Flower for the Day Carolina elephant's foot 9-28-25

I saw this  small Carolina elephants foot (Elephantopus carolinianus) in the meadow after a brief rain.

The plant produces numerous small flower heads in a tight cluster, each head generally containing only 4-5 florets. The cluster of flower heads is supported by 3 bracts that resemble leaves. The flowers last for one day.

Flower for the Day Sharpwing Monkeyflower 9-25-25

A week or two ago we were in  severe draught. We have a creekbed behind us which is fed by a small

spring which comes from a crack in the bedrock. As I walked  in the creakbed there was a patch of green with this gorgeous purple flower. It was, of course, a sharpening monkey flower. Say what? Sharpwing monkeyflower (Mimulus alatus) is a native herbaceous eudicot perennial which thrives in wet conditions. It has no scent. It has green foliage and purple flowers. Here is one emerging.

It has a two-lipped corolla and the arrangement of the upper and lower lip petals suggests a monkey's face. The winged stems together with the monkey face give the plant its common name. The flowers are bisexual and bilaterally symmetrical.

Here is a poem from Katie.

  

          Limits

Of all the streets that blur in to the sunset,
There must be one (which, I am not sure)
That I by now have walked for the last time
Without guessing it, the pawn of that Someone
Who fixes in advance omnipotent laws,
Sets up a secret and unwavering scale
for all the shadows, dreams, and forms
Woven into the texture of this life.
If there is a limit to all things and a measure
And a last time and nothing more and forgetfulness,
Who will tell us to whom in this house
We without knowing it have said farewell?
Through the dawning window night withdraws
And among the stacked books which throw
Irregular shadows on the dim table,
There must be one which I will never read.
There is in the South more than one worn gate,
With its cement urns and planted cactus,
Which is already forbidden to my entry,
Inaccessible, as in a lithograph.
There is a door you have closed forever
And some mirror is expecting you in vain;
To you the crossroads seem wide open,
Yet watching you, four-faced, is a Janus.
There is among all your memories one
Which has now been lost beyond recall.
You will not be seen going down to that fountain
Neither by white sun nor by yellow moon.
You will never recapture what the Persian
Said in his language woven with birds and roses,
When, in the sunset, before the light disperses,
You wish to give words to unforgettable things.
And the steadily flowing Rhone and the lake,
All that vast yesterday over which today I bend?
They will be as lost as Carthage,
Scourged by the Romans with fire and salt.
At dawn I seem to hear the turbulent
Murmur of crowds milling and fading away;
They are all I have been loved by, forgotten by;
Space, time, and Borges now are leaving me.

Jorge Luis Borges

Flower for the Day Blue Cardinal Flower 9-24-25

The blue cardinal flower (Lobelia siphilitica) is a native herbaceous perennial dicot  in the bellflower family. 

The plant produces a spike of flowers in the late summer. The flowers are more closely clustered towards the top of the spike and become more infrequent further down and the lower flowers begin blooming first. The flowers are  two-lipped and tubular, each with five lobes. The upper two lobes are erect and the lower three lobes are be fanned out. Flowering is often abundant and the flower color intense. 

Although self compatible lobelia is unable to offer pollen to itself and it must be pollinated by insects, primarily bumblebees of which we have many.  Bees use the lower three fused petals as a landing pad. A bee of correct weight will depress these petals on its way to the flower's nectar, this lowers the stigma wiping it against the bee's back. The stigma forms the distal portion of the style and is composed of stigmatic papillae, the cells of which are receptive to pollen. 

Lobelia was once considered a cure for syphilis from which came the species name.

      Lively, lobia blue eyes

what happened to those lively, lobelia blue eyes?

the type that reflected your pure beauty and essence

granting this world, a gift

something about your eyes now

sends me into a shivering shutdown

a dehumanizing stare from your cold, hypnotic eyes

casting a penumbra over your cheeks

i can't look

though it feels i've seen those eyes many times before

a million in a million

your iris

a machine-readable code

unresponsive to my glare

my hazel, honey eyes

we once gazed into the far horizon

in a euphoric unison

your iris

a glazing surface

in the form of numbers

and a sequence of parallel lines

of varying widths

serving as a blindfold to reality

from wholesome 

to wholesome

i'm losing you

and i'm finding you everywhere

you're printed on commodities

and scanned for stock control

societie's

stock control

it's true that all merchandise is barcoded

designed for computers to read

with a quick beam of a red laser

and you chose that

over your lively, lobelia blue eyes

eyes that could change the world

Kiera McCoard

Don's Blog What's in a picture? 9-23-25

Well the day after the wedding I was sitting on the dock resting and recovering. I looked across the water at my neighbors yard. I wasn't sure what I was seeing so went over and took a closer look. This is what I saw.

