TKG

@tkg-nc

Horticulturist, Forager, Purveyor of Dad Jokes, Farmer, Mushroom Grower. Blog is here: Youtube Channel is here:

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TKG@tkg-nc· 20d

The Wild Harvest Digest: July 2026, #4 Good Morning Neighbors, Welcome back folks, instead of talking about wild plants we will be talking about lovely things in the trial gardens. #Petunia #MountainMint #Oregano #Marigold

The first plant on display this week is one of my personal favorites, Headliner Dark Saturn Petunias. What a flower! I only managed to get two specimens for the garden as my favorite supplier was nearly out of them when these flowers caught my eye. The flowers vary a bit from the one in the picture but the super-dark purple centers that sort of bleed out into the white borders almost like a how a drop of black ink put in a glass of water will swirl, disperse and take on random shapes and patterns. The best part is that these flowers have a slight scent early in the morning and are pretty entrancing in the early morning light as new flowers have just opened. The best part is that the Pollinators love these Petunias and if you can get some I’m sure you will too.

Next up is Durango Red French Marigolds. As some of you know I have a standing bias towards Marigolds; I put them in every garden plan because Marigolds are a sturdy attractive addition to any garden. Durango Red though has that gorgeous fireball orange thing going on and each flower even on the same plant is a little bit different. At a few feet of distance it looks like the plant is producing little fireballs and the Pollinators seem to like them just fine. I did lose a few of these plants early on though, and I presume that is due to lack of vigor or perhaps overcrowding but when the heat of summer has arrived you can find no better a flowering annual.

This third plant is a curveball, it isn’t an annual and chances are you have no idea what could possibly produce flowers like this. This is the flower cluster of a particularly healthy Oregano plant. Oregano is a hardy perennial that is effectively evergreen in zone 8B, and forms dense weed blocking mats and the flowers attract serious pollinators of the butterfly and solitary wasp kind because it is in the Mint family. While there are purely ornamental Oregano varieties with fancier flowers out there, I prefer the regular type because it proves Oregano isn’t just a spice, it’s a critical asset to the garden ecosystem.

Finally we have another unexpected entry to this list, Clustered Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum). Mountain mint is our native species of Mint and the scientific name means ‘blunt flower’ and the specific epithet means ‘blunt’. As a herb Mountain mint has a spearmint scent and flavor though it’s not nearly as pungent as a some of the more cultivated varieties of Spearmint. The tiny spotted pink flowers of mountain mint attract a wide variety of solitary wasp pollinators and it is a critical part of supporting the local ecosystem since it is a native plant. The best part is how the flowers have those dusty off-white leaves around them and form this flower canopy while the rest of the plant is a rich green color. The one big advantage to Mountain Mint is that its stalks are rigidly upright and it generally does not escape cultivation as much as other more cultivated mints.

TKG@tkg-nc· 27d

The Wild Harvest Digest: July 2026, #3 Good Morning Neighbors, Welcome back folks, we’re going to take a break from the normal wild plants thing to show off a few lovely domesticated plants from the botanical trial gardens here in Fayetteville North Carolina. #SummerFlowers

Our first plant is called Japanese Basil (Perilla frutescens variety crispa). It is considered invasive in some areas and it’s toxic to most pets as well as to horses and cattle. Its big issue is that it produces a lot of seeds that survive the winter and one plant can be the parent of dozens if not hundreds more the next year. Perilla is in the Mint Family, but thankfully it only spreads by seed. For you and me its leaves are plenty edible and have an enticing aroma that goes well with a bit of pepper paste. I tried making a pesto out of it once, and uh, it was ‘enlightening’.

The second plant today is Digiplexis, its specific variety is Illumination Canary. Digiplexis is a cross between Purple Foxglove (Digitalis purprea) and Canary Island Foxglove (Isoplexis canarensis). It is a sterile hybrid meaning no viable seeds but, its flowers are something else. It has all the color of a purple foxglove with orangey-yellow tinges and some of the shape of Isoplexis flowers. This is a win-win perennial plant for your garden folks!

The third plant is ‘Denver Daisy’ which is actually a type of Black Eye Susan and thus (Rudbeckia hirta ‘Denver Daisy’). This plant was bred for and named after Denver Colorado to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary. A few good sources indicate that this variety of Rudbeckia was made by crossing (Rudbeckia hirta) with the variety ‘Prairie Sun’. Even if this isn’t true, Denver Daisy is a short lived perennial in USDA zone 8 it is not sterile and has a good chance to resow itself from seed if you don’t deadhead the spent flowers.

Today’s fourth plant is a Petunia but not just any Petunia, this is called ‘Midnight Gold’ from the Jewel series. This one comes through BallFlora who are known for some pretty interesting plant offerings and ‘midnight gold’ is completely that. As far as care it requires the same as any other Petunia though I give it extra fertilizer because I do not want the double ruffle flowers to stop. Funny thing is I bought this as an accident thinking it was another type of Petunia which we will cover next week.

TKG@tkg-nc· Jul 10

The Wild Harvest Digest: July 2026, #2 Good Morning Neighbors, We’re back on track this week after a brief holiday break last week and we have one of the last plants in the Fort Liberty series. #Baptisia #YellowFalseIndigo

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. Today’s wild plant is commonly called Yellow Wild Indigo but, a lot of the yellow indigo plants are also called that. Additional common names for this native perennial are Yellow False Indigo, Green Wild Indigo, Bush Pea or Yellow Wisteria. The scientific name for this member of the Fabaceae Family is (Baptisia sphaerocarpa) which tells you that it is related to the very same False Indigo that you can buy at garden centers and nurseries throughout the country. Also, I feel it’s important to mention that the last common name ‘Yellow Wisteria’ is a prime example of why you should often take common names of plants with a grain of salt. So what is a Yellow False Indigo? The Yellow False indigo is a native herbaceous perennial that can grow two to three feet tall with a spread of two to four feet. The foliage is a glaucous green color and each leaf petiole can have three leaflets that are roughly elliptical in shape.
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Some of the petioles may have a reddish tinge in color but the angled branching on this perennial puts its branching pattern under the alternate classification. The thing that makes Yellow False Indigo special is its flowers, which are a bright yellow color that stands out against the normally muted colors of the forest floor. Yellow False Indigo flowers open from the bottom of the flower stalk upward and the blooming time is mainly in spring roughly from Late March through to the end of May if not into early June, depending on how the weather behaves in a given year. Much like the more common cultivated blue False Indigo, Yellow False Indigo is a fairly tough plant that can handle drought and poor soil with ease once it is established. It is known to be hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9 and its native range includes Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. This information would make it seem like the plants I spotted are quite a distance out of their native range.
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How they got here is unclear but presumably someone or some animal moved the seeds and they are here now. Speaking of seeds, a few vendors carry this plant’s seeds but your best bet is Prairie Moon. Cultivating False Indigo from seed is fairly easy, you would start these in a seedling tray with bottom heat and normal amounts of illumination and germination of the seed takes about fourteen to twenty-eight days. Thankfully with these seeds there are no extra steps such as scarification or acid baths to get them to germinate. From germination it will often take a few weeks to a month or more before the seedlings start developing more than one set of true leaves. From the true leaves point it can take two to three years before a False Indigo is ready to produce any flowers. On this point alone, if you ever seen Yellow False Indigo plants for sale, it’s wise to get a plant that is several years old unless you prefer the patient route to stunning yellow pea blossoms. As a final bit of information the members of the Baptisia are called ‘False Indigo’ because their flowers or foliage can be steeped in water then allowed to ferment to make a indigo-like dye. True Indigo (Indigofera tinctoria), is also in the Fabaceae Family, and is a relative that is native to West Africa, Tanzania, South Africa Mainland Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
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TKG@tkg-nc· Jun 26

The Wild Harvest Digest: June 2026, #4 Good Morning Neighbors, Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion. This time it’s an American Persimmon. Persimmons belong to the Ebenaceae family which is known more commonly as the Ebony Family. #Persimmon #Native

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If you didn’t believe the relation to Ebony was a thing, Persimmon wood is valued in the wood crafting trade because it is dense and shock-resistant, but comes with some difficulties that only experienced wood crafters can handle. For the rest of us, American Persimmons do two things, their foliage can be brewed into a tea, and of course those fruit. The flavor of the fruit is hard to describe, and I often liken it to a mix of honey, dark brown sugar with maybe a dash of UFO peach. In the case of the ones we saw at Fort Liberty, these trees were in full bloom though they appeared to be all male trees. American Persimmons (Diospyros virginiana) are dioecious, meaning the plants are either male or female with no hermaphrodites possible. American persimmons will form entire colonies of single-sex trees as they readily sucker from the originating plant’s root stock and those plants will be clones. This does mean that there is an advantage in using American Persimmon root stock, but that becomes problematic when the grafted persimmon dies or simply is overcome by the more vigorous root stock.

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American Persimmon can grow up to eighty feet tall with a canopy that is up to thirty five feet wide. American Persimmons are native trees that are deciduous and found all over the United States but naturally they are mainly a southeastern sort of thing. The scientific name of American Persimmon is interesting as the first part ‘Diospyros’ comes from the Greek words ‘dios’ and ‘pyros’. The two Greek words directly translate to ‘Zeus’s Wheat’ but generally mean ‘divine fruit’. The specific epithet ‘virginiana’ means ‘of virginia’ or in some sources ‘virginian’. The common name ‘persimmon’ comes from the language of the Native Americans, specifically the Algonquin name for the fruit ‘putchamin’ which was phonetically anglicized. In our Fort Liberty hike it was found that the specimens as seen were smaller than the above noted size by a long shot; mostly being fifteen feet tall at best.

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American Persimmons bear their leaves in an alternate arrangement and the leaves are roughly elliptical and have a pointed tip. The flowers are easy enough to tell apart, male flowers appear in clusters of 2-3 flowers and are smaller and have petals that tend to curl back. Female flowers appear individually and have less curled petals that are more pronounced. For comparison, on Japanese Persimmons, all the flowers are female and are parthenocarpic meaning they don’t need pollination to produce fruit. In our area you will find American Persimmons naturally in places like rich bottom lands such as areas near the Cape Fear River, at the margins of woodlands, in fields, rocky hillsides and if previously cultivated growing in former homesteads. On Fort Liberty we found the photographed specimens in Turkey Oak Scrub.

