This is what the early morning sunrise looked like with the full moon setting as Rick and I watched. To start the day with such beauty is a joy.
Our golden retriever wasn't as impressed. Huckleberry was entirely too relaxed to care about the sunrise.
A Pale Swallowtail - Papilio eurymedon - visited our neighbor's wax myrtles yesterday delighting us with its beauty. One of the caterpillar hosts for this butterfly is the California Coffee-Berry bush, which we have growing on our property in Anchor Bay.
Yesterday on our afternoon walk Rick pointed out the first blooms of California Honeysuckle, Lonicera hispidula, on our property in Anchor Bay. It's also known as Pink Honeysuckle. I love this climbing shrub. So do Hummingbirds, as they visit the pink blossoms for their nectar. Sometimes I see a vine climbing a tree and the leaves and blossoms are many feet above my head. This particular vine was growing in a huckleberry bush.
Later in the summer the blooms will become brilliant orange/red berries, which are very bitter. Only the hungriest birds will eat them so they usually remain on the vine to be enjoyed by anyone passing by. The stems of this plant are hollow and they were used by Pomo Indians as smoking pipes.
It is a dazzlingly beautiful day on the Mendonoma Coast today. My best to you! Jeanne Jackson
I have long admired the delicate foliage of this lovely little plant blooming on the forest floor on our property in Anchor Bay but until this past week I didn't know the name of it. I sent a photo to Peter Baye and he let me know I had found an uncommon annual herb native to California - Sweet Bedstraw or Galium triflorum. It's another native plant that has medicinal qualities. An infusion of the plant has been used in the treatment of gallstones and kidney complaints. It's aromatic as it dries and is used as stuffing material in mattresses though it would take so many of these little plants that I don't see how that would be possible! It has tiny white flowers that are so small they are difficult to see. Sweet Bedstraw - another forest dweller for me to appreciate on my daily walks with Rick and Huckleberry.
Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris, is blooming in sunny spots on the Mendonoma Coast. There are several of these interesting wildflowers growing on our property in Anchor Bay. Last year Frank Drouillard took a very close up photo of one and was startled to see what looks like an alien face. It startled me too!
Self Heal has amazing qualities. First, its leaves are edible. They are mildly bitter greens. But its medicinal qualities set it apart from other wildflowers who might be considered "just pretty faces." It is an antiseptic and has an antibacterial effect. It's believed to be effective in cases of food poisoning. Native peoples used it to treat cuts and inflammation. It's a wonder plant!