I was amazed. The first time I saw this I was in the lake country of Wisconsin but here in

Missouri on our lake? It is not possible to look at these images without knowing instantly (automatically)

what has happened to the tree and who did it. To me that is a fascinating phenomenon.

The beaver (Castor canadensis) is a mammal in the rodent family. Here are some interesting facts about beavers you may have forgotten: Their incisor teeth are orange and never stop growing, requiring them to gnaw on wood constantly; they use a transparent inner eyelid for underwater protection and vision; beavers produce a vanilla-scented substance called castoreum, which they use to mark their territory and attract mates; and they can hold their breath underwater for up to 15 minutes.  Beavers eat twigs and leaves but primarily live on the soft cambium layer under the bark of trees. Check out the size of the chips at the base of the tree.

I wonder what my neighbor will do with this tree?

Don's Blog "The One Where We Have A Wedding" 9-20-25

Saturday we sponsored a wedding at the Lake House on Lake Aspen at Innsbrook, Missouri.

Sherry (the bride) and Lou (the groom) are longtime friends and we were excited to have the ceremony

on the dock by the lake.

It was a small wedding but the planning and the preparation were intricate. Parking was made easier when all four of my neighbors offered their driveways. The site worked great as the trees shaded us from the sun. The forecast of rain

was incorrect - we would not have cared. We were ready to have a joyous time no matter what.

Sherry surprised me by asking me to accompany her down the aisle - a winding steep walkway. This was a first for me as we had all boys. How do you like our flowers? I gave her a hug and presented her to the groom.

The ceremony was a treat. The bride and groom are to the left of the minister with the maid of honor and 

the best man on either side. We were all moved.

Jan and I got to sit in the front row. We are blessed.

The star of the show was Sherry's Grandson Blake. With the age of the guests many had an opportunity

to go down the hill (and back up) in our golf cart. Blake who drives FAST racers in Dirt Car Races had not driven

an electric golf cart before and was amazed at its quietness. He helped them in and out and got them to their seats.

His kindness and patience were an amazing gift to us all.

After cupcakes and punch in the front of the house, the bride and groom headed for the party in Montgomery City.

It was an inspiration to participate in Sherry and Lou's wedding. You can be sure that we will not be going into the wedding business. 

Flower for the Day Bearded Beggartick 9-17-25

We are in a 6 week draught and this amazing flower has exploded in the meadow edge.

It is bearded bearded beggar tick (Bidens aristosa). It has many common names none of which are inspiring:

western tickseed, showy tickseed, swamp marigold, and Yankee lice. It is a native annual in the aster family. 

There are two large stands.

 The leaf blades are lanceolate as well as lanciniately pinnatisect. Who could believe it?  It has numerous yellow flower heads with 5-10 ray florets and 12-40 disc florets. 

      Bidens Aristosa

Its easy to remember

That this yellow beauty

Was once a coreopsis.

Flower for the Day Dahlia I 9-12-25

With the cooling of the weather dahlias have begun to bloom. We have planted more this year and 

are hoping for a bounty. Dahlias are tuberous, herbaceous perennials and are native to Mexico and Central America.

They are members of the aster family. I love them for the richness of their multiple shapes and color.

Dahlias were known only to the Aztecs and other southern North American peoples until the Spanish Conquest after which the plants were brought to Europe. Like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly colored, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue.

      The Dahlias

By now the fields are overgrown,
most ironweed and parsnip have turned black,
even the closed cabinet doors of milkweed pods
have burst open, spilling their shucked silk
into the day. I wear a coat
and remember August, those nights
filled with moths that like fireworks
put on a show at our window,
circled the lights like monks in meditation.
At every new cycle, I miss the one
now gone. I am never happy and have
no excuse not to love the dying
season, the growing season, the season of sleep.
That is to say, to love it while it is
happening. But what of the fall dahlias
that like bodiced planets float above
their roots and leaves? Surely they contain all
the colors of our universe. They must love
the cooler days, the beginning
of a time for rest, less forced display.
Take it easy I will say. But the wind
has something else in mind.
They might perform a roundelay
or the danse macabre. In time
we all will be bones, our eyeholes hallowed
and our skeletons clattering like chimes.