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TKG@tkg-nc· Jun 19

The Wild Harvest Digest: June 2026, #3 Good Morning Neighbors, Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion. Today’s plant is most commonly known as Goat’s Rue, however it has a lot of other common names some of which have weird explanations. #GoatsRue #Native

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Goat’s Rue is also known as; Catgut, Devil’s Shoestring, Hoary Pea, North American Turkey Pea, Virginia Goat’s Rue, Virginia Tephrosia, Rabbit Pea and, Wild Sweetpea. The name Goat’s Rue comes from the belief that feeding this plant to female Goats would improve their milk production. However, this plant is toxic, and contains a compound called Rotenone, that passes in said milk and poses a threat to people, other livestock and pets. So the practice of using it to improve milk production fell out of favor for understandable reasons. The common names ‘Cat Gut’ and ‘Devil’s Shoelaces’ are believed to have originated from the appearance of Goat’s Rue’s sinewy roots which often would form tangles. For the record, I’m not sure how the roots got likened to the entrails of a cat, but with old-timey names folks were weirdly specific. Goat’s Rue’s botanical Latin name is Tephrosia virginiana and it is a member of the Fabaceae family meaning that it is in with your garden Beans and Peas despite its lack of edibility. Overtime much like with the common names Goat’s Rue has accrued a number of now outdated Latin names that may appear in older publications such as; Cracca latidens, Cracca viginiana, Tephrosia latidens, Tephrosia virginiana variety glabra and, Tephrosia virginiana var. holosericea.

Now that we’ve got this plant’s name settled let’s talk about the plant itself. Goat’s Rue as I noted before is toxic, all parts of it contain a poisonous compound called Rotenone. Rotenone is toxic enough that it has been used in the past to kill invasive fish species by poisoning the water they live in.
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Rotenone is interesting because when it is extracted and concentrated it is a colorless crystalline isoflavone and Goat’s Rue isn’t the only place it is found. Rotenone is naturally found in the Jicama vine, Florida Fishpoison Trees, Miletta, Jewel Vine and Barbasco. As such it is generally employed as a non-selective fish poison (Piscicide) and it kills fish by interfering with cellular respiration causing fish to float to the surface where they can be caught and removed from a body of water. Unfortunately as noted prior it is non-selective, so while it is valuable for removing invasive or non-native species it also can kill the species that are supposed to be there. Goat’s Rue as a strictly native but ornamental plant is a good reliable choice. Goat’s Rue grows to about two feet tall, and is a hardy perennial plant that is already present in all states except Hawaii. It prefers acidic soils to a point that its seeds may not germinate unless the substrate is within the pH range of 6.0 to 4.5. Its soil preference is for sandy or sandy-loam soils and will grow in full sun, partial shade or deep shade just fine. The strong point of this plant is that it is a larval hose for two species of native butterfly, the Southern Cloudy wing and the Northern Cloudy wing. Also since it is in the Pea family its flowers attract and support a wide range of pollinators with nectar and Pollen, The seeds of Goat’s rue are the food of several species of wild birds such as Wild Turkeys. The best part of this particular native is the flowers, as they are large by Pea standards and are a bright pink and butter-cream yellow color which is striking in the landscape. If this plant interests you, I do know that Prairie Moon sells the seed, and in buying from a credible vendor you are helping make life hard for plant poachers.

[Author's Note: This stuff was in a lot of places along side the hiking trails.]

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TKG@tkg-nc· Jun 12

The Wild Harvest Digest: June 2026, #2 Good Morning Neighbors, Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion. The new plant today is in the same family as last week’s plant of interest Ericaceae however this does not mean it’s safe to use or eat. #Maleberry

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Inevitably when you deal in wild plants you find that the good and helpful ones can grow right next to the ones that will guarantee a hospital visit. You gardeners out there should be familiar with this as the Nightshades (Solanaceae) have good stuff like Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant and Potatoes right next to Horse-Nettle, Black Nightshade, Borrachero and Belladonna. In this case we have a plant called Maleberry (Lyonia mariana), which is a native deciduous perennial that may sometimes in specific microclimates appear to be evergreen. Alternate common names for this native perennial include Fetterbush, Piedmont Staggerbush and Staggerbush. Keep in mind that with the Exception of ‘Piedmont Staggerbush’ all of the other common names I just listed are alternate names for an evergreen landscaping shrub called Leucothoe which is why Maleberry is the one I prefer to use for this plant. Beyond this you can identify Maleberry by its opposite leaf arrangement.

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[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Debbie Roos.]

In general it’s leaves are elliptical and look a bit like those on a Crape Myrtle, and are a brighter green color, though sometimes they will have a gray-green glaucous color to them. Maleberry’s foliage turns an orange-red in the fall making it quite pretty when used as a landscape plant for moist soil areas. In the spring, Maleberry has pretty bell shaped flowers that hang with the opening facing down; this feature is common to the Heather Family and is also seen on Blueberries which can make field identification problematic. Fortunately Malebush does not have fruit in the sense that they do not form berries, instead the seed capsules are split five ways much like the ones on Mountain Laurel (Kalmia sp.) which makes confirming identification in the autumn far easier.

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[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Homer Edward Price.]

Given time a single Maleberry plant will eventually form a colony. Maleberries mainly spread by underground rhizomes but some of their seeds are still viable and you may find new ones nearby. In the landscape, Maleberry is an ornamental plant, its spring flowers bring in the native pollinators while it’s fall color is definitely something to brag about. The fact that it doesn’t mind moist or wet soil makes it extra useful in areas where soil drainage isn’t so good because it will help hold the soil in place and limit erosion. The only downside to this plant is that it is absolutely inedible, as all parts contain Andromeotoxin and Grayanotoxins. Those toxins make it a danger to pets, livestock and people. Weirdly, despite the toxicity of this plant many credible sources indicate the Cherokee at some point made an infusion out of this plant as a remedy for ulcers, toe itch and a malady called 'ground itch'.

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TKG@tkg-nc· Jun 12

The Wild Harvest Digest: June 2026, #1 Good Morning Neighbors, Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion. This time the plant in question is a relative of several plants that you are absolutely familiar with. #Deerberry

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During the holidays, you most certainly have eaten Cranberry sauce, and during the summer you have definitely eaten something with Blueberries in it. This interesting cousin is called Deerberry and it got its name because deer like to eat its berries. The scientific name of this plant is (Vaccinium stamineum) and while the exact language origins of the name Vaccinium are unclear, the specific epithet ‘stamineum’ refers to the unique shape of the plant’s sexual organs; specifically the Stamen. Deer berry has a few other common names such as Tall Deerberry, Highbush Huckleberry, Buckberry and Southern Gooseberry, but that first one is of particular note.
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[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Susan Strine.]

With both age and in ideal growing conditions Deerberry can get up to fifteen feet tall, so the highbush name is totally warranted. In the wild though, colonies of Deerberry are often perhaps three feet tall and form dense but low-growing shrub thickets. The primary means of reproduction of this plant is not through the seeds in the berries but through modified stems called runners that grow outward from an established plant or colony, take root and form new upward growth. This also means that should you encounter this plant while you are out and about hiking it is easy to get a piece of it and start your own Deerberry colony.

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[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Ted Bodner.]

In the included picture you can see that Deerberry has an alternate leaf arrangement with ovate shaped leaves and that the flowers have five petals and mainly have a downward hanging habit. This plant is hardy in USDA zones 5A to 9B and can be found naturally at least thirty states in the USA. Generally it prefers to grow in Acidic soil (about 6.0) that that drains well but has a high amount of organic matter. Deerberry’s preferred exposure is partial shade but I’ve found it in full scorching sun locations so it can tolerate full sun. A number of credible references suggest that once established it is drought tolerant but also resistant to wildfire which might be very important in the future.

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[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Eric Hunt.]

The best part about Deerberry is that its berries are considered a bit sour but are safely edible; its flowers provide nectar for numerous pollinators and are a host plant for the larva of Brown Elfin Butterflies. The berries also support populations of Songbirds, Wild Turkeys, Deer and even Black Bears. Just like with the rest of the Vaccinium species as a whole, Deerberry also supports several species of native specialized bees. For note the berries of Deerberry start out green, turn golden yellow and will ultimately turn purple or lavender when ripe. Most references to Deerberry indicate that given the tart nature of the berries suggest their use in Jams, Jellies, preserves or in cobbler-type pies. I can personally imagine that they would be very good in sweet breads or certain types of cake or perhaps brewed into a dessert wine.

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TKG@tkg-nc· May 29

The Wild Harvest Digest: May 2026, #4 Good Morning Neighbors, Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion that turned out to be very unique. [See Alt text in pictures for more.] #CanadaSnakeroot #BlackSnakeroot

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Beyond being an interesting native, take a look at that picture, it’s telling you a lot at a glance and objective observation is a powerful tool when gardening. Take a close look at the included picture as it tells you a whole lot about this plant. The first things you should notice are the lighting and fallen leaves around the plant. The majority of the leaves are from more than one type of Oak, as well as some Hickory and a few Pine needles too. On top of this the lighting is interesting, a bright spot up top and a shady area at the bottom of the picture. At the very bottom is a decaying branch and if you look closely there is a single Magnolia leaf and numerous fallen Oak catkins. Some might warn that this is a perfect place for a copperhead to hide in plain sight and that is true but it’s not what nature is telling you. The plant at the middle of this which is the only green thing in the picture is called Black Snake Root (Sanicula Canadensis).

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Black Snake root is a native perennial that is herbaceous and has a native range that goes as far north as Ontario, Canada and southern Vermont. Black Snakeroot can be found as far south as Florida and Texas.

