Date: Fri 17-Oct-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

wildflowers-weeds-seeds

Full Text:

Weeds And Seeds -- Gathering Nature's Wild Harvest

BY DOROTHY EVANS

Right now, before Thanksgiving and before the snow flies, is a great time to

head outdoors in search of nature's bountiful crop of decorative weeds and

seeds.

Begin in the garden and then take a walk along the quieter roadsides. Follow

Newtown's established bridle trails or hike the railroad rights-of-way.

Explore your neighbor's unmowed field (but ask him first) or search out the

untended margins of your own property lines.

With more than 5,000 flowering plants growing in the Northeast, any keen-eyed

countryman or woman is sure to find a variety of handsome grasses, weeds,

vines and seed pods which can be cut and brought indoors for display. Imagine

your wild bouquets on the mantle piece, arranged as table decorations or hung

as doorway ornaments.

Allowed to dry out over a period of days or weeks, they will last for months

reminding you of seasons past.

These mild autumn days are perfect for collecting the seeds of favorite plants

and wildflowers. To complete the harvesting task, all we really need are

clippers and a brown paper bag. Bright sunshine always helps.

Just this once, though, you should leave the dog behind.

Your collected specimens will have a much better chance of surviving the

journey home if you are not at the same time trying to manage a leashed

retriever with nothing better on his mind than a good romp and flushing game

from under the neighbor's bird feeder.

Show Me The Money Plant!

As for what particular pickings to look for, there are several obvious

choices.

They show up like old friends from last summer, slightly altered and more

bedraggled perhaps, but true to their nature and just waiting to be recognized

and appreciated.

The lacy white florets of Queen Anne's lace that charmed us in July have faded

to brittle brown in October.

Tiny tick-like seeds are forming at the branchlet ends and slowly, as the fall

season progresses, the large, disk-shaped flower heads are curving inward like

clenched fists, protecting the seeds at the center where they can easily be

extracted.

"You'll want to dry out the seeds thoroughly and then store them over the

winter," said Lexington Gardens owner Tom Johnson.

"There's a huge amount of Queen Anne's lace around this year. I don't know

why," he added.

"Don't go trying to dig it up because there is a long tap root and the plant

will most likely not make it," Mr Johnson said. Better to harvest seeds now

and scatter them in your wildflower garden next spring.

A perennial favorite is the bittersweet vine but it is not quite ready to be

cut down yet.

Bittersweet needs at least a few more weeks and some cold weather before the

bright orange berries encased in yellow husks fully develop.

When they do, after the leaves have fallen, there will be no missing those

brilliantly colored berries as the vine reaches out toward the sunlight.

Even if it is considered an invasive alien species, bittersweet offers a

welcome contrast to the dull grays and browns of the November landscape.

In summary, it is not too soon to target your bittersweet harvesting spot.

Take note of the place where it has become established and come back for it

the week before Thanksgiving.

The plume-like blossoms of goldenrod will soon have dried into feathery

sprays. They can look lovely in a tall vase, especially if they are combined

with the compact round black seed heads of cone flowers or black-eyed Susans .

For contrast, add the sculptural pods of milkweed.

In mid-October, milkweed scatters its seeds to the four winds, each seed

riding the breeze on its own downy bit of fluff. By November, the empty pods

remain on the stalk and can be brought inside to add interesting detail to any

dried arrangement.

Technically, money plant (also called honesty ) is not a "weed" because it

does not grow wild in untended places as the aforementioned plants do.

But you should keep an eye out in case money plant has "escaped" from a nearby

garden. Brought indoors, it makes a spectacular dried arrangement.

Each money plant pod holds two or three large seeds that are encased between

two rather drab looking papery sheaths. Nothing very spectacular there but

wait until you rub the pods gently together between your fingers.

Then you will dislodge the seeds and can remove their papery outside

coverings. A shiny moon-like wafer the size of a quarter is revealed, hence

the name, money plant.

Remember that at the same time you are "liberating" those silvery inner pods,

the seeds are falling to the ground or blowing in the wind.

By this random gesture, you will be helping to spread money plant far and

wide. You are investing in some future time when hundreds, maybe thousands,

more money plants will self-seed and grow.

On a snowy January day, think about that and wonder where you might be next

fall, harvesting the results.