I was hauling some things out to the burn pile today and one of the fallen branches I picked up was covered in this lichen. Now you know, I have seen this particular type of lichen for most of my life and I never really considered what it is exactly. Hell, I didn't even know it was a lichen. Even though I had to take some fairly advanced biology courses for nursing school, I don't remember that much about a whole lot of things, fungi and lichens being two of them.
Google Lens says this is Usnea florida (Flowery Beard Lichen) and my plant ID calls it Parmeliaceae which is a family of lichen that can grow and flourish just about anywhere, from tree canopies to in-between rocks. They thrive in a multitude of climates as well, ranging from the Arctic to the rainforest. It is a massive family with more than 27000 species within it.
I cannot claim to now know a lot more about it than I did before but at least I put a little effort into learning a little more about it.
It's very cool, isn't it? Nature is simply never-endingly diverse and fascinating.
My outside work today consisted of pulling up the rest of the larger variety of field pea vines and doing a little more weeding. Also, I pulled up another tomato plant and a few pepper plants that are no longer viable as well as the eggplants which have spent all of their energy and just looked so very, very exhausted and ready to be put out of their misery.
Bless their hearts. I thank them for their service.
Garden pictures.
The Morning Glory That Is Attempting To Eat The Earth.
Yes. It is pretty. And next year it will be growing on even more fences, choking whatever else is trying to grow within its reach of root and vine.
See the roses up there?
The teeniest, tiniest sprouts of arugula which I planted DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY! Arugula don't mess around, y'all.
Maurice making her final tour of the field peas before I pulled them.
And...
Maurice checking this out:
Now, had I ever really studied the underside of the pumpkin blossom? No. I had not. Is it exquisite?
Yes. Yes it is. And see that baby pumpkin? Babies everywhere!
And finally, my sun-starved firespike is finally blooming.
I have such a special place in my heart for the firespike. It is not, to my knowledge or in my experience, invasive. I take great care every fall to take cuttings and root them over the winter and then plant them in the spring. They do recover from freezes but they show no signs of a preternatural desire to cover the earth as so many other things in this yard do.
And the hummingbirds love them.
I think their particular shade of scarlet is especially pleasing and the green of their leaves make a beautiful contrast. They will bloom until first frost, most likely.
So we shall let this post be mostly a botanical one.
Yesterday, when I was at pottery and so much was going on in the studio with chat and music and the sounds of the throwing-down of clay on the wedging table and the wheels, all of which I really do love, I stepped outside to sand off a few rough edges of my leaf platter and the sudden cessation of all of that was instantly calming and because the pottery studio is housed in a community center on a park, there were the sounds of crickets and the breezes in the trees and it struck me that there is a very, very good reason I want to be outside so much, even if that is only to be sitting on my back porch.
I am not the sort of woman who needs to be hiking in the mountains or kayaking on the rivers. But I do very much need to be outside with trees around me, with birds and their songs and calls to admire, and the sounds of insects with their hums and their chirps, their clicks and their whirs, with at least a piece of the sky visible, a place to look up and notice and be at peace with. And it would seem that I also need to interact with the dirt and what grows in it, to dig and to pull and to plant and to pick.
There is no end to the learning, the joy, the peace, the mystery, the delight.
And it is where I belong. If a river is involved or an ocean or yes, even mountains, sometimes, I will not complain.
Love...Ms. Moon
What a lovely post. I was outside quite a bit of today, as well. Well, for me. Being gone for a month, there’s a lot to be done. I pulled the few potatoes i got. Grabbed seeds from the calendula and a few other odd jobs. It all helps and moves the body which i need.
ReplyDeleteIt's just pure good, isn't it?
DeleteWonderful lichen, especially the little solid spots. It reminds me of what I heard called "reindeer moss" when I was growing up. Haven't had enough lichen in my life lately. There has been pruning and weeding, to the point that I can hardly close my hands tonight they are so still and sore. All that and anyone other than me would look around and think no one ever lifts a finger here.
ReplyDeleteCeci
It is indeed very similar looking to reindeer moss.
DeleteYou have been possibly overdoing it, Ms. Ceci!
I know exactly what you mean about no one but us being able to tell the difference after we've busted our asses outside.
A delish haul of lichen! Used for so many things - I have used it to dye wool back in the olden days when dying was fun. I produced a subtle warm yellow color. Being outside is the best place to be, i agree. Such nice weather lately. Glad you are back pounding clay- can't wait to see what comes from you head and hands.
ReplyDeleteMorning glory take over the alleys- anything and everything gets covered. How beautiful strangulation looks.
Your last sentence was pure poetry.
DeleteLoved this. Beautiful imagery. I get the need to be outdoors and noticing beauty. It’s grounding-excuse the silly pun.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, Maurice (Lulu for a day), is perfect, as always, prancing around. -Nicol
It IS grounding and perhaps that's how the term "grounding" came to be.
DeleteLulu Maurice doesn't so much prance as slink.
I agree that outside is the best place. Yesterday I sat out watching thistledown drift off the plant in the wind, bees and butterflies busy everywhere, birds shouting. It was just about the best.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds heavenly.