The picture as a whole is telling you something very important, this plant only appears in the woods in partial shade to dappled shade and it requires a soil that is high in organic matter which means the soil is also well drained and generally moist. Or in less technical terms a forest floor where there are regular deposits of leaves, decomposers eating those leaves and the occasional wild fire to break down the tougher organic materials that eventually pile up and clog the forest floor’s ecology. In this case the array of leaves indicate that the soil pH is likely somewhere in range of 5.5 to 6.5 since the Sandhill region of North Carolina is part of the Atlantic Coastal Plains which then tells us, the oaks present are likely a mix of Water Oaks, Red Oaks, or Black Oaks.

[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Mary Keim.]

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Black Snakeroot is one of those wild plants that is fairly specialized, it appears in a specific environment, and even has a specific species of Aphid (Aphis saniculae) that attacks it. Individual plants can get up to three feet high with age but a lot of that is their flower stalk. The maximum noted width for these perennials is about a foot wide. The flowers on Black Snakeroot are tiny and green colored, very easy to miss but their spiky seed pods which dry and become burrs are not. As seen in the photo, the foliage resembles so many garden perennials that it stands out in the woods. Black Snakeroot resembles a plant that escaped cultivation to a point you almost want to look around for signs of an abandoned homestead that surely must be nearby. Black Snakeroot visually resembles Lady’s Mantle, Virginia Creeper, Potentilla, Barren Strawberries, and a few other things. Know that Black Snakeroot isn’t a vine, doesn’t produce runners and only reproduces by seeds.

[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Mary Keim.]

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The best use of this plant is as an indicator of where to find good quality soil in the wild. It can be eaten as a potherb but it has to be cooked because it is bitter flavored and cooking reduces that. Instructions on how to cook it are unclear, so it may be wise to cook it in at least one change of water. The most solid information for its use as a medicine comes from ‘A Field Guide to Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region’ by Bruce A. Sorrie. The entry for this plant says “Native Americans used powdered roots to stimulate menses and as an abortive” so, there is at least that to consider. I have found no other mentions of medicinal or edible uses for this plant that are credible thus far. Regardless of a lack of clear use it is an interesting wild plant that you can find locally and as some sources have suggested use as a ground cover perhaps in a wooded area.

[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Stephanie Harvey.]

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TKG@tkg-nc· May 22

The Wild Harvest Digest: May 2026, #3 Good Morning Neighbors, Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion and it’s something you might have a new need for in your garden. (look at the Alt text for more info) #Arum #Native #IndigenousFood

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The funny thing about going out to look at the plants found in our region is that every so often you find one that is very much in normal cultivation but you don’t know that until you start researching the wild specimens of the plant. In today’s example we have Green Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica) which may sound familiar to some of you out there. Just to clarify, Green Arrow Arum is a native member of the Araceae family, meaning it’s an aroid and is related to the three most commonly used Aroids in your garden; Elephant Ear (Taro), Colocasia and Alocasia. In terms of houseplants this also means it is related to some of your favorites such as Devil’s Ivy (Epipremnum aureum), Philodendrons, and Monstera. Which sets some critical ground rules as most or all of these plants have just one dangerous feature in common; they all contain some amount of Calcium oxalate crystals in their foliage and other parts making them dangerous to eat raw.

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[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Alvin Diamond.]

The Green Arrow Arum however, is a native plant that in its northern range in the USA is a deciduous perennial but in its southern range in our country it is either semi-evergreen or fully evergreen. You can commonly find this plant in wet areas as its biology favors freshwater bogs, marshes, the coastline of lakes and other areas prone to regular flooding. Green Arrow Arum is tolerant of low-oxygen water and potentially stagnant soil that is somewhat anaerobic. It is not uncommon to spot this aroid in colonies since it spreads by rhizome, despite producing viable seeds from its lackluster looking flowers. If you are trying to collect seed from this plant, viable seed clusters are the ones where the stems have nodded and the seed clusters are in the water or nearly so.

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[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Nelson.]

The flowers themselves from a biological stand point are interesting even if they are visually bland. As I mentioned before Green Arrow Arum is an Aroid which means its default flower format is called a Spadix. This is a sort of rod-shaped arrangement of tiny flowers that are densely packed into a limited area. As far as I know the flowers have no scent and they tend to bloom between May and June. The Spadix as a whole may be white, greenish-yellow or yellow, but the surrounding Spathe is typically green. Green Arrow Arum is mainly pollinated by a type of Chloropid Fly (Elachiptera Formosa) which has a symbiotic arrangement with the plant. Earlier I mentioned the issue of this plant having Calcium Oxalate crystals. Well, as it turns out the Native Americans had ways of dealing with this, as the crystals can be neutralized/destroyed through cooking the plant matter for a long while, a specific practice of heating or drying things out.

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[Photo Note: This image is from the NC Plant Toolbox Site, it was taken by Krzysztof Ziarnek Kenraiz.]

The Native Americans would extract starch from the rhizomes dry it, grind it up and then use it to make breads or to thicken soups. The entire flower was considered a delicacy though it needed to be cooked at least nine hours to get rid of the crystals. The problem with wild foraging this plant is that the rhizome likes to live one to two feet down meaning that it’s firmly in shovel territory if you want to get one in the wild. At that depth in the soils this plant prefers the soil is anaerobic and has a certain aroma that will cling to you, your gear and, the plant. The good news is that Green Arrow Arum can be bought through a number of nurseries online and you can grow your own and save on the back-breaking labor of digging one up and possibly committing an illegal act. So, this covers Green Arrow Arum, an interesting and as it turns out edible native species of Aroid in North Carolina. I hope all of you out there have a happy and Safe Memorial Day and check back here for another Wild Harvest Digest.

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TKG@tkg-nc· May 15

The Wild Harvest Digest: May 2026, #2 Good Morning Neighbors, Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion and it is really something else. [Please look at the alt text for more info] #NativeFlowers #BullNettle #Euphorbia

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Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion and it is really something else. The funny thing about hiking is that if you watch the plant life you never know what you’re going to see out there and today’s plant which is called Bull Nettle is pretty strange. Just the most common name for it “Bull Nettle” makes it sound kind of unpleasant and its other common names do not help at all. Bull Nettle is also known as Spurge Nettle which indicates what family of plants it’s in, but also Tread Softly and Finger Rot. With names like that the plant must seem truly joyful to have around. Starting with that first alternate common name ‘Spurge Nettle’ this plant has that one because it’s a member of the Euphorbiaceae family and is related to Poinsettias, Milk Cactus, Pencil Cactus and a number of other Euphorbias. The name ‘Tread Softly’ has to do with the plant being immensely prickly and not at all something you want to step on bare footed or to accidentally kick.
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[Photo note: This image is not one of mine; it is from the NC plant toolbox site and was taken by Douglas Goldman.]

The final name is where things get bad; Bull Nettle is also known as Finger Rot because it’s stinging hairs can cause severe lasting skin issues such as blisters, sores, discolored skin patches and rashes that may look like your fingers are rotting off. Additionally it is possible that back in the old days this plant may have been responsible for causing open wounds that then allowed infections or worse gangrene to move into a victim’s fingers. From the aforementioned you can easily understand why this plant is compared to Nettles; with the implication it is similar in defensive abilities to Stinging Nettle.

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[Photo note: This image is not one of mine; it is from the NC plant toolbox site and was taken by Douglas Goldman.]

Despite this Bull Nettle is an interesting plant that can potentially tell you a few things with the first lesson being to look but do not touch. The second thing is that it is most often found in Long leaf Pinelands, Turkey Oak Scrub lands, by the roadside and in fields that have been allowed to lay fallow. If it appears in fallowed farm fields that also suggests what was there before the farm. Bull nettle also has a sort of wild beauty to it in that it’s lobed leaves resemble a Fig, Grape or Passion vine in shape, while the flowers are pretty enough to catch the eye from a modest distance. The flowers are borne in what is called a Cyme which is a flat-topped determinate inflorescence where each flower stalk ends in a singular flower.

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[Photo note: This image is not one of mine; it is from the NC plant toolbox site and was taken by cmvaldes18.]

The flowers usually have five petals and are pure white with exception to the cream colored pollen. The combination of the leaves, stinging hairs all over the plant and the flowers truly makes this plant look like it came from another planet. So, the big question of course is ‘can this plant be used for anything other than causing misery?” The answer is yes, the foliage is problematic sure, however several sources including the NC plant Toolbox have indicated that the plant’s long taproots can be boiled in several changes of water to yield an edible food that is said to resemble a potato or pasta in flavor. The trick to getting there is to dig at an angle so you avoid contact with the foliage of the plant. Now, would I plant this in my backyard…eh not so much; but knowing about it might save your life someday.

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TKG@tkg-nc· May 7

The Wild Harvest Digest: May 2026, #1 Good Morning Neighbors, Today, we have another wild plant found during the Fort Liberty excursion and it is in the same family as an interesting plant from the Arnette Park excursion in 2024. #Eupatorium #JoePyeWeed #NativeFlower (read alt text for more!)

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The scientific name of this plant is (Eupatorium rotundifolium) or in more common terms Common Roundleaf Eupatorium, False Horehound, Roundleaf boneset, Roundleaf Thoroughwort. It is a member of the Aster Family (Asteraceae) and is related to a few garden plants you will be much more familiar with. Some examples of more well-known relatives include the Hardy Ageratum (Conoclinum/Eupatorium coelestinum) Annual Ageratum (Ageratum houstonianum) and the ornamental Joe Pye weeds such as (Eutrochium dubium ‘Baby Joe’). There are others certainly that are native to North America that are worth mentioning however for the sake of brevity and not stealing the spotlight from our featured plant we can save them for another TWHD post. Roundleaf Boneset is a native perennial found in the eastern and central United States, it’s commonly found in savannas and boggy locations but the one I noticed was found by the side of a path in pretty dry conditions. The soil under it was sandy with a noticeable amount of reddish color due to Iron Oxide suggesting some clay was mixed in somewhere.
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[Photo from NC Plant Tool Box site, Photo was taken by Mary Ann Yaic]

It’s most identifying feature is the opposite and clasping leaf arrangement, as you can see in the picture it was so perfect I almost thought it was a plastic plant. I only saw one of these plants in the entire hike and none of them were in bloom or had residual seed heads suggesting that these plants are herbaceous and that their stems and whatnot break down quickly once they bloom and produce seed. According to some references this plant can have an alternate leaf arrangement too, so always use more than one identification feature if you’re trying to identify this plant in the wild. This variation is because Roundleaf Boneset can freely hybridize with similar species of Eupatorium producing hybrids with slightly differing visual characteristics. The strong Points of this plant are that it supports native pollinators and is a food source for the larvae of several species of moth.

