WiseAcre Gardens

…and a year long mystery solved – probably. The first 2 photos are from last year, taken at an isolated grave site for two War of 1812 soldiers that died on a march from Plattsburg to Sackets Harbor. The site is set back off a back road in the woods and sees few visitors, just the place for ghosts to hang out.
Last years post of the grave site and Ghost Plants

The most common name for these plants is Indian Pipe. Another is corpse plant. I prefer Ghost Plant, it rolls off my tongue a lot easier than Monotropa uniflora

The pale white translucent plants are eerie looking in the deep shadows. Without chlorophyll they do look like a ghost of a plant.

What got me last year were these specimens growing in the same location. I thought they were a different species since the others as they matured didn’t have the same appearance.

Those in the photo above weren’t nodding and certainly weren’t turning black like the others as they got old. So I did what any self respecting lazy man would do. I forgot about them. That is until I ran across some more Ghost Plants while I was hiking about the Middle Branch of the Grass River this summer.

These made me take a second look and sure enough I’m agreeing with some of the comments on last years post. They sure do look to be the same plant. Just to make sure I peeled the outer petals from one. I’ll swear they’re the same plant. Guess it’s OK for Mother Nature to fool me. Fool me once – shame on me, fool me twice and I guess you know what I am. But that’s OK, MN and I get along fine even though she’s a big tease.

Here are my picks for the best Halloween themed plants.

Ghost Plants

I never did identify this plant. You can see the post here: Ghost Plant. These were gowing alongside other ghost plants / Indian Pipes – Monotropa uniflora

I’m tempted to call them Zombie Pods. Why? I was struck how they looked so much like the UnDead version of the seedpods of Grass of Parnassus – Parnassia glauca.

Well whatever they are – stick them in your Indian Pipe and smoke them.

Got Milkweed?

What’s Halloween without fangs?

Toothpaste Slime Mold – Lycogala epidendrum

Here’s one for the kids. This is a special Halloween toothpaste. Have them brush their teeth with this after every piece of candy they eat. I guarantee it will curb their candy cravings.

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For all those that have wondered what happened to me – I’ve joined the ranks of the UnDead with a moderate case of Zombie flu I picked while down on Long Island. I’m home now but it’s going to take some time before I quit craving brains.

I went down to dig up the entrance garden. Everything must go, in a couple of weeks there’s going to be a huge hole where the house now is. I managed to get most plants transplanted to other areas but the stone I haven’t touched yet. I wasn’t eating enough brains and my strength waned to the point I needed to come home and recharge my batteries.

I’ll have to go back in a week or so and continue ripping things up – carefully.

I stopped at a historic marker for two fallen War of 1812 soldiers yesterday. I’ve driven by that sign for years only giving it a glancing thought, never stopping but always thinking someday I will.

The marker is on County Route 24 (St. Lawrence, NY) in the Town of Pierrepont and located between the hamlet of Pierrepont and Brown’s Bridge. It is closer to Brown’s Bridge than Pierrepont and not far off Rt. 56.

A ‘trail’ leads about 200 feet into the woods to a grave site marker where these two veterans lie in rest. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this site is maintained and not forgotten.

The location is lonely and quiet promoting a sense of thoughtful reflection. Two soldiers left behind, one unknown and the other with a surname well known in the north country were put to rest here. But there is something unsettling about the place and I had a feeling of unrest. I sensed a presence, a longing for lost family and friends.

Something was whispering to me ‘Here I am’ in the silence.

I don’t believe in ghosts. The whispering came from my own mind. Or did it? This spot had the most Ghost / Corpse plants I’ve ever seen. The pale white translucent plants crowded the area near the grave then suddenly stopped as I moved away.

Monotropa uniflora

But these were not the only weird plants that had sprouted. Another ghost like plant outnumbered the Indian Pipes.

I’ve looked but had to give up trying to identify these plants. I searched and searched and did find one photo of these on line but the photographer had them mis-identified as Indian Pipe – monotropa uniflora. Look close at the flower structure and it’s easy to tell they are not.

It’s a bit eerie how two ‘Ghost’ plants in this spot reflect the soldiers buried here. One easily identified while the other remains Unknown.

It’s odd that I started my woodland wanderings at another location looking for ‘Dead Man’s Fingers’ and somehow ended up here. Although the two locations are not that far apart I somehow was detoured away from my next planned stop in a totally different direction.

The two ‘group’ photos are linked to a larger size (1024 x 768) suitable for desktop wallpaper.