New Friends, Anticipation, Gratitude & Memories

The gardens have been keeping me busy, preoccupied, and intimate with some of the best Medicine I know, communing with the earth and all her loved ones. Mine too.

Between all the spring transplanting, seeding and harvesting I make time and space to wander "my" little patch of earth. During a recent wander I discovered this new friend. At first glance I thought it was Rosa multiflora, but a second glance noticed distinct differences in leaf and bloom, and it's not any of the Rubus species that I'm familiar with, but I'm quite certain it's in the same family. I'll be curious to see the fruit that it creates.
 

The stinging nettles are blooming and preparing to make seed... another harvest to which I look forward.

My patch of Mentha suaveolens is always generous, and she always offers one the early harvests for drying. I love this spearmint in my tea blends.

The lovely Inula helenium against a background of mint (and other friends mixed in). She grows up so fast. It won't be long before her stalk rises high, bursting with blooms. And it won't be long after that that I'll be digging a few roots for winter Medicine.

And Rosa multiflora, our deliciously fragrant non-native invasive. We keep her in check, and I still collect her petals and buds for personal use in teas and skin preparations. Her fragrance fills the June air, and she reminds of that mead I made years back... a true labor of LoVe... collecting the petals over the 2-r-so-weeks of bloom... to create a unique gallon of liquid love.

And all these rooted friends, and more, remind me of the fleeting verve of spring. So I shall press the pause button this coming week, as summer leans closer, to take it all in, as part of my personal ritual to prepare for solar event that welcome's the steadier, fierier season to come.

If the botanical world excites you, visit my herb-dedicated blog, When Weeds Whisper, to learn more.

Peace.