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[Photo Note: This photo is from the NC Plant toolbox Site, it was taken by Sean Patton]

The seeds of this plant may be eaten by a few species of bird too so by allowing it to grow somewhere you are supporting the wild life. The flowers of this plant are white and arranged in a Corymb, which is in this case a loose head of tiny flowers sort of like what you see in the Carrot family except they have more tightly packed Umbel flower heads.

The downside of this plant is that according to every reference I can find, you cannot eat it and it is dangerous to try and use it for medicine. Granted most references are talking about the Eupatorium family as a whole the only known relative used for medicinal use is (E. perfoliatum). Even the common name Boneset is a bit misunderstood because the aforementioned her wasn’t used to treat broken bones.

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[Photo Note: This photo is from the NC Plant toolbox Site, it was taken by Sean Patton]

Eupatorium was used to treat Dengue Fever which was called bone break fever because of the intense pain it caused. In truth most Eupatorium are poisonous to humans, pets and grazing livestock and despite this in folk medicine small amounts have been used to handle Gout. There is a tiny bit of good news, this plant does contain sesquiterpene lactones which in some trials can limit tumor growth in vitro when the right compounds are extracted which gives it some potential future use in Cancer treatments. Despite being effectively off limits for the medical and culinary menus it does have a pretty and unique flower. When it comes to wild plants sometimes that flower is all that matters.

Btw if you want to see the write up for a giant cousin of this plant look at the link below from October of 2024.
https://bl2-litfm.blogspot.com/2024/10/queen-of-meadow.html

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TKG@tkg-nc· May 1

I thought I'd share this, the place where my videos on youtube are shot, the botanical trial gardens is getting upgrades. What do you think?

Upgrades to the botanical test gardens, new galvanized steel raised bed edging and the cattle panel arch for growing cukes.

TKG@tkg-nc· Apr 30

The Wild Harvest Digest: April 2026, #5 Good Morning Neighbors, I have quite a post for you today, aside from some pretty big things going on in the trial gardens early this week. Jesse of Sandhills Mushroom Farm and I went out for a hike on the trails of Fort Liberty. #Wildplants #FortLiberty

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The purpose was to see what biodiversity was present on and off trail in the areas we hiked and there was quite a bit to see and for the next fifteen or so posts you can expect to see some of the interesting wild plants we spotted. Unfortunately the only fungi we found were two different types of False Turkey Tail which are medicinally and nutritionally non-viable and a soggy expired Reishi near a downed Sweet Gum. However today the first wild plant we will start with is called Carolina Rosinweed (Silphium compositum). The botanical Latin name is interesting because ‘silphium’ means “a plant with medicinal properties” and refers to a possibly mythological plant of the same name. The Mythical Silphium was an herb used in ancient Greece and Rome as a seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac and as a medicine. The downside is that the Silphium of legend was effectively extinct by some point in the Roman era. This makes it hard to track down what the original Silphium was, though it’s thought now to be a relative of Giant Fennel in the genus Ferula. The plant was so important that it appears on coins made in the ancient North African city of Cyrene. The exact identity of the original Silphium isn’t really certain. What is certain is that Carl Linnaeus named the American genus of plants after the legendary plant. Carolina Rosinweed is also known as Kidneyleaf Rosinweed and is a member of the Aster family in the Sunflower tribe and can be found in the Longleaf Pine Sandhills and other xeric forests woodlands and by the roadside.
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[Author's note: This photo is not mine. It was taken by Gary P Fleming and can be found on the NC Botanical Garden website.]

What caught my eye was the intensely lobed foliage which is like a far more intensely lobed Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata). The main specimen was sticking out of a raised sand embankment with several dead flower stalks from last year’s growing cycle and a light unintentional much of pine straw from the nearby pines. From the picture you can see the soil is sandy as heck, dry and lacking anything resembling a decent topsoil layer.

The natural distribution of this plant from Virginia south to Georgia and as far west as Alabama, though the cluster of individuals found on Fort Liberty appeared to be confined to a dry sandy bank in a roughly ten foot area. I did not encounter any more of them anywhere as we walked the trails and I was constantly looking for interesting wild plants. There was the specimen photographed and about two other much smaller ones suggesting the big one was the parent. I did a little gentle digging and found out these plants have really long taproots that would put a Daikon Radish, Dandelion and even a Pokeweed to shame. If you look up photographs of the flowers this plant has you will find that it has flowers akin to its cousin Cutleaf Coneflower or any of the Swamp Sunflowers. Basically the flowers can have anywhere from five to twenty petals, and are a golden yellow color. The plant’s bloom season is noted to be pretty long too ranging from May through September.

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[Author's note: This photo is not mine. It was taken by Alan Weakly and can be found on the NC Botanical Garden website.]

Most references indicate that it is a herbaceous perennial that is a strong attractant for pollinators. Its seeds are a food source for wild birds so by growing one you are supporting native wildlife which is a bit important these days. Also, this plant recovers quickly from occasional wildfires making it a good candidate for areas prone to that as it can help stop post wildfire soil erosion. Now about the common name; Rosinweed is called what it is because its resinous sap has been chewed as a gum substitute in the past. Some species of Rosinweed have edible shoots and the seeds of others are edible and may be the next big thing in the oilseed industry. Getting the seed for this plant is hit or miss Prairie Moon Seeds have some Silphium, but not this specific one. So folks if you do order the seed online be careful of who you buy from.

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TKG@tkg-nc· Apr 9

The Wild Harvest Digest: April 2026, #2 Good Morning Neighbors, This week I’d like to talk about a plant out in the Trial Gardens that has toughed it out for years in less than ideal conditions and always seems to do just fine. #Ruscus #ButchersBroom

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It’s a plant that you should have that is commonly called Butcher’s Broom. Its scientific name is (Ruscus aculeatus ‘Wheeler’s Form’) and I’ll include a link to the nursery in South Carolina where I got mine almost a decade ago. Now imagine this, a shrub with small leaves that looks somewhat like a Holly and a Boxwood had a romantic encounter and, it doesn’t get any taller than two and a half feet. It has the bright red berries, is evergreen, has mildly prickly leaves, spreads by a rhizome slowly but is not invasive and, does not mind being contained in a pot just as long as it’s watered regularly during our summers. Granted Butcher’s Broom isn’t the plant for everyone it’s so rarely used in the landscape that it’s almost a horticultural crime. Interestingly, Butcher’s Broom is not related to the Hollies (Aquifoliaceae) or the Boxwoods (Buxaceae) and is actually a relative of Asparagus (Asparagaceae) you buy at the store. Butcher’s broom is so closely related to Asparagus that its young shoots that emerge between March and May are edible and considered quite a delicacy. The flavor of Butcher’s broom shoots is similar to Asparagus but is noted to be more aromatic when cooked. But let’s talk about that name; ‘Butcher’s Broom’ is strangely specific. The name comes from the plants history; its stiff stems and leaves were bundled and used as a cleaning broom so European Butchers could clean their chopping blocks. The cut limbs of this plant are pretty sturdy so it was particularly good at getting fragments of meat and gristle off the chopping block but it also held one other secret. The primary phytochemicals in Butcher’s broom are Steroidal Saponin, which means that as it was used it was exuding soap-like compounds.
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On top of this the plant’s foliage contains antibacterial compounds which combined with the latter substance and activated by the wet surface of the cutting board meant that the block was getting a real cleanse with every use. In of this Butcher’s Broom may have saved millions of people from food borne disease over the centuries by virtue of its natural compounds. As for its Botanical Latin name, ‘aculeatus’ means “prickly”. The name ‘Ruscus’ has an unclear origin; some sources suggest it comes from the Latin word ‘ruscum’ which applies to several similar plants. Alternate common names for Butcher’s Broom include Knee Holly (it only gets knee high) and Piaranthus. Piaranthus comes from Greek as a combination of ‘piar’ (fat) and ‘anthos’ (flower).

If you look closely at the included pictures, the plant has something else going on. Do you notice how it seems to only have primary stems? The leaves appear to be clasping the stem without any sign of a petiole (aka leaf stem); and that isn’t unheard of in the plant kingdom. However what you see on Butcher’s Broom are not leaves at all. The ‘leaves’ are actually a structure called a Cladode or more commonly a Cladophyll. The word ‘Cladophyll’ directly translates from Botanical Latin as ‘Branch Leaf’ but it is a surprisingly common plant adaptation to xeric environmental conditions. Cladophylls are something you’ve seen more often than you think. By the way just in case you are not familiar with the term ‘Xeric’ it refers to an environment or habitat that contains very little moisture and is very dry.
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So, the adaptation is to minimize the surface area that the plant can lose moisture from while also channeling what precipitation it in encounters to the roots. Butcher’s Broom has Cladophylls instead of conventional leaves and those plant structures develop from stems and take on the role of photosynthesis when leaves are reduced in size or are absent. This feature is also a good example of convergent evolution as unrelated individuals in plant families have developed the same kind of structures without ever being in contact with each other or being able to crossbreed. Other commonly seen plants with Cladophylls include Prickly Pear (Opuntia species), Tapeworm plant/Ribbon Bush (Muehlenbeckia platyclada), Holiday Cactus (Schlumbergia species), Dancing Bones Cactus (Hatiora salicornoides) and even the Apsaragus you buy at the store is a Cladophyll. So it’s not rare to see it in passing, it’s just that more often than not you might not give this biological adaptation a second thought.

