Cool Weird Plants!

Self Heal

Heal All

If you look this plant up on the internet you will find a lot of information regarding the medicinal properties of the plant. 
I see it all over the place, it grows in the pastures and in the forest.

The next two bushes had me going for a while. I started to pay attention to different bushes growing alongside the back roads that Charlie and I walk on a year or so ago. I walk past them and note their differences. 

The funny thing is, I had no idea that there were so many kinds of plants/bushes located within a mile radius of where I live.

At first I just noticed the flowers on these bushes and made a mental note to keep an eye on them. I thought I was seeing the 'same' plant or bush in two separate locations. 

When I stopped to really look at the leaves on each bush and photographed them so I could see the difference, I discovered they were not the same at all.

The thing that struck me, was the berries looked very similar.

Nanny Berry

Highbush Cranberry

I know that I have shots of the Highbush Cranberry from last fall. When it changes color, it is simply stunning!

I will have to wait to see what the Nannyberry bush looks like in the fall.

Ninebark

In the fall, the Ninebark leaves turn dark purple-ish and quickly dry up and fall off. Perhaps this fall I can get a good shot of them.

Winter Ninebark seeds:

The seeds are very distinctive while the bark and plant itself blends in with the plants around it.

Meanwhile back in the pasture, there are a few of these plants with cheery yellow blossoms on them. The mules don't eat them and they don't seem to spread too fast.

This is St. John's Wort:

An herbalist friend of mine showed me this plant years ago. Apparently some consider it a small shrub that comes back year after year and can be very slow to spread. That is fine with me, if the animals don't eat it, then it isn't really a good plant to have in the pasture.

However, I read that it is another one of those plants with medicinal properties. The scientific jury is still out on if St. John's Wort actually does everything the herbalists claim it does.

One last weird plant that is actually a lichen and not a plant. I didn't notice these right away as they were also in the pasture growing on a mound of moss which surprised me.

Pixie Cup Lichen:

According to different 'googled' sites, this too has medicinal properties. Imagine if we could find great medicinal cures just growing around us?

I am sure these little guys were in hiding for the past few years. They live in a wet environment which is certainly something we've had this year.

The more I learn, the more I know that I have so much more to learn.

The End of November

Meanwhile in Wisconsin...

We had snow! I even tried to photograph a single snowflake like my friend ---> You know,  like that Aurora gal at equine expressions. 

All I got was cold because I wasn't acclimated to the weather yet and I didn't have the proper clothes on.

I did however get a comparison photo of a few days before the snow and the day we had snow.

This isn't far from the mailbox and it is the grape vine that I used for making grape jelly.

These grapes are still hanging on. I wonder if they are still so sweet?

The photo below was taken two days before gun season. I was enchanted by the color of the leaves and the gossamer webs that quivered in the morning sun.

I'm still struggling with grasses and photos of intriguing grasses. I didn't go very far after the snowfall on Sunday morning. It was windy and bitter. I hope to get out to the cropland soon and pick some 'weeds' for my fall bouquet.

This was an effort. I guess without practice and failures one doesn't get proficient at certain things. Winter grasses will be on my list. I've never stopped to study them before, but I did find them pretty intriguing as an abstract form.

For some odd reason, I find this photo comforting and pleasing. 

November is nearly done! One more day! So I need to finish up my photo project of finding beautiful things to photograph in November.

Gooseberry bush. 
I took this before hunting season.

Ninebark seed head. It is a pretty bush that has beautiful flowers in the spring. Taken the day before deer season.

Fun with Fungi.

Again taken before I was ousted from the woods for nine days.

My neighbor who has cattle and horses on the ridge bought this guy at a sale and he is the only donkey left in our area. He talks all day and all night. He is a mini. This is the very first time he has been along the pasture that is near our gravel road.

I took the following shots on Sunday after the snowfall. When I walked to the ridge to get the mail, I discovered no vehicle tracks in the fresh snow.

It seems the hunters on the land east of us had decided not to hunt the last day of the season.

Ninebark seed heads with snow caps.

The Queen Anne's Lace can have such a beautiful shape even in the winter. I can see the seeds waiting to be bumped off by a passing animal.

The Queen holds court
waiting
for a passing
touch

For now, I'm going to wave goodbye to November's colors as the snow and cold has turned the landscape into winter.
Indeed, November was full of color that I never noticed before. Fall lingered on and on producing unexpected beauty in places I haven't looked in before.