts? He begins his story. This year I placed the bowl high on the deck rail from the slider. friends visiting marveled at the bluebirds. When a bear I named Buddy came by only a few feet from Buddy, a bobcat meandered, the biggest one I've ever seen. Not far behind, the doe was grazing. It was amazing to see all of them so close together. 

 Dennis animated excitement in full gear. The bobcat tucked into the brush. So, I… Dennis paused to demonstrate the sound of a rabbit and distress by bringing his lips to his arm and blowing air. I recall as a child a similar antic but didn't know it was a call to the wild. The bobcat came back to investigate. It was amazing. 

 As we walked along the path towards the back of the property, Dennis pointed out the large paw-shaped worn turf made by the male bears making their mark in the pursuit of Buddy, who we thought was a male until she showed up with two cubs a few years back. A female bear is either pregnant or taking care of cubs, Dennis explained. I've seen Buddy rubbing noses with two different males. She sure gets around. He chuckled. For sure, he'll have a cub or two come spring. 

 So back to the bouquet. While handing it to Karen. I noticed all around me was waves of hydrangea looking much like the ones I brought. We both giggled, and I said, well, these are from my garden, and she was very appreciative. And then I enjoyed introducing her to Mountain Mint, which he had never heard of. 

 So that was a joyful part of it. You know, it's not about the gifts we bring. It's about the gift of giving and what a gift it is to just be able to enjoy the world around us, all the gorgeous things nature provides, and the beautiful opportunities of growing things in our gardens. And I can't thank you enough for sharing the Garden of Life with me and sharing this time on the screen porch. I hope you've enjoyed it, and if so, I would appreciate it if you could share the podcast with your friends or family member that may like it as well so more can join us. Until next time, have a great day. 

 Podcast Tag: You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram and hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by.

I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.