Granted, Butcher’s Broom isn’t a native plant as it originates in Eurasia and Northern Africa, it is really well adapted to growing here and is not considered a weed or invasive in any of the fifty states. This is likely because Butcher’s Broom is medium to slow growing and could not be called an aggressive plant by any definition. In the landscape this plant for our North Carolina climate can be used in a variety of ways, but note that it can be overcome and buried under faster growing weeds and undesired trees if left to its own devices. In a decently managed garden bed it will do fine and individual plants will form their own colonies as their Rhizomes spread acting as a somewhat prickly deterrent to people and animals. This makes it a low level asset for defensive landscaping as it’s a moderate to low-level deterrent. The red berries of this plant are not edible for people or pets but wild birds such as Thrushes, Robins, and Waxwings.
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Supposedly the seeds of Butcher’s Broom are boiled, roasted and then ground up to use as a Coffee substitute in Tunisia. I have not tried to make Butcher’s Broom seed-Coffee because I’ve only recently acquired a recipe for this. Perhaps the best part about this plant is that it can survive in a pot just fine even tolerating being pot bound for years without any sign of decline but also being vigorous enough to choke out weeds that attempt to colonize the pot. The range of green colored fronds that Butcher’s Broom will have at any time gives it an interesting look and the large red berries are a bonus. The flowers of Butcher’s Broom are tiny, with six yellow petals and a red center. They appear in the middle of the Cladophylls and show up in spring, berries usually ripen by fall or winter.

As promised, this is a link to the Nursery I ordered my plant from:
https://nurcar.com/products/ruscus-aculeatus-wheelers-form

So, next week I will post the final part of the Companion Planting series which will cover the Nightshade family. With any luck it will fit within the character limit but we will see. Thanks for reading and see you next week.

[Author's note: I repotted my Butcher's Broom a month ago after it grew in it's last pot for several years, there was no soil visible; all root ball. It seemed to be suffering no ill health despite it's confinement. The new pot is at least two inches in diameter bigger and in depth. I'm not sure what I'll do in another decade when this thing is saying 'Feeeeeed meeeeee!']
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TKG@tkg-nc· Apr 2

The Wild Harvest Digest: April 2026, #1 Good Morning Neighbors, As promised today we’re going to talk about the Mint Family and its use in Companion Planting. The Mint family is currently known by its scientific name Lamiaceae but in older books and publications.. <Look at alt text for more>

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...you will see the name Labiatae. Before you make any conclusions, the old name Labiatae has to do with the shape of the lips of the flowers which in Latin are called ‘labia’. Mint flowers usually look a certain way and have a certain shape; they have five petals and five united sepals. Typically mints have a square shaped stem but this is not always true and square stems can be found in other plants that are clearly not in the Mint Family. The biodiversity in the family is quite impressive as there are about 236 genera, and up to 7,200 recorded species in the family. It’s hard to say which member of the Mint Family is most planted though because there are many options. I’m going to stick to four specific ones to keep within the character limits of Bluesky.

African Potato Mint (Plectranthus rotundifolius)

I had to include this one because the plant is pretty weird. Most folks have not heard of African Potato Mint, but a look at the scientific name and some will realize this thing is related to Swedish Ivy (P. verticillatus) and Cuban Oregano (P. amboincus) This unusual plant was once grouped with the Coleus, which are also in the Mint Family. Potato Mint is grown for its edible tubers which are said to have some sugars that are not digestible and maybe give some folks gas. The indigestible sugars/starches might also mean that this plant is really useful to those with Diabetes. In addition to the tubers some sources indicate the foliage may also be edible, the one thing that is sure is that this plant does not form tubers until the days shorten and the foliage has died back. The tubers do not store well so perhaps it has some use as a house plant, its companion planting value is unclear.
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[Author's note: I do not see Mountain Mint in any form in many gardens. My stand of it has been in place for most of a decade and does well, but when it blooms the plant practically vibrates with pollinator activity.]

Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)

The common problem with the plants we think of as Mints is that they readily escape cultivation and can go invasive. Mountain Mint on the other hand is well-behaved, generally does not escape and can tolerate hotter drier areas and its flowers bring in a plethora of pollinators including a lot of non-aggressive solitary wasps of all colors and shapes. In terms of flavor and scent this plant is similar to Spearmint with a bit of something else it has all the same uses as Peppermint or Spearmint but has a vertical growing habit and woody stems. There are a few species of Mountain Mint and generally they are native to North America. I recommend looking for Blunt Mountain Mint because its leaves are far easier to harvest and use, and its flowering heads are something to behold. As for Companion Planting, this particular mint brings in the pollinators, and some of those pollinators are great at reducing caterpillar populations such as Tomato/Tobacco Hornworms.

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[Author's Note: In the lower right of the photo that is Holy Basil, which is another Mint Family member. I'm hoping to start up some new Lavender plants this year in the test gardens, it's been about three years without.]

Lavender (Lavendula x intermedia ‘Phenomenal’)

Yes, you read that right. Lavender is in the Mint Family, and when you really think about it is that any surprise? Lavender is a genus of about 47 species of plants that have a fair amount of variety and to that end I can say, that only one particular cultivated variety has passed the growing test for our climate and that’s a variety called ‘Phenomenal’ which lived for about seven years when most others can’t even handle three years. Lavender is noted to repel ticks. Before you go nuts with planting lavender because you know you have ticks know that it’s application of the plant’s essential oils. The oil itself can kill ticks but it has to touch them first and the studies behind this were only on the Yellow legged tick found in Africa and the Middle East. There is no telling how well it works on our three most common species of Tick in North Carolina. Lavender is said to repel rodents because of its strong aroma as an essential oil messing with their ability to navigate and forage for food. A third use, repelling Clothing moths and their destructive larvae is proven, but the catch is again that it relies on aromatic essential oils and is best used before a problem is detected. Beyond all the aforementioned, the blooms attract a lot of pollinators, and its foliage and flowers are food-safe.

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[Author's Note: The specific variety of Ajuga here is 'Chocolate Chip' and technically it is an escapee from a preservation project involving some potted Itea. I'm not mad that it escaped and has made a permanent home under my Rainbarrels.]

Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)

Some of you probably did not expect this perennial plant to be in this listing, but yes it is a tried and true member of the Mint Family. It is a non-native that in some places has been determined to be invasive and that listing is perfectly understandable. However when in control in your garden, it has a secret superpower for companion planting. Unlike the other plants I’ve spoken of Bugleweed has the ability to make topsoil. The dense mats of foliage and the pretty flowers are all just a cover for what happens under the plant’s ground cover canopy. You see, it creates a little microclimate and haven for decomposers wherever it’s the dominant low-growing plant. It sheds its leaves and dead flowers into that micro-canopy; soil organisms eat that and turn it into topsoil. In addition to this the foliage catches bits of detritus that would otherwise float by in a rain and it gets trapped in there and breaks down. After a few years there might be a quarter to a half inch of fertile topsoil and the best part is that the Bugleweed has grown up so it’s always on top holding that soil in place. If you punch a few holes in that and plant tall things the Bugleweed acts like a living mulch and soil producer. The only catch is you have to remember to water it, Bugleweed is very dramatic about wilting and does not tolerate drought. The big downside to this plant is that it is not edible nor safely used as a medicine, but it does bring in pollinators.

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TKG@tkg-nc· Mar 20

The Wild Harvest Digest: March 2026, #3 Good Morning Neighbors, Due to a time crunch today we are not going to talk about companion planting. The size of the companion planting post about the Aster family would not be done any justice in the time limits of today's or tomorrow’s schedule. #Nandina

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. Instead today’s topic is a plant that you may have in your yard that is both interesting and ecologically problematic at the same time. What plant could this be you ask? Well, the plant in question has a pretty name Heavenly Bamboo.

Obviously the bamboo part is effectively a warning; the scientific name of this plant is (Nandina domestica). The word ‘nadina’ is the Latin form of the Japanese name for this plant ‘nanten’ while the specific epithet ‘domestica’ means domesticated or of a home site. Heavenly Bamboo is a non-native as its original range was central and southern China and Japan. Like anything else brought over without sufficient consideration for the native ecology this plant has become a problem. Heavenly bamboo isn’t quite a Kudzu level issue, but one of its chief features is a bit controversial. Despite its common name this plant is not in the grass family (Poacaeae) like true Bamboo is; instead it belongs to the Barberry family (Berberidaceae).
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Now if you know anything about Barberries, you know they can be literal and figurative pains in the rear end. Barberries are often best identified by the fact their roots once you scrape the skin off have a bright yellow coloration and this is due to high concentrations of Berberine which is a bright yellow nitrogen-containing compound that acts a natural defense against pests and disease. Heavenly Bamboo, if you scrape off the root bark has yellow roots for the same reason as other members of the Barberry Family. In general Heavenly Bamboo is well regarded for its evergreen foliage, interesting bark on its trunks and its flowers and berries. The use of Nandina fronds and berries in holiday dried arrangements is a common thing around the region and they definitely are a great alternative if you cannot get Holly. Fortunately, the newer hybrids such as Obsession, Blush Pink, Flirt, Lemon-Lime, Cool Glow, Tuskin Flame and, Twilight have all been bred and selected to not have the two biggest problems with Nandina. This is where this article takes a turn, because I now have to talk about the bad side of Heavenly Bamboo. Firstly, a distinction has to be made, older varieties like the ones in the included photographs are of the old types, and may not even have a specific variety. Older Heavenly Bamboo installations can be found all over Fayetteville and some of them may even be wild types that were planted or escaped and formed their own colony. Older varieties can aggressively sucker and produce large numbers of offsets allowing them to crowd out competition.

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[Photo Notes: This patch of Nandina ran under a 3' wide sidewalk in an attempt to colonize a lawn area.]

This problem alone is why Heavenly Bamboo is classified as an Invasive plant by numerous groups in North Carolina. The berries these Nadina’s produce are viable and their bright color makes them a tempting snack to animals, birds and small children. The problem is that they are highly toxic to birds, cats, dogs and livestock. Not even Pigs can eat the berries which should give you more than enough reason to not plant old school Nandinas nor allow existing stands of them to remain. The dangerous ingredient in question is Hydrogen Cyanide, and some of you who read this undoubtedly know how bad that is. Nandinas are responsible for killing a lot of North American Songbirds who mistook their berries for an easy meal and Cedar Waxwings were hit noticeably hard. The odd balance there is that when Heavenly Bamboo blooms in spring the pretty flowers are often crawling with various types of bees because the bees are immune to the poison or, the poison is not present in the nectar and pollen. I am not sure this is an acceptable tradeoff for a plant that can kill wild birds and also can easily escape captivity.

