WiseAcre Gardens

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.

Don’t let the name fool you. This northern native wildflower isn’t the lawn on Mount Parnassus overlooking Delphi in central Greece. It doesn’t even look like grass, whoever named it must have been high on some other grass that has nothing to do with lawns either.

Parnassia glauca

Grass of Parnassus is somewhat rare. The plant prefers wet limy soils but I’m surprised I haven’t seen it in more than one location in St. Lawrence County, NY. We have more than enough wet meadows that fill the bill around my area in the Town of Canton. I was afraid I’d miss the blooming this year since the flower buds were just about ready to open when I left for Long Island on Aug 12.

Happily I came home in time to catch the last of the blooms.

Bog Star

The lines on the petals are green but often the lighting makes them look gray.

Grass of Parnassus

You can still see the flower structure after the petals have dropped.

Going to Seed

Going to seed is sometimes a beautiful thing. Just not in my case so don’t ask to see any photos of yours truly. If you want to look something in the eyes – try this – it has a much happier face than mine.

Dragonfly

It’s great my son-in-law and his friends put the new roof on the house but I’m not entirely pleased with the way they mulched my flower beds around the house.

They did a good job putting on the new shingles but I’m in no shape to clean up after them.