Archive | 2:54 pm

Summer salad arrangements

14 Jul

DSC05662Here are a few wildflowers blooming in my area today.  The first one above is Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) which is only considered by a few foragers to have edible flowers, so do plenty of research before trying this one. Our native to this area Impatiens capensis is smaller with different colored flowers, both are known to have edible seeds which have exploding seed capsules which are a fun challenge to gather.

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Himalayan balsam is kind of rare to see growing in the wild here in my area, but is considered an invasive in the UK.

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Fireweed with flower buds, (Epilobium angustifolium) is a common plant in the Tantramar marsh.

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Here is Fireweed with some open flowers.

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Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)

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Here we see the Evening primrose growing along the train tracks for a mile or so running through the marsh with a young groundhog using the rail as support while watching the traffic on the highway.

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On the way home a stop to gather some elder flowers, (Sambucus Canadensis) Elderberry is not a very common plant in my area.

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A look at an Elderberry bush, if you’re from the east coast of Canada and are just starting up an interest in Elderberry flowers you should  become familiar with the plant shown below.

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Here is a wet field of approximately 20 acres which is covered with the very poisonous Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata). It often grows quite close to Elderberry bushes and can grow to 6 feet in some sites, so learn the differences between these 2 plants before gathering Elderberry flowers for the first time in the Maritime provinces.

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A closer look at the typical 3+ foot Water Hemlock with white flowers to the left and behind the pink wild roses. ciao

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