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[Picture Note: Notice the miniature 'forest' of nandina sprouts, this is what it will do when it hits a hard barrier while it's underground roots trie to find a way under the obstruction.]

The good news is that modern hybrids have been selected and bred not to produce berries however the stability of that breeding and selection under field conditions is still worthy of debate because; nature finds a way. Now personally, I have a few of the old school Nandinas that were planted on the property by my Great Grand Parents in the late 70’s if not early 80’s. Before any of you get the pitchforks and torches out over that revelation, I cut off and dispose of the berries so songbirds aren’t harmed and also the population of Nandinas has been reduced to two specimens that are managed. They haven’t gone colonial and honestly this works for me but I also understand not everyone will bother to undertake this kind of management which also includes making sure there are alternate food sources for wild birds that feed on berries in the property I own. It’s more work than you might expect but having a specimen or two to use as a cautionary tale is how we got this article. As a final note for this post, you will see Nandinas sold in nurseries and garden centers, these are usually hybrids selected to be less of a problem. Always check the tag to see what variety you are getting and if it’s not a cultivar you recognize or it just says Nandina domestica don’t buy it.
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TKG@tkg-nc· Mar 12

The Wild Harvest Digest: March 2026, #2 Good Morning Neighbors, In today’s post we’re going to take a brief break from the topic of Companion Planting because something out in the garden has made itself worth talking about. #AromaticHerbs #Rosemary

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Today’s plant of interest is Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus), formerly (Rosmarinus officinalis). The botanical Latin name change occurred in 2017 when genetic studies revealed that Rosemary was very closely related to the Sage (Salvia sp.) genus. Which makes sense because both are intensely aromatic, take similar growing conditions and share the same pests. By the way, both Rosemary and Salvia belong to the Mint (Lamiaceae) family, so when I say the Mint Family is huge I am not exaggerating. In the test gardens I happen to have both of the forms of Rosemary; prostrate and upright forms, which guarantees my kitchen is never short of the critical aromatic herb. Now, before we go any further, I just have to clarify the word ‘Prostrate’ means ‘to lay oneself flat on the ground, face downward especially in reverence’, and is not to be confused with the word ‘Prostate’ which is the organ that guys have. Why is a Rosemary referred to as prostrate you ask? It is because that form of rosemary creeps along the ground and is used as a groundcover so it grows prostrate on the ground. The scientific name of Prostrate Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus ‘Prostratus’) and, there are a lot of these plants on the market that didn’t quite get the message that they are supposed to be low-growing as well as hybrids that are semi-upright but still sold as if they’re a ground cover. Regardless of which form you grow Rosemary is not hard to grow in our climate, in fact when compared to Oregano, it’s the second easiest herb you can grow. Rosemary doesn’t mind sandy dry low-fertility soils; our heat is no problem nor is our humidity or temperature range. It does prefer full sun but will tolerate partial sun exposure but, unlike a bunch of other herbs, it doesn’t care if that partial sun is morning sun or afternoon sun. Literally Rosemary in zone 8 is something you plant and barely have to do anything for as it will form a shrub that is 2-4 feet tall
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alive. This unfortunately is a numbers game and you rapidly hit diminishing returns. You could bring a rosemary plant in for the winter, but it needs a warm sunny window that gets at least eight hours of light which isn’t always doable. As I noted before Rosemary is in the Mint family, and that means every inch of stem could potentially form roots and so taking cuttings might allow you to clone your plant before the winter moves in. In warmer climates like our own, every three to five years, your rosemary shrub will benefit from a major cut back. After a certain point Rosemary will start to get bare or dead areas inside of it and those areas may allow rot to move into the stems which damages the vigor of the plant. By cutting it back by two-thirds every three to five years and fertilizing right after you essentially cause the plant to do a full regeneration, this process is called rejuvenation pruning and it works on a lot of other shrubs such as Azaleas, Privets and Crape Myrtles. Rosemary for all its virtues does suffer from a few pest problems, but the ones you’re likely to encounter in the southeast are Mint Moths, Spittlebugs Spider Mites and Whiteflies.
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Mint Moths also attack Sage and any other Mint family member, but you can spot their webbing on Rosemary and Sage real easy and remove the caterpillars by hand or use Neem Oil. Spittle bugs aren’t so much of a pest but their mucousy bubble nests for their eggs are super gross and can be destroyed with a shot of water from the hose. Spider mites are indicated by a presence of speckled leaves and can be wiped out with neem oil. Lastly, are the Whiteflies, a true scourge of the Southeast because they reproduce fast and can become resistant to pesticides in less than a growing season. Also whitefly go airborne if disturbed making it hard to use contact pesticides on them. However alternating between Neem Oil and Horticultural oil can keep them controlled until then end of the season or when they die in cold weather. There are a few final things to be said about Rosemary that you folks out there need to know. The extra cold hardy variety is called ‘Arp’, if you want Pink Flowers look for ‘Majorica Pink’, if you want golden variegations look for ‘Gold Dust’ and if you want a variety of Rosemary where the stems are straight so you can use them as skewers look for ‘Barbeque’. Rosemary is also a critical ingredient of Four Thieves Vinegar which was used during the Black Plague to prevent contracting the disease. Lastly, the Companion plants that go with Rosemary are noted in several sources to be Lavender, Alyssum, Sage, Thyme, Marjoram, Borage, Zinnias, The cabbage Family, and Strawberries.

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TKG@tkg-nc· Mar 6

The Wild Harvest Digest: March 2026, #1 (p2) Good Morning Neighbors, This month's TWHD had to be broken up into two parts due to character limits, so here's the second half with some extras information that didn't fit. #Allium #Onion #Farm #Companion_Planting

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[Author's Note: The Onion here is a 'Yellow of Parma', a dry storage onion, that counts as a Yellow Onion and thus a Common Onion. Normally they don't have multiple growing points like this.]

Onion, Nodding (Allium cernuum) – Nodding Onions are essentially a wild form of Onion native to the Americas and as such there isn’t much about it being used in companion planting.

Onion, Ornamental (Allium species) – Oranmental Onions are considered inedible and are bred for extra-showy flowers and unique foliage. It can be assumed they offer similar virtues as the Common Onion.

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[Author's Note: These two are Elephant Garlic Bulbs. They were planted a bit high to show off the shape of the bulb in contrast to regular Garlic. The one on the right has pushed itself out of the soil demonstrating the force of cellular elongation in the roots. Since Elephant garlic is more of a perennial I'm not sure it's roots count as advenitious like other members of the Allium family.]

Onion, Pregnant (Allium cepa variety aggregatum) – Also known as Mother Onions or Multiplier Onions, preganant Onions are very similar to Common Onions with one major difference, they produce offsets far more frequently. They provide the same benefits as Common Onions.

Onion, Wild (Allium canadense) – Wild Onions are hard to tell apart from Wild Garlic (A. vinale), look for a fibrous coat on the central bulb, no offset bulbels and leaves that appear near the base of the flowering stem. Presumably the same rules apply here as with Wild garlic.

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[Author's Note: Here is the Garlic, it's of an unknown variety given to me as seed garlic almost a decade ago by another farmer who's arthritis had gotten so bad they could no longer tend their fields. Unofficially I call it "Jerimiah's Strain", named after that farmer. It's a softneck type and the cloves and by extension the bulbs can be huge at times. I have not undertaken any serious selection efforts because I don't dare mess with the flavor and pungency.]

Ramps (Allium tricoccum) – Ramps are that Carolina staple food that is eaten up in the mountains where if you eat too much the aroma gets in your sweat. The companion Planting options are all woodland plants because this too is a woodland plant

Shallots (Allium cepa variety aggregatum) – Shallots are often compared to Green Onions because of how they are sometimes used in cooking. Shallots are milder than Green Onions and fit in better with recipes that call for onion but need not be overpowered by onion flavor. They follow the same companion planting rules as Common Onions.

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[Author's Note: This is a store-bought red onion that I've had sitting partly in water to encourage roots and shoots. I wanted to have a red one for when I did a video on youtube covering growing onions I'd have a red one and a yellow one. Red onions are just a variety of the Common Onion, along with sweet onions.]

We have now covered the members of the Allium family that you are most likely to encounter when considering your planting plans for your garden this year. As I noted before Onions are space efficient, good at attracting pollinators and resistant to critters such as deer. They pair well the cabbage family and a few other vegetables and fruits and of course they aren’t that hard to grow. In the next episode we start on the Asters and after that the mountain of mints.

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TKG@tkg-nc· Feb 27

The Wild Harvest Digest: February 2026, #4 Good Morning Neighbors, For this week, its back to landscape plants that have uses you might not have thought about, and coming up in the companion planting series will be Onions, Asters and then the biggest family the Mints.

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Good Morning Neighbors,

For this week, its back to landscape plants that have uses you might not have thought about, and coming up in the companion planting series will be Onions, Asters and then the biggest family the Mints. It is possible that I may have to break the discussion of the Mint family into parts because there are simply that many. Please stay tuned for that next week, because today’s topic is a real MVP when it comes to plants in the garden.

