"About 14 hundred May Apple stems,
With their parasols up, marched down the hill.
And all the Spring Beauties turned up their pale, peaked noses
And said,
"Don't them May Apples Think they're somebody With their bumbershoots up!
"Oh, it was a grand day, a specially grand day."
"Beautiful Sunday"by Jake Falstaff, Ohio
The Red Queen apologises for being non-compliant...I have asked her time & again to post my ramblings on the garden & whatnot, however she''s been constantly under seige from weeds, planting schedules, and other various sundry projects (which she refers to as the carnage of Smiling Dog Farm....ie trench digging for more irrigation, electricity & a new 45 ft porch on the back of the cottage). She also keeps referring to the kitchen as the 'demilitarized zone'. Why I have to keep plunging my delicate feet in cold water & being subjected to toweling offs is completely beyond me. Who knew clay soil drives the woman mad????
Anyway, I digress....the above photo is a worm's eye view of the beautiful Podophyllum peltatum, oher wise known as American Mandrake or Mayapple. If you look closely you can view the bud of the single white flower which is attached on a short peduncle. The fruit, once ripe turns a pale yellow & is edible. It is suitable for a jam or relish, while the remainder of the plant is toxic. There are certain medicinal qualities, however those are best left to the people educated in herbal/pharmaceutical endeavors. There is a grand patch of them under the large flowering crab apple, along with jack in the pulpit, violets, smilacina, & other woodland dwellers. It is a small oasis in the front of the long rock wall in front of the cottage. Hopefully I can convince RQ to take some more photos of the other plants coming to life in all the gardens....along with the improvements to come....she does detest messes....I think she needs some minions (and I don't mean a small 17th century cannon).
