WiseAcre Gardens

Joe-Pye-Weed – Eupatorium maculatum

A native wildflower that’s a common sight in St. Lawrence County. It prefers moist/wet low ground and we have plenty of that in the area. They can form huge colonies. I have a couple of acres covered with Joe-Pye-Weed in a spot too wet to grow hay. I appreciate their presence since it seems they are keeping the brush from getting established. Nearly 30 years after we bought the property the field looks much the same. Even the willows don’t seem to have a chance.

They have ‘invaded’ my pond garden this year so I didn’t have to go tramping through the muck to get a photo.

Another visitor was a bit camera shy but I did manage to catch a couple Monarch images.

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Fireweed – Epilobium angustifolium

Fireweed is usually thought of as a post fire colonizer. Guess that’s how it got it’s name.  The seeds must be able to remain viable for years waiting for such an opportunity. But fire isn’t it’s only friend.

Bees love Fireweed judging by the numbers working the large colony I stopped at.

Bulldozers work just as well preparing the right conditions for Fireweed to take advantage of.  Along the southern end of  Route 56 in the Town of Colton there are a number of Fireweed colonies that owe their existance to the utility work that laid bare the Right of Way.

You know how it goes. Spot something new or haven’t seen in a dogs age then suddenly you start seeing it everywhere. That was the case on my path through the Adirondack Mountains. There were numerous ‘patches’ dotted along the roadsides. Nearly everytime the Fireweed was growing on the sunny side of the road in higher areas. More often than not just behind a guardrail and at least a 1/2 mile to a safe spot to park.

After 10 years I finally got to replace the poor photos I had. It’s not that it’s not out there but more a case that I was blind to it.

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Here’s a hard working bee doing what comes naturally.

Now here’s one that looks like it went on a binge.

Whatever it was I want some honey made from it.  I might end up disheveled and holding onto something to keep from falling over but I’ll feel like a …

… Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio glaucus

Until I wake up and realize I’m still a drone.