Community Chat

[cheriere]

Another sunny 🌞 day and another Gorgeous Purple Wildflower added to my finds.  Although, it's actually an herbaceous perennial of the mint family known as LYRELEAF SAGE.  

The only sage native to North America, it's found primarily in woodland settings of eastern & southern states.  Its name comes from the ancient musical instrument because of its lyre shaped leaves.  The foliage remains quite striking even throughout the winter months, sometimes turning brownish purple.

However, the real showstopper is the blooms!  They're stunning!  From lavender to dark purple, these rosette shaped bells seem to hang from the stems.  They last from April throughout July and offer sweet nectar to hummingbirds, butterflies & bees.  Birds visit for its seeds.  Plus, it's deer resistant!💜

It grows easily in most soils, even in clay and sand!  Because it's so hardy it can even tolerate occasional flooding, extreme heat, humidity and drought once it's been well established.  This makes it ideal for all kinds of gardens.  When the flower finishes blooming, the stem holds seeds which freely sow themselves. 😃💜

Once again, I've found another plant that's completely edible, including leaves, blooms and stems.  The leaves really have a light minty taste.  They can be added to salads or cooked like spinach.  The seeds can be gathered, ground, and added to flour to make bread.  This was considered a staple food by the Cherokee people.

She also goes by names such as Purple Knockout and Cancerweed.  The first for its beauty and the later because of its believed healing properties.  Native American tribes have used this plant for centuries.  It's still used today in Herbalism & Natural Medicine.  I was so surprised by all the recipes for remedies I was able to find.😃

I found lots of these in the bottom hill of my yard on the way to the woods.  I had to crop the pics because of their size, but they're still pretty good examples.😃💜

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[on the bay]

@cheriere,

That is beautiful and so unusual. I've never seen the ones you've shown us before!

[DSD2]

Beautiful blooms!

I've not heard of this but it is so, so pretty!

Thank you for all these different and lovely flowers you've shared with us.

[Bookplate]

I also appreciate the botany lessons.  I particulary get a kick out of the popular names of some of these plants.  Purple Knockout sounds like it should be in the poppy family!

[cheriere]

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@on the bay wrote:

@cheriere,

That is beautiful and so unusual. I've never seen the ones you've shown us before!

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Thanks😊🌸

I was hoping to find some things others may not be familiar with.  I've seen these all my life growing wild, but really never paid any attention to them until now.

I hope you're enjoying seeing them.  It was really windy today, so trying to get a good shot was a real challenge lol.  The pictures looked much nicer before I had to crop so much out, but it wouldn't accept them if I didn't.

I really appreciate your posting. 😊💜

[cheriere]

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@DSD2 wrote:

Beautiful blooms!

I've not heard of this but it is so, so pretty!

Thank you for all these different and lovely flowers you've shared with us.

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Thank you 😊💜

I've always seen it, but didn't know much about it.

[GingerHead]

@cheriere 

So pretty! You have such pretty wild flowers and plants in your neck of the woods.

That particular flower kinda reminds me of a paler Blue Bonnet flower, not exactly but they have the same type of shape.

Very interesting, so many uses too. Thanks for sharing, I'm learning so much!

[cheriere]

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@Bookplate wrote:

I also appreciate the botany lessons.  I particulary get a kick out of the popular names of some of these plants.  Purple Knockout sounds like it should be in the poppy family!

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Purple Knockout sure does sound like that lol😂

I was surprised by all the information I had to read about this one.  It's always been around here, but I never knew all of these legends and uses.😃

It did say some used it as a nerve tonic lol.

I really appreciate your taking the time to read it and post.  Thanks.😊💜

[cheriere]

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@GingerHead wrote:

@cheriere 

So pretty! You have such pretty wild flowers and plants in your neck of the woods.

That particular flower kinda reminds me of a paler Blue Bonnet flower, not exactly but they have the same type of shape.

Very interesting, so many uses too. Thanks for sharing, I'm learning so much!

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It reminded me of the blue bonnet too.😃

It was hard to get good pictures today because it's been so windy and sometimes I just can't get those flowers to sit still lol.

I'm glad you like it.  I really didn't know all this stuff about the flower.  I was surprised when I looked it up.

I appreciate your posting, thanks 😊💜

[Puggywuggy]

So lovely! It looks as though it would belong in an Alpine meadow. Thank you for sharing.
How is the elusive mushroom hunt going?