Wild Bergamot

I almost missed the soft lavender flowers of Monarda fistulosa.  I happened to spot it early one morning this week on the way into the office.  The sense of smell is strongly linked to memories, and this plant conjures up vivid memories of a summer in my teen years spent marking trees at a timber sale near Englewood, South Dakota.  At the foot of the hill that we were logging was a meadow full of an array of flowers, and the strong fragrance of this plant was dominant in their combined aroma.

It's not plagued by powdery mildew to the same extent as its close relative, Oswego tea, Monarda didyma. But most of the cultivars available are Monarda didyma. I understand some are hybrids between the two species, but it seems like this species could be used to create some new cultivars.  White forms do exist.    

Weed Wednesday: Willowleaf Lettuce

Not the kind that you would want to eat. Lactuca saligna is a weed, and either it's more abundant this year than in years past or I'm just noticing it more.  It's like prickly lettuce but with narrower leaves.  I've grown lettuce for ornament quite often; in container gardens and perennial borders mostly.  It's hard to harvest the leaves sometimes so I usually just end up taking out a single plant if I need some. 

I lament that I didn't plant any this year.  And I didn't get a large container planted with clarkia seeds in time to enjoy the crepe-textured flowers by early summer.  Sigh.  It's that time of year when I begin to lament that I didn't get time to do things that can't be done now that really warm weather is scheduled to make itself known this weekend.  Soon the frantic days of spring will transition into the slower pace of summer.  That's probably a good thing.