DeleteI love being outside too, hearing the birds, the wind in the trees, the scents, and the sky. Alberta has a big sky and it's always interesting to look at.
ReplyDeleteI have a love/hate relationship with my phone. It's too tempting, all the time, but it also allows me to learn about everything that I find interesting, whenever I want. Love/hate. That lichen is so beautiful.
so beaI know that Alberta must be stunning.
DeleteI feel exactly the same as you about my own phone.
I am glad you still have an outside to get into, the way the earth is going it may all be heaps of rubble a few centuries from now. The fire spike is pretty, as is Maurice doing her daily rounds.
ReplyDeleteMy overall thought about the earth turning to heaps of rubble is that somehow, something will crawl out of it, sprout out of it, and life will begin again, just without us and that is somehow heartening.
DeleteI had a dream about Maurice in the wee hours of the morning. You were calling her Swee’pea and she was glaring at you. Hours outside appreciating nature is the best therapy for me, too. Beautiful photos, as usual. The pumpkin blossom looks ceramic.
ReplyDeleteSwee'pea! I think I use the term "Sweetie" when I'm not calling her "You crazy bitch!" Either way, she glares.
DeleteOutside is the best place for some of us, isn't it? Not everyone.
Isn't that pumpkin blossom amazing?
glad to see the crow shirt!!! my one big accomplishment this summer other than fusing with the new hip was keeping the morning glory vines off our side of the fence between our house and my neighbor..... they are AMBITIOUS SONS OF BITCHES because I swear they grow like a foot a day.... if you have a paypay send it to us and we will donate for pottery tickets!!! xxalainaxx
ReplyDeleteYes. Morning glories distract us with their beauty as they overtake our planet.
DeleteYou can't buy more tickets! How crazy is that? I'm thinking that perhaps a black market will spring up.
If you know a plant dyer she migth like the lichen ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I do. In blog world, yes. Here? Nope. There's plenty of it to be found for anyone who wants it though.
DeleteEven sitting beside open windows, being now a towny, I love that nature lifts her voice all around me. The trees are thinking of what to do with these cooler nights. And yes crickets can be heard over the sounds of cars on the nearby highway at night. I love experiencing these touches of nature, and especially hearing of your garden changes!
ReplyDeleteEven the most subtle of nature's sounds and sights is uplifting, I think. I know you are so very aware of this. I am glad you have the sights and sounds you do.
DeleteIt's nice how you enjoy your garden so much.
ReplyDeleteIt is my saving grace so very often.
DeleteI also love being outside in every season. Although when it hits nearly 100 degrees F that is definitely a bit much for me. The trees and woodlands are my ideal landscape.
ReplyDeleteThe lichen in your photo looks like coral growing on a reef in the tropics. It is most unusual and very lovely.
By Halloween you'll likely have many beautiful pumpkins.
Yes. In this heat, I definitely spend less time outside but I do still spend a lot of time on my back porch which is screened in.
DeleteIsn't that lichen so very interesting?
I think most of the pumpkins will be already picked well before Halloween. These aren't Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins as such, but perhaps they could substitute.
That is a very cool lichen. Don't think I've seen that one around here. I love being outside and even in this heat I have to go out several times a day. Back when I did the river guide thing we would be outside, no shelter from Friday (or Saturday) morning to Sunday (or Monday) night, sleeping under the stars. I did a 10 day trip with friends once and while we had tents, we didn't use them unless it was raining. Got home and could not stand to be in the house. Took me days to recalibrate.
ReplyDeleteBeen watering this morning which is just about all that can be done out there in this heat. I did spot some volunteer tree sprouts that need to be cut down.
Only one of my firespike plants has put up a bloom stalk so far but the flowers aren't open yet.
I can completely understand having to transition back to living inside. I can still recall how it felt when I'd done a primitive camping experience when I was about fifteen or so on a mountainside in NC when I came back home. So very odd.
DeleteI am very grateful to be able to get even a small bit of work done outside most days. I tell myself that it adds up. I guess it does.
Your flowers will be opening soon.
I feel the same way about being outdoors. It's restorative. Mrs. Kravitz spends so much time worrying about her garden and moving around plants and yet I never see her just enjoying it -- sitting in it, reading a book, that kind of thing. I, on the other hand, opt to be outside as much as possible, unless the weather makes it impossible.
ReplyDeleteI don't ever remember seeing a lichen like that. I might just have failed to look at them closely, though!
You know, honestly I never really just sit outside and enjoy it either. I have to be busy. But I am happy (generally) while I am so there's that. I can remember reading outside, sometimes even in a tree, when I was a kid in Roseland.
DeleteIt's so odd that I never really LOOKED at that lichen. And yet, there it is.
I totally get this. Being outside. Trees. Sky. I live in a big city but fortunately I can step outside and sit beneath lovely trees and be surrounded by grass and plantings and it makes all the difference in the world. We need community, yes, but nature restores. Beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think of you SO often when I write about being outside and I am always so happy for you that you are able to do that- step outside and sit beneath the trees and be surrounded by growing things. I'm not sure I could live in the city, but if I did, I would hopefully live in a place with trees and nature right right there for me to restore myself in.
Delete