Photo from 6/13/05
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Saturday, February 02, 2008
A Little Bit Of Snow
Okay, all of you fine readers from the frozen north can go ahead and chuckle, but I just couldn't resist posting a few photos of the Great Non-Blizzard that hit the Ozarks on January 31st. A mixture of sleet, rain and/or snow fell most of the day on Thursday, but our temperature remained slightly above freezing. During the evening, the temperature finally dipped below freezing and we received a little more snow, enough to at least last over night. I've been saying that we had at least 3/4" in some of the deeper drifts, but it actually may have been a little bit more snow than that -- maybe 3/4" total.
Friday was sunny and the temperature made it up into the lower fifties so there's very little of the snow left. Thanks to Jo and the dogs for getting out and taking these photos early Friday morning.
The road heading down to our house.
Ice covered St. John's Wort seed pod.
Snowy, icy pine needles.
Weeds covered with ice beads.
Bamboo weighted down with enough snow and ice to lean over into the creek.
Another ice encrusted weed (with a "sparkle" that looks more like a dead cluster of dead pixels).
Friday was sunny and the temperature made it up into the lower fifties so there's very little of the snow left. Thanks to Jo and the dogs for getting out and taking these photos early Friday morning.
The road heading down to our house.
Ice covered St. John's Wort seed pod.
Snowy, icy pine needles.
Weeds covered with ice beads.
Bamboo weighted down with enough snow and ice to lean over into the creek.
Another ice encrusted weed (with a "sparkle" that looks more like a dead cluster of dead pixels).
Friday, February 01, 2008
Bee Balm
Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa)
Under a January sky.
There's little left of what once was.
Just a cluster of empty vessels falling into disarray.
How different it was in mid-June.
Other common names: Oswego-tea or wild bergamot
A member of the mint family (Lamiaceae). The leaves are used in herbal teas and the flowers are edible. Some say the leaves have an oregano scent. Historically, oil from the leaves was used to treat respiratory ailments.
Grows in almost every state and province in the U. S. and Canada and isn't picky about location. Habitat - Prairies, fields, open rocky woods, glade margins, thickets, roadsides, railroads. Preference is full or partial sun, and moist to slightly dry conditions.
The root system consists of deep, strongly branched roots, and shallow rhizomes that are responsible for the vegetative spread of the plant. These rhizomes typically send up multiple leafy stems in a tight cluster, giving Bee Balm a bushy appearance. The rhizomes can survive earth-moving and bulldozing operations, and send up plants in unexpected places. Can also be grown from seed. This plant often spreads aggressively. (Of course, it does. It's a mint.)
The nectar of the flowers attracts long-tongued bees, bee flies, butterflies, skippers, and hummingbird moths. Hummingbirds also visits the flowers. Mammalian herbivores usually avoid bee balm.
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