Gardening

[SophMarie]

It looks a whole lot like a pretty healthy Angelica plant. There are a number of different plants in the same family that have more or less the same growth habit though and I'm not familiar with all of them, so if you could get a picture of the flower heads when they start to flower that would narrow it down a bit.

Angelica

I scattered a bunch of seeds from the wild Angelica that grows near the edge of the swamp near me but so far I haven't seen a sign of it. I may have to transplant one! The type that grows around here is called Angelica astropurpurea which seems like a pretty spiffy scientific name to me.

All the speculation is coming in as either Angelica or invasive hogweed. I guess I need to contact the county in case it is the latter.

Its growth rate is amazing. With all this rain, it’s added 1-2 feet in a week.

Hope it turns out to be as spiffy as your astropurpurea 😊

Thank you 🙏

 

[Mr.P]

This wallflower smells fantastic - a narcotic, musky, complex floral bouquet. Not overly strong but an interesting balance of a rose/jasmine like accord, and a little musky/funky like sweet pea. Seems like a great inspiration for a perfume.

 

[asif akram]

Nature and its beauty, how we have only explored very little and so much more there is out there

 

[Mr.P]

All the speculation is coming in as either Angelica or invasive hogweed. I guess I need to contact the county in case it is the latter.

Its growth rate is amazing. With all this rain, it’s added 1-2 feet in a week.

Hope it turns out to be as spiffy as your astropurpurea 😊

Thank you 🙏

I did a little search and it seems that the hogweed has these splotchy stems with coarse hairs all over them, forming a ring at the nodes:

In contrast the angelica has a smooth stem, no bristles, like this:

 

[SophMarie]

I did a little search and it seems that the hogweed has these splotchy stems with coarse hairs all over them, forming a ring at the nodes:

View attachment 46622

In contrast the angelica has a smooth stem, no bristles, like this:


View attachment 46623

Fantastic. My plant doesn't appear to have those in these photos. I'll go take some close-ups this afternoon. Thank you! 🌺

 

[Mr.P]

I put a largeish Siberian ginseng shrub in the ground today, it had been in a large grow bag for the last year. In the process of removing the bag I had to trim away a small amount of the root ends that had overgrown along the bottom of the bag, shown here on a dinner plate. These are fresh out of the ground (currently having a power outage so they're just quickly washed and dimly lit - on low power mode here).

I am psyched to have this homegrown ginseng to experiment with. This is a good energizing adaptogen in my experience. For me the Siberian has been energizing in the sense of eliminating fatigue, not in the sense of causing stimulation or extra energy or elevated heart rate or anything like that.

Siberian ginseng doesn't form the human shaped roots that the other types are known for - it forms these big almost woody root clusters and lots of fibrous roots like these.

(I should get tips from @Goodness Nose for how to set up some system to maximize roots for easy harvesting - seems like these might emerge and proliferate in some system like he has set up for vetiver).

 

[Taesik Yun]

@Mr.P That's interesting looking ginseng! I wonder how their chemical composition is different from other ginseng variety.

 

[Mr.P]

@Mr.P That's interesting looking ginseng! I wonder how their chemical composition is different from other ginseng variety.

Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is in in the same family but in a different genus than Korean (Panax ginseng) or American (Panax quinquefolius) ginseng and I am pretty sure it is quite different chemically. The aroma of the fresh roots is classic ginseng scent however.

In my experience a very powerful energizer and great for mental clarity. It is supposedly less stimulating than the Korean ginseng, apparently it can measurably improve endurance and oxygen transport but I can't cite a source.

I never found Korean ginseng too stimulating - I drank tons of it especially in college - my dorm mate was Korean and his mother was always sending him these crazy old white dried ginseng roots which we would cook in a slow cooker (or just gnaw on when we needed to study late). I don't know where she got those - she must've had connections because nothing I have ever been able to find online or in Korean markets has been anything like those big fat roots!

 

[Mr.P]

This stuff that I grew in my yard last year smells more like lavender than lavender. Remarkable likeness, in a blind test I would have immediately misidentified. On closer inspection some of the typical cannabis aroma is there but this is a really weird outcome of the genetic crosses from the previous season. I don't think this strain is going to win any awards though - kind of mediocre and grassy.

 

[Joe]

Don’t know if anyone gardens here. This is my third year of giving it some effort. My whole yard and seedling stash got flooded out in June so it has been a hard summer for the plants. I am having some success now with some produce like tomatoes, basil, tomatillos, jalapeno, Serrano, new mex peppers.

Here is a weird one: I grew some sacred Aztec tobacco this summer
Nicotiana rustica. Heard it can be used for both insecticide and unusual mental clarity and entheogenesis, so it was a no brainer to get some started.

Picked a bunch of the tops and seed pods yesterday since they were growing too tall for the rock garden they were planted in. Got the resin / oil all over my hands when I picked them… a few minutes later my mind crystallizes, very clear thinking and gentle energetic mindstate; simultaneously I notice a familiar tingle in my hands and feet. Washed my hands well at that point as I had a solid “nicotine plus” buzz going and clearly had absorbed a fair amount of nicotine (and whatever other alkaloids make this stuff unique).

Anyway 10/10, would repeat if not for addiction issues. Primitive tech nicotine patch if you slap a leaf on your forearm.

