The EllGab Garden

[HamsterMuscle]

Thimbleberries have to be one of the most nostalgic plants for me. As a child from my earliest memories the taste seemed insipid. Today the tart tang they bring is worth every moment.

Presently in the back alleyway.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

According to this guy, they can be used as a substitute for toilet paper if you find yourself in need in the wilderness.

[KSM]

According to this guy, they can be used as a substitute for toilet paper if you find yourself in need in the wilderness.

Every. Single. Post.
Everything comes back to the anus with you. You are officially gayer than a room of eight guys blowing nine. Tell me, are you saddened by unrequited sodomy?   

[Rikki Gins]

Thimbleberries have to be one of the most nostalgic plants for me. As a child from my earliest memories the taste seemed insipid. Today the tart tang they bring is worth every moment.

Presently in the back alleyway.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Fascinating.  Those look similar to raspberries, which I love.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Here are some blackberry plants in my back alley.  Lots of blossoms, so lots of berries.  The only trouble is that whoever owns the property doesn't water the plants.  Too bad, because big, juicy blackberries are great.

[Smokin Hot Bob]

It has been a rough year for the cherries with the winter we've had - cold, warm and cold again. And fewer bees every year it seems. The raspberries are more reliable. They propagate well and some of the new canes are a healthy 6 feet.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Smokin Hot Bob]

The View from My Living Room Window

My fellow garden warriors love their refined plantings, in this instance, begonias and honeysuckle on the front porch. They also like to feed the hummingbirds, one in fact that hovered by just after I took this photo. For me, it's bracken, snowberries, blackberry and thimbleberry. The tree at the top and on the right is a red dogwood that grew on its own. If you double click for greater detail, you might spot the tip of the red cedar I planted a few years ago.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Rikki Gins]

The View from My Living Room Window

My fellow garden warriors love their refined plantings, in this instance, begonias and honeysuckle on the front porch. They also like to feed the hummingbirds, one in fact that hovered by just after I took this photo. For me, it's bracken, snowberries, blackberry and thimbleberry. The tree at the top and on the right is a red dogwood that grew on its own. If you double click for greater detail, you might spot the tip of the red cedar I planted a few years ago.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

I see some ferns in your photo, also.  Great plants, and they've been around for millions of years.  I have a number of ferns here and there, though a couple got burnt from the sun's rays after the ash tree was removed. 

[Rikki Gins]

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Here is a close up look at the common salsify, or oyster plant, or Jerusalem star, whichever name you prefer.  It's Latin name is Tragopogon porrifolius.  (Memorize this as there will be a test later.)

This is a wildflower, not a weed, and it can be found growing along roadsides and alleyways, in almost every state of the union.  It's roots are edible, but must be boiled first.  The newly formed leaves can also be eaten, cooked or raw. 

These plants produce a large fluffball of floating seeds that are spread by the wind.  As a matter of fact, that previous fluffball photo is a salsify plant gone to seed. 

[Smokin Hot Bob]

I see some ferns in your photo, also.  Great plants, and they've been around for millions of years.  I have a number of ferns here and there, though a couple got burnt from the sun's rays after the ash tree was removed.

Some of those ferns have grown 7 feet high on the north side of the house. I once tried some fiddleheads when they were starting out. Not for me. The saskatoons in the back alley are just coming in now. That's more like it. No one else seems to bother with them.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Rikki Gins]

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Some clouds over the EllGab Garden.

[Smokin Hot Bob]

This looks like wild lettuce growing near the back shed. Sometimes known as opium lettuce, it was supposedly illegal in the US until the 1970s. Is this true? Never heard of such a thing.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[HamsterMuscle]

This looks like wild lettuce growing near the back shed. Sometimes known as opium lettuce, it was supposedly illegal in the US until the 1970s. Is this true? Never heard of such a thing.

It's a weed, but an interesting one.  One of its many names is "poisonous weed" so tread carefully if you plan to ingest it.

[Rikki Gins]

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Had a bumper crop of honeysuckle blossoms this summer.  I don't make tea out of them, or garnish steaks with them. I grow them just to look at, plus bees and hummingbirds like them.  Honeysuckle plants produce berries in the fall, but only one variety has edible ones, and even at that, you can't eat too many of them or you will get sick. 

[JUAN]

Three years ago I planted Sea Island peas which are a red Southern pea similar to black- eyed peas.  Without planting more, they self-seeded last year and this year they are growing over everything.  They are a mess, but since they are edible and free, I keep them.

[Smokin Hot Bob]

If you look closely enough you just might see a few hazelnuts in the back alleyway. The squirrels have not found these yet. Only a matter of time. There is a massive walnut tree in the neighbor's backyard that has served them for generations.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Rikki Gins]

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The latest visitor to EllGab Garden West is this Nutmeg Moth.  It is a fairly common visitor to the garden, especially at night. It likes to munch on my tomato and dandelion leaves.  It would be happy to eat some celery, asparagus, tobacco, radishes, soybeans, cannabis, beets and parsley, if I had any growing, but I don't.