Wild Honeysuckle

There are some 180 species of honeysuckle, including the native wild flower, also known as woodbine. These range from stocky evergreen bushes to vigorous climbers.


Honeysuckle can be either deciduous or evergreen. The flowers are trumpet shaped, about 2 inches long, have a strong fragrance that attracts both hummingbirds and butterflies and can be pink, purple, red, white or yellow. Vines can grow as tall as 25 feet and produces either a fruit that is orange or berries that are red. The honeysuckle will bloom from summer through fall. This beauty can become invasive.

I found this vine snaking up the trees on the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington.


Interesting medicinal facts:

Honeysuckle is an herb used primarily in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is found in many cleansing and detoxifying blends because of its ability to clear heat, wind and toxins from the blood and liver. It is commonly used for sore throat, fever, skin blemishes and rashes. Honeysuckle combines well with chrysanthemum flowers.

Honeysuckle contains tannins which are being studied for it's possible inhibitory effects on HIV. Over fifty compounds have been identified in the essential oil of the flowers.

Topically, honeysuckle may be used effectively for fever and skin ailments and rashes. Many skin conditions caused by inflammation or internal heat will benefit from the heat and toxin removing actions of the herb.

Warning: Leaves contain toxins

Saskatoon Berries

Today my friend showed me a HUGE Saskatoon tree growing along side of the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington.

Also called Juneberry or Serviceberry, they are native to Canada and northern United States. The name Saskatoon - what a fun name - is derived from the Cree word misâskwatômina. The city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is named after these berries.

The saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia) is a small to large shrub, or small tree (the one on the Trail is NOT small!), which belongs to the Rose family. It is closely related to the apple, hawthorn and mountain ash. The saskatoon is a perennial, woody, fruit bearing shrub which is capable to adapting to a wide range of soils and climatic conditions. It is native to the Canadian Prairies, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, Alaska, British Columbia and the northwestern and north central United States. The saskatoon flowers in early May to early June.

The saskatoon was an important food source for both indigenous peoples and the early pioneers. It is an important food source for wildlife during the winter season. The saskatoon was also used as a source wood and as a medicinal plant. Today saskatoons are used in a wide variety of ways from pies, jams, jellies, syrups ice cream toppings, wine, liqueurs and flavour concentrates to components of baked goods. They may be used fresh or frozen and can be dried to yield "raisins" or fruit leathers.

Look for dark red or purple round berries that have crowns. These berries taste similar to blueberries, but with slightly crunchy tiny almond-flavoured seeds inside. It is best to pick the berries that are most purple. These are the ripest and sweetest. The branches bend down allowing one to reach higher berries.



Guess who will be out there gathering berries?

Seeds To Grow On

Today, I attended a plant sale in Olympia, Washington, where the proceeds from the sale would help families in East Africa plant gardens for fresh food.

Master gardener, Diane Claussen, sponsored this plant sale with donations from her beautiful garden and some of her friends. She commented that this money would help install clean water systems and teach the people how to plant irrigated gardens in the small villages of East Africa.



I must admit, I made a generous donation and came home with enough plants to spend the entire day in my yard planting.

You can still make donations; contact Diane at 360-413-0726

The Blue Wildflowers

Recently I have been posting blogs about the native plants as they bloom along the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington. I found these lovely blue wildflowers which I believe have been planted either by birds or humans.

Blue Flax
The Blue Flax flowers last only a single day and do not transplant well. Blue Flax was discovered by Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the late 1700's.

Bluebell
This wildflower is definitely a Bluebell, but which variety I have yet to figure out. The bluebell sets seeds profusely and also multiplies by offshoots from its bulbs. As a result it can be a dominant species that carpets the woodland floor early in the spring. The drooping, blue bell shaped flowers, which give the plant its most common name, appear from April to June. The flowers may be violet-blue, white or even pink on rare occasions.

Bleeding Hearts

Not yet in bloom in the forest, but blooming in my yard because I had to purchase one of these showy plants at the local nursery. With graceful, fern like foliage, this is the ballerina of native plants. The heart shaped rose pink flowers on faint purplish stems hang delicately from the arching foliage. I learned that there are at least 8 different varieties.

Asian Bleeding Heart

I am fascinated by the delicate details of each bloom.



Our native wild Bleeding Heart has finely cut leaves and grows to a height of about 6-8 inches. In mid-spring it sends up a stalk (panicle) of flowers that will reach just above the foliage level. It is happiest in rich wooded slopes with dappled sunlight or mostly shade.

Last year I created a watercolor painting of our native specimen.

Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer
On the Trail, 1892

I picked up a The Watercolors of Windslow Homer by Miles Unger at the library to share with my art therapy client.

What FABULOUS color plates of 140 watercolors!

Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was not only one of America's greatest painters in oil but also an unrivaled master of the watercolor medium. Homer, along with artists such as John Singer Sargent and John La Farge, helped usher in the first great age of American watercolor painting, setting the stage for the brilliant creations of such twentieth-century masters as Maurice Prendergast, Georgia O'Keeffe, John Marin, and Edward Hopper.

Homer's greatest contribution to watercolor was to expand the possibilities of the medium, investing fragile works on paper with visual and moral weight. His watercolors not only depict the beauty of the wilderness but also document a fragile ecosystem under threat from human exploitation.

Homer himself seemed to recognize his achievement, writing late in life to his brother Charles, "You will see, in the future I will live by my Watercolors."

Horsetail

Along the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington, I found two versions of Horsetail beginning to grow.




Horsetail is descended from huge, tree-like plants that thrived 400 million years ago during the Paleozoic era. A close relative of the fern, horsetail is a non-flowering weed found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. The plant is a perennial (returns each year) with hollow stems and shoots that look like asparagus at first. As the plant dries, silica crystals that form in the stems and branches look like feathery tails and give the plant a scratching effect. That accounts for its historic use in polishing metal, particularly pewter.

Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is an herbal remedy dating back to at least ancient Roman and Greek medicine. It was used traditionally to stop bleeding, heal ulcers and wounds, and treat tuberculosis and kidney problems. The name Equisetum is derived from the Latin roots equus, meaning "horse," and seta, meaning "bristle."

Horsetail contains silicon, which plays a role in strengthening bone. For that reason, it is sometimes suggested as a treatment for osteoporosis. It is also used as a diuretic, and as an ingredient in some cosmetics. However, very few studies have looked at horsetail's effect in humans.

I am told by my Master Gardener friend that Horsetail is evasive and you do not want it in your yard. I think it is rather exotic looking. How about you?