I have also planted many lemon scented thyme plants - one of my favorite scents - there is something special there. Thyme will overgrow turf here and form solid lawns of thyme - hoping to cover much of my 1/4 acre with the lemony kind.

I’ve added pics of the tobacco flowers, my cat by one of the plants and a fire pit where the tobacco is growing.

I’ve gathered a bunch of field stone, and I’ve been making different arrangements to make some thing like the stone lanterns I see on Japanese gardens. Now I have to figure out where to put them in the yard.

I'll take a leaf for my arm. I'm sucking on a nicotine lozenge now. I smoked for 31 years and quit more than 8 years ago but still addicted when I get irritated! I'll take some garden fresh tomatoes for sure!

 

[Mr.P]

A patchouly plant and a monarda recovering from being shipped to my home. I got these from a company called Companion Plants. This company has been a great source for diverse live plants and seeds for the last 35 years. I'm providing a link because Google seems to have been switched to ignore interesting small businesses and returns garbage even if you search for the name of this business.

Companion plants website

 

[Mr.P]

I keep thinking I'm smelling manure on the breeze, which is not all that unusual around here as there are some small farms nearby, but it turns out it's these valerian flowers. Like a mixture of lilac and cow manure. Barnyard all the way, don't know if that makes theM a good or bad candidate for extraction.

 

[Matheus Alves]

I keep thinking I'm smelling manure on the breeze, which is not all that unusual around here as there are some small farms nearby, but it turns out it's these valerian flowers. Like a mixture of lilac and cow manure. Barnyard all the way, don't know if that makes theM a good or bad candidate for extraction. View attachment 47346

I've heard people use valerian extracts (mixed with other things) to make botanical versions of animalic materials, like civet and castoreum

 

[Mr.P]

I've heard people use valerian extracts (mixed with other things) to make botanical versions of animalic materials, like civet and castoreum

My plan is to extract these roots at some point. I've got lots of the plants going right now!

 

[Mr.P]

This is Rosa nitida the "swamp rose" or "bog rose" and on one level it is as rosey a rose as you could hope for. But there is also something peculiar about the aroma, some thing in addition to the typical citrus and geranium... I was having trouble placing the scent until was reading a description of the species in which the author describes the aroma as resembling muguet / lily of the valley, and that made it click! The aroma is like a blend of damask Rose and lily-of-the-valley. Absolutely a delight! I am trying to propagate this, I have plans 🙂

 

[Matheus Alves]

This is Rosa nitida the "swamp rose" or "bog rose" and on one level it is as rosey a rose as you could hope for. But there is also something peculiar about the aroma, some thing in addition to the typical citrus and geranium... I was having trouble placing the scent until was reading a description of the species in which the author describes the aroma as resembling muguet / lily of the valley, and that made it click! The aroma is like a blend of damask Rose and lily-of-the-valley. Absolutely a delight! I am trying to propagate this, I have plans 🙂

It must smells incredible! I wish I had this rose here

 

[LasLunas]

Don’t know if anyone gardens here. This is my third year of giving it some effort. My whole yard and seedling stash got flooded out in June so it has been a hard summer for the plants. I am having some success now with some produce like tomatoes, basil, tomatillos, jalapeno, Serrano, new mex peppers.

Here is a weird one: I grew some sacred Aztec tobacco this summer
Nicotiana rustica. Heard it can be used for both insecticide and unusual mental clarity and entheogenesis, so it was a no brainer to get some started.

Picked a bunch of the tops and seed pods yesterday since they were growing too tall for the rock garden they were planted in. Got the resin / oil all over my hands when I picked them… a few minutes later my mind crystallizes, very clear thinking and gentle energetic mindstate; simultaneously I notice a familiar tingle in my hands and feet. Washed my hands well at that point as I had a solid “nicotine plus” buzz going and clearly had absorbed a fair amount of nicotine (and whatever other alkaloids make this stuff unique).

Anyway 10/10, would repeat if not for addiction issues. Primitive tech nicotine patch if you slap a leaf on your forearm.

I have also planted many lemon scented thyme plants - one of my favorite scents - there is something special there. Thyme will overgrow turf here and form solid lawns of thyme - hoping to cover much of my 1/4 acre with the lemony kind.

I’ve added pics of the tobacco flowers, my cat by one of the plants and a fire pit where the tobacco is growing.

I’ve gathered a bunch of field stone, and I’ve been making different arrangements to make some thing like the stone lanterns I see on Japanese gardens. Now I have to figure out where to put them in the yard.

OOOh..gorgeous kitty!

 

[Joe]

I've heard people use valerian extracts (mixed with other things) to make botanical versions of animalic materials, like civet and castoreum

Costus is outlawed in the USA. But it used to be part of a Boctanical accord to replace musks.

 

[Joe]

This is Rosa nitida the "swamp rose" or "bog rose" and on one level it is as rosey a rose as you could hope for. But there is also something peculiar about the aroma, some thing in addition to the typical citrus and geranium... I was having trouble placing the scent until was reading a description of the species in which the author describes the aroma as resembling muguet / lily of the valley, and that made it click! The aroma is like a blend of damask Rose and lily-of-the-valley. Absolutely a delight! I am trying to propagate this, I have plans 🙂

Wow. Sounds like an interesting mix of aromas.

 

[Mr.P]

Wow. Sounds like an interesting mix of aromas.

It is a treat. Very fine scent first thing in the morning, more like an ordinary rose after sitting in the sun for a full day.