Today’s plant is in none of the three aforementioned plant families; as it belongs to the Myricaceae or Bayberry Family. I have to mention here that a lot of things are called Myrtles that simply are not, for instance, that invasive nuisance the Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.). Also some publications call the ground cover (Vinca minor) ‘creeping myrtle’ then there’s Myrtle Spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites) and so on. Today’s plant also not actually a member of the Myrtus genus which are the true Myrtles. That does however say a lot about humanity’s high regard for Myrtles that that the real Myrtles are so often imitated but never duplicated. Today’s plant is most commonly called a Wax Myrtle, however that name also is used for a few of its cousins so I have to be more specific and use the name Southern Wax Myrtle. The scientific name of this plant is (Myrica cerifera), or you can just use one of its numerous common names such as; Bayberry, Candleberry, Dwarf Bayberry, Dwarf Wax-Myrtle, Eastern Bayberry, Southern Waxmyrtle and, Tallow Shrub.
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. In our climate the Southern Wax Myrtle is a native, mainly dioecious, broadleaf evergreen shrub or tree that can grow up to 25 feet tall with a 10-ish foot spread. It is hardy as far north as USDA zone 7a and as far south as zone 11b. In general this plant is planted because it is very fast growing and can form a dense trim-able screen to block out things you don’t want to see. In the past I often joked to customers that if you needed a shrub to hide the bodies this was your hedge plant. In a bunch of ways I was right in that this plant has virtues that you won’t find on the tag when you buy one at bLowes or Home Despot. You see Southern Wax Myrtle will sucker and form colonies making it surprisingly good at holding the soil and whatever is buried under it in place, it’s tolerant of high winds, poor soil and salt spray making it very versatile in the landscape. Also this plant is very tolerant of urban conditions and pollution and periodic flooding making it very good for homes near bodies of water like say the folks living near the Cape Fear River. On top of all this, I should really mention its growth rate again. Southern Wax Myrtle, can put on a few feet of growth per year and you can cut an established plant back by three-fourths and it’ll take that as a challenge.
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The amount of side-shoots and growth from suckers you didn’t see can even put the vaunted Crape Myrtle and it’s aggression to shame. However as I noted before this means that you can trim a Southern Wax Myrtle to shape and it’ll be out there in your yard saying ‘thank you sir may I have another!’. It grows this fast because the roots have root nodules that contain actinorhizal bacteria that allow the Southern Wax Myrtle to fix nitrogen at a rate higher than the Legumes do. It gets better; no known individual wildfire has ever killed one of these plants. This is because everything below ground on this plant is very fire-resistant, because none of it contains the flammable aromatic compounds that the above ground growth does. This is not a plant you put next to your house or plant in areas known for wild fires.

Literally, you could not find a better plant to build a hedgerow with because its advantages outweigh the problems but that’s not all it has to offer. The name ‘cerifera’ basically means ‘wax’ and is derived from the Greek word ‘Keri’ and so, the berries this plant produces can be gently boiled to yield a green wax that can be used to make aromatic candles. You can also pulverize the berries and use them like pepper albeit sparingly due to the wax content. For you beer enthusiasts out there, the leaves of this plant have been used to improve the quality of foam in a freshly poured beer. The berries can also be fermented into a wine if you’re skilled enough at wine making and are willing to harvest the tiny berries by the pound. As a forage food the berries can be eaten fresh but they have a strong flavor.
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Beyond this for survival purposes, the Southern Wax Myrtle is a preferred tree by several wild birds including but not limited to, Wild Turkeys, Bobwhite Quails, Myrtle Warblers, Tree Swallows, Sapsuckers and the Carolina Wren. So at the very least you might be able to snag a wild turkey to stave off starvation. Lastly, Southern Wax Myrtles have one last trick up their leafy sleeve; they have medicinal and herbal qualities. Yes I realize that anything can be herbal once, but there is some evidence that Native Americans burned the leaves to repel Mosquitoes, and that rubbing the bruised leaves on yourself can help hide your scent from biting insects. The foliage and/or berries were also used as an emetic, febrifuge, to kill parasites and to treat dysentery. Additionally preparations of the root bark have been used to manage inflammation, infections and other parts of the plant may have pain relieving qualities. Some sources say this plant was used as a ‘pick-me-up’ like caffeinated beverages however there is no evidence that Southern Wax Myrtle has anything like Caffeine in it. What it does appear to have though, is astringent and tonic properties that have a similar effect to caffeine. So the Southern Was Myrtle is a landscape plant you should consider for your landscape even if it’s just so your nosy neighbors can’t see you.
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TKG@tkg-nc· Feb 20

TWHD: Cutting room floor This photo did not make this week's post but I wanted to share it just the same. From the upper left, Japanese Red Giant Mustard Greens, (from far left to right) Redbor Kale, Ragged Jack Kale, Dinosaur kale, Purple Mizuna Mustard.

TKG@tkg-nc· Feb 20

The Wild Harvest Digest: February 2026, #3 Good Morning Neighbors, Today we’re going to move on from Onions to the Cabbage family which is scientifically known as Brassicaceae but in older publications you will find the family listed as the Crucifers. #Cabbage #Crucifers #Brassicacae

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[The plant pictured is Dinosaur Kale]

The older name stems from the Latin word ‘Crucifer’ which means cross-bearing. The cross bearing business is a direct reference to Mustard which has four-petaled flowers arranged in a cross-like formation. Beyond this, the Cabbage family is very diverse; there are over three-hundred and fifty genera in the family meaning that you could have encountered one and not have known it. Simply put, if you garden eventually you’re eventually going to grow a member of this very diverse family. Also as noted with the last to postings they benefit from being near Celery, Onions and Potatoes. Most members of the cabbage family are heavy feeders so they will need compost or fertilizer added to the soil every year.

Arugula (Eruca sativa) – In addition to what is noted above, Arugula is specifically noted to do best in growing in the light shade of another plant. In the south east this means also that it cannot handle summer heat for long before bolting.

Broccoli (Brassica olceracea. variety italica) – Broccoli is essentially a Cabbage bred to produce a large flower head instead of leaves. Companions for Broccoli are the aromatic Herbs such as Rosemary, Camomile, Thyme, Sage or Dill. Garlic or any other member of the Onion family is a good companion and may help fend of pests. Annual Flowers such as Marigolds or Nasturtiums and short season crops like Lettuce, Carrots, Swiss Chard, Beets, Spinach and Radishes are good too.

Brussels Sprouts (B.o. var. gemmifera) – Since Brussels Sprouts are essentially just cabbage that has been selected to focus on large side buds. (See broccoli companions)

Cabbage (B.o. var. capitata) – Cabbage comes in a few forms such as the usual Green, Red, Savoy, Asian types. Cabbage is a heavy feeder that can deplete the soil if crop rotation is not used. (See broccoli companions)

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Collards (B.o. var. viridis) – Collards are very interesting; they used to be called Colewort because they were a cabbage crop that did not form a head. In a nutshell a collard is a super-loose leaf cabbage, and you can really see it in the Cabbage-Collard cross. Thankfully Collards don’t rapidly deplete the soil like Cabbage does and it can easily survive defoliation by Cabbage Moth larva. Collards much like Kale are ancient primitive forms of Cabbage. Collards follow the same companion planting rules as with Broccoli, but I’ve found that they don’t mind Chicory being grown under and in between them.

Cress, Garden (Lepidium sativum) – Garden Cress is an annual that is fast growing and pairs well with the Onion Family and other leafy greens. It is considered a cool-season annual so plant in spring and fall.

Cress, Upland (Barbarea verna) – Upland Cress is also known as ‘Creasy Greens’, it’s typically used as a trap crop at the end of plantings of other Cabbage family plants to act as a trap crop for pests. It is perfectly edible on its own and makes for a respectable microgreen.

Cress, Water (Nasturtium officinale) – Water Cress is often confused with the flowering annual also called Nasturtiums but they are not related. This member of the cabbage family as its name suggests loves being being moist. It pairs well with Lettuce, Parsley and Celery but is said to match up with Mint. It is considered invasive in most of the USA.

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) – Horseradish is known to repel Blister beetles and this makes it an excellent match for White Potatoes. There is some disagreement on if it repels Potato Beetles or not but it is clearly noted that it should be planted at the corners of the Potato plot and be dug yearly so the Horseradish does not spread.

Kale (B.o. var. sabellica) – Kale is a generally a cool season annual crop despite being a biennial. It will survive our winters, maybe. (See broccoli companions)
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[The plant Pictured is Broccoli]

Kohlrabi (B.o. Gongylodes Group) – Kohlrabi is basically a cabbage that makes moderate sized leaves but is valued for its swollen stem that can be as large as a softball. (See broccoli companions)

Moringa Tree (Moringa oleifera) – Moringa, is noted to be a top-tier companion plant because it has a deep taproot and has the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil. All parts of this plant are useful for food, and medicinal/Herbal purposes so it’s one of the best things you can grow. It is not hardy in the ground in our zone but if it is grown a large pot and brought in for the winter you can have one. It pairs well with herbs, marigolds, smaller leaf greens and sweet potatoes.

Mustard, Greens (Brassica juncea) – Mustard Greens are typically found at the supermarket in the form of bright green somewhat crinkly leaves. Mustard Greens pair well with carrots, Radishes and the same plants that Broccoli does. They are less susceptible to Cabbage Moths if any other member of the Cabbage family is present.

Mustard, Seed (Brassica nigra) – Mustard seed as a companion plant follows the same rules as a lot of the rest of the Cabbage family, but also does well next to the herb Yarrow. It also gains benefit from the shade cast by rows of corn.

Radish (Raphanus sativus) – Radish are one of the fastest crop plants possible; some varieties are mature and ready to harvest. Cherry Belle is so fast that it is ready in about 20 growing days from seed. Radishes benefit from proximity to Mustard Greens and Nasturtiums and also seem to grow well around Red Root Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) which is edible. Radishes are said to repel Striped Cucumber Beetle so it is a good companion for Cucumbers Squash and melons.

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[The plant pictured is Arugula]

Rapeseed/Canola (Brassica napus) – Rapeseed is a strange name; it has nothing to do with ‘S.A.’ however. In this case the name comes from the Latin word Rapa, which means Turnip so Rapeseed is just Turnip Seed. This seed crop plant needs ground covers such as clover, vetch or buckwheat to suppress weeds and feed the soil so it can grow to maturity. Its primary pest is the Pollen Beetle, though Flea beetles, Cabbage Seed Weevils, Brassica Pod Midge and Aphids are problems. If you are determined to grow this one, you might have to use organic pesticides.

Rutabagas (Brassica napus Napobrassica Group) –
Silver Dollar Plant (Lunnaria annua) – Silver Dollar plant is a common sight in seed racks at garden centers this time of year. It is a biennial with edible leaves that produces foliage the first year then pretty purple flowers the second year followed by large silvery seed capsules that are flat and the size of a Silver Dollar. This biennial doesn’t have much in the way of information for companion plants, and most of that are just plants that grow in the same conditions such as Foxglove, Ferns and Lady’s Mantle.

