Posts made in September, 2013

New England Asters: North of the Border

Posted by on Sep 30, 2013 in fall, flowers, insects, Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

New England Asters: North of the Border

Welcome to Canada. It’s the foreign country that doesn’t feel like a foreign country. It has gas stations, billboards, McDonalds, and all the elements of American culture. And it has New England asters. But wait a minute. This isn’t New England, it’s New Brunswick (not sure where old Brunswick is.) So how can they be New England asters? I thought it was just one of those common-name things, where the common name for a plant varies locally, but no, they are indeed officially New England asters, even in Latin. Symphyotrichum novae-angliae. They’re native to just...

Read More

Wild Thyme: Bee Harvest

Posted by on Sep 24, 2013 in adaptations, edible, fall, flowers, insects, Unmowed Blog, wildlife | 1 comment

Wild Thyme: Bee Harvest

Funds are tight everywhere these days, and one thing that must have gotten slashed from the budget of the Florida, NY Town Hall is mowing. Of course there’s not a lot of lawn to mow in front of the town hall, it’s just a tiny oval island of green in a sea of blacktop. Usually it’s scalped into a brutally short crew cut, but this year they’ve let it run wild. Which is to say, the grass must be quite two inches long. And intermixed with the grass are several large purple patches of thyme. Lying on my stomach on this sun-warmed savory blanket, I can see the honeybees bumbling around among...

Read More

A Good Sign

Posted by on Sep 21, 2013 in photos, summer, Uncategorized, Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

A Good Sign

My sentiments exactly.

Read More

Another Reason to Love September

Posted by on Sep 19, 2013 in fall, photos, Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

Another Reason to Love September

Happiness is September 16.

Read More

Good Lawn/Bad Lawn

Posted by on Sep 7, 2013 in environment, leaves, summer, Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

Good Lawn/Bad Lawn

I saw a sight this morning that froze my blood. There was a toddler, a hapless infant, sitting on a lawn. Not even a blanket underneath him, mind you—the poor child was sitting right on the grass. Made my blood run cold. Why? Because it was a bad lawn. It was nothing but blades of grass. Close-cropped and bristly as a Marine’s haircut. Not a weed to be seen, not a leaf of clover, not a dandelion, not a plantain leaf. Nothing but grass. So what? That’s what a lawn is supposed to be, right? Yes. But it doesn’t stay that way naturally. Weeds like dandelion, clover and plantain are highly...

Read More