Didi Jackson

Flower for the Day Ageratum 9-3-25

Our agerartum (Ageratum houstonianum) has been blooming for months. It is also known as floss flower, blue mink, goatweed, pussy foot and Mexican paintbrush. For years it was low growing in our front flower bed. For some years now 

thanks to our birds it has been flourishing in several stands at the edge of the woods and now grows much higher. The flowering period is from May to November.

It has ovulate leaves and blue flowerheads which grow on dense corymbs. A corymb  is a botanical term for an inflorescence  where the outermost flowers grow on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. Thus the corymb has a flattish top with a superficial resemblance to an umbel. The ray flowers are thread like and fluff haired. The narrow lanceolate bracts are glandular hairy.

          Through October Fields 

The startled quail in covies whir
From 'neath your feet as on you stray
Along the narrow thread-like path,
This cool October day.


The grouse's booming drum of bass
Peals from the hollow on your right,
Till 'larumed by your near approach
He wheels in sudden flight.


And on the trunk of yon dead tree
The "flicker" beats his fierce tattoo,
Then hurls back from his wave-like flight
Defiance shrill to you.


On every side the golden rod's
Long, graceful plumes of tawny gold
And ageratum's purple bloom --
The banners of the wold.


The stubble of the June-reaped wheat
Stands up in bristling ranks of spears,
Its gold is covered now with frost,
Like warriors grey with years.


And over all the golden haze
Soft wraps the brown Earth in a dream,
While every breath across the fields
Rich draughts of rare wines seem.


There in the stream beneath the elms,
The leaves, like ships of Lil'put, fair,
Drift down, sans rudders and sans sails
To ports that lie nowhere.


See in the field beyond the stream,
Pitched wide o'er all the bottom land,
An Indian village quaintly shown,
The cornshock wigwams stand.


Now, you are "near to nature's heart,"
You lie upon her tawny breast;
You feel her warm breath on your cheek
As in her arms you rest.

James Edwin Campbell

Flower for the Day 9-5-25 Odds and Ends

Well the draught has turned most everything to fall colors- fall is coming.

My cosmos (Asterales coreopsideae) here are some others did poorly this year. I did have a few but not many.

But here are some others which have shown up on the dining room table. The cone flowers,

brown-eyed susans, and especially the Rose of Sharon are still plentiful.

And this time of year the fungi begin to flourish. Can anyone name this beauty?

The Fungus, the Fruit, and the Apex Predator

The mushroom is not the fungus, the mushroom
is the fruit. And when the wolves
came back, it was like they put a hat
on empty space and the rest
of the person reassembled piece
by piece underneath—
beavers, aspen, beetles,
wolverines, lynx. As children we feel
everything: seam of a sock,
a tag. We practice dullness, practice
adapting stupidly.
So let the apex predator of us
reenter, snarling, let it tear the throat out
of whatever's stealing our repose,
let it leave that thing out
half-eaten, a snack
for us to share with our friends
before we go home to our regenerated
habitats. I guess what I'm saying is,
eat the rich. I guess what I'm saying is,
chase villains into the sea. I guess
what I'm saying is, wouldn't it be great
to figure out which wolf we needed, which wolf
was missing, which wolf was hunted down
too soon by ignorant park rangers and which
wolf whose return, like a furry, murderous,
plural Messiah, would save us?

 Audra Puchalski

 

Flower for the Day Globe Amaranth 9-4-25

Our globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)) has been blooming for more than a month and will do so until the frost.

It is native to Central America . The round-shaped  inflorescence contains small and inconspicuous true flowers. I grow them in containers for show but they do well in the garden itself.

It is heat tolerant and is one of the few flowers that they deer have not eaten.

Who doesn't love little magenta balls?

Incidentally it contains twenty-seven phytochemical  including six phenolic acid derivatives and fifteen specific flavonoids.

These compounds facilitate its growth and function as a bee and butterfly pollinator.

I save the dry flower heads in the late fall and re-plant them in the late spring.

                                    The Amaranth

Ah, in the night, all music haunts me here. . . .

Is it for naught high Heaven cracks and yawns  And the tremendous Amaranth descends  Sweet with the glory of ten thousand dawns?    Does it not mean my God would have me say: —   "Whether you will or no, O city young,   Heaven will bloom like one great flower for you,   Flash and loom greatly all your marts among?"    Friends, I will not cease hoping though you weep.   Such things I see, and some of them shall come   Though now our streets are harsh and ashen-gray,  Though our strong youths are strident now, or dumb.  Friends, that sweet town, that wonder-town, shall rise.  Naught can delay it. Though it may not be  Just as I dream, it comes at last I know  With streets like channels of an incense-sea.

Vachel Lindsay