Turnips (Brassica rapa subspecies rapa) – As a general rule, you for the most part should not plant cabbage family members near legumes. Turnips are the exception to the rule as they benefit from that and the presence of the aromatic herbs such as Rosemary, Garlic, Thyme and Sage.

Wasabi (Eurema japonicum) – Wasabi is one of those plants where the companion match-ups aren’t about plants providing mutual aid and are about other plants that share it’s growing preferences. The three most common suggestions are Hostas, Ginger and Ferns.

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TKG@tkg-nc· Feb 12

The Wild Harvest Digest: February 2026, #2 Good Morning Neighbors, As a follow-up to my mention of Companion Planting a few posts back today I'm taking a look at one plant family in common use for herbal, medicinal and culinary purposes. #Apiaceae

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The source material for some of this information is Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte, Rodales Companion Planting and, Roses Love Garlic by Louise Riotte.

Anise (Pimpinella anisum) – Anise is an annual herb in the Carrot family. It is said to have antiseptic oils and its chief use is that it helps Coriander seed germinate when they are sown outside near each other.

Caraway (Carum carvi) – Caraway is a biennial that is difficult to sprout, though some sources indicate that sowing it around freshly sown garden peas helps the germination rate indicating they would be a good pairing. It does not however grow well near its cousin Fennel.

Carrots (Daucus carota subspecies sativus) – Carrots get protective effects from being grown close to Onions, Rosemary, Black Salsify, Wormwood and Sage. Carrots grow best when paired with tomatoes because they impede weeds and their low arching foliage helps keep the soil cooler. Carrots also are a good pairing with peas but according to a few sources will not do as well near their cousin Dill. Queen Anne’s Lace is a carrot that has escaped cultivation or a wild carrot that has reverted to a natural form, we have patches of these in Fayetteville.

Celeriac (Apium graveolens variety rapaceum) – This alternative form of Celery does its best if grown after a sowing of winter vetch has been turned under in the same spot. Celeriac because it is a biennial root vegetable needs higher than normal levels of Nitrogen and Potassium and pairs in the garden with leeks and also Field/cow peas.

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Celery (Apium graveolens) – Celery much like Celeriac is a biennial and grows well with onions, but also with Tomatoes and Cabbages. Both Celery and Celeriac have a chemical compound (apigenin) in them that have a blood sugar lowering and insulin resistance effect.

[Author's Note: I get a lot of folks who wonder why anyone would eat celery. They often cite that it's so nutritionally bereft that you burn more calories digesting it than you get from it. This is a myth created from a 1950's era dieting fad. The celery we often get at the market is missing most of it's leaves because those are used to make Celery salt and are using a wide variety of prepared foods and the leaves are where most of the flavor is. Celery is a critical ingredient of stuffing so at thanksgiving one way or another you've eaten celery. Also it's about as nutritionally dense as a bunch of other leaf greens so don't buy into the hype! *uses soap box for kindling*]

Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium) – Commonly called French Parsley, in our climate this herb is best grown with morning sun and afternoon shade. Radishes are annuals and short–lived annuals and so is Chervil they benefit from being close to each other.

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) – Coriander is also known as Cilantro; Coriander is the seeds of the plant, and Cilantro is the foliage. Coriander is a cold weather biennial herb that is best sown in late August through mid-September and be expected to survive the winter in the southeast. Coriander is said to repel aphids, to help Anise but be a problem for Fennel.

Dill (Anethum graveolens) – Dill is an annual that readily self-sows giving it the appearance of a biennial or perennial. Dill is said to be a good match for Cabbage.

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[Author's note: The picture here is not one of mine. It is from the Giant Hogweed page on Wikipedia. The listing says Anastasiia Merkulova too the picture in Russia.]

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) – Fennel is a perennial that comes in one of two varieties, the green type or the bronze type; both of them are safely edible. Fennel according to some sources inhibits members of the Nightshade family while pairing with Cabbages, Onions and Mint family members. In come older publications another plant (Nigella sativa) is also commonly called Fennel.

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) – Parsley is a biennial that comes in two forms, the curled or flat leaf types. The former is often used as a garnish and the latter as a seasoning but both can be used in culinary dishes. Parsley seed sown with Carrot seed can help fight off Carrot flies. Parsley planted under Tomatoes can help the vigor of the Tomatoes while also acting as a ground cover to suppress weeds. Eating a sprig of parsley and washing it down despite the taste with ice-cold water can help obliterate bad breath.

Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) – Parsnips are a biennial and are known for their difficult germination and their seeds having a very poor shelf life. They’re one of the few root vegetables that don’t really get any pests but if you can get them to germinate they can grow under Tomatoes just like carrots.

Lovage (Levisticum officinale) – Lovage is essentially perennial miniature Celery with a flavor that is described as a mix of Celery and Parsley with more kick. The Leaves, roots and seeds are all used in culinary and herbal/medicinal recipes and this plant is said to help pretty much everything else do better.

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[Author's note: As far as I know, there are no specimens of Poison Hemlock in my area of North Carolina. Due to this, the picture here is fromt eh Wikipedia page for Posion Hemlock. The picture originates William & Wilma Follette via the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. 1992.]

For the purposes of companion planting someone is inevitably going to ask about the two problem children of the Carrot Family; Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) and, Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). The first one was used historically to kill Socrates after he was convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens. Poison Hemlock is a biennial and looks a lot like a Wild Carrot but, Hemlock can get well over eight feet tall, has hollow stems and when it’s foliage is crushed or bruised it emits a unpleasant odor. Also purple spotting is likely to be present on the stems of Poison Hemlock. Giant Hogweed which is considered a noxious invasive plant has phototoxic sap that can really mess up your skin. Giant Hogweed can get up to 18 feet tall and has leaves that almost resemble those on an unrelated Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). Giant Hogweed also has hollow purple spotted stems that are often 2-6” in diameter with coarse bristles and leaves may be as wide as 8 feet. In short everything on this plant is massive. It thus far has only been found in Watauga County near blowing rock in NC. For the next bit about companion planting, I’m going to take a look at the Onion family and then after that the Cabbage family.

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TKG@tkg-nc· Feb 5

The Wild Harvest Digest: February 2026, #1 Good Morning Neighbors, Today’s plant of interest is another tree, it’s one that there are plenty of specimens of in Fayetteville, you can find them all over the place but there’s a chance you never gave them a good look. #AmericanSycamore

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[Author's Note: Due to the need to post Winter Weather warnings last week there was no TWHD. Also the bark in the picture is what American sycamore bark looks like on a younger 30-ish year old tree, it eventually turns into the smooth mottled bark you see in my other pictures.]

The tree in question is most commonly called an American Sycamore. Other common names for this tree include; Buttonball Tree, Buttonwood, Eastern Sycamore, American Plane Tree, Western Plane, Occidental Plane and, Water Beech. The scientific name for this tree is (Plantanus occidentalis) and that name does some heavy lifting as it tells us quite a bit. The specific epithet ‘occidentalis’ directly means western and this is because this tree is native to North America and that is to the west of Europe on a map. The American Sycamore is called a Sycamore because it resembles the Sycamore of the British isles which is actually a type of Maple. The scientific name of American Sycamore derives from the Greek word ‘Plantanos’ which in turn appears to originate from the word ‘Platys’ which means broad or flat. In Greek Mythology Platanus was the daughter of the Thessalian King Aloeus and sister of the Aloadae Giants whom attempted and failed to assault Mount Olympus. The common name Sycamore itself appears to originate from the Greek words ‘siga’ and ‘mora’ which means Fig (sýko) and Mulberry (moúro). If you don’t see the connection that’s ok, because there is a type of fig in the Middle East called a Sycamore Fig (Ficus sycomorus), and it has the same kind of broad, massive stature at maturity. Outwardly the two resembles each other until you get up close and note the leaf shape differences and that one produces figs.
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The American Sycamore at maturity can be a massive tree with the largest measured specimen being 174 feet tall, but in the urban environment they usually get between 70 and 100 feet tall with a similarly wide canopy. The oldest example of an American Sycamore is between 350 and 400 years old with a trunk circumference of 28.5 feet. So in ideal conditions they can get truly massive and there are stories from the colonization of North America of settlers taking shelter in naturally hollowed out American Sycamores and even living there for several years. The American Sycamore is a native to North America and can be found in woodlands across southeastern Canada, and the central and eastern United States.

The most obvious things you can harvest from this tree are the fallen leaves for compost as it will produce a lot of those and they’re a great substitute for Maple or Oak leaves when trying to make Leaf Mold Compost. The seed balls have use in assorted crafts in the same way Cattails do in dried arrangements. Its wood is great for making tool handles or utensils or even butcher blocks, generally its wood is very versatile. I have also seen some folks credibly make mention of using washed Sycamore leaves as a sort of forage Saran Wrap for meat as the leaves are large and help keep what’s inside moist. In a culinary sense, you can tap its sap like you would a Sugar Maple, though it’s not even remotely as sweet. Realistically you’d have to boil down gallons of American Sycamore sap to get a few ounces of Syrup, but the real use here is that the sap is a viable source of filtered water. While I’ve not verified this, I’ve heard that chunks of its bark can be used as a coffee substitute, which is plausible.
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As I noted above, American Sycamore Sap is barely sweet and it takes a lot to make a gallon of Syrup. There is not a formal recipe for this so the following is a guide of sorts based on my personal experience in tapping trees for syrup making. The best time to tap an American Sycamore is late winter into early spring, you don’t want to go too far into spring because it can stunt the growth of the tree. The science behind it is that the cold nights and warming thaw of days helps create pressure to move sap up from the roots. You start by drilling a small hole into the mature tree, use a rubber mallet to gently tap in a spout and then run a line down to a collection bottle/bucket. How long you tap should hinge on how mature and healthy your tree is; but a month per tree is decent and you should tap multiple trees to get the amount you need. With American Sycamores it can take 60-100 gallons of sap to make 1-5 gallons of syrup, and being prompt about emptying filled containers is important as sap can spoil quickly. Also, I highly advice sealed containers/taps because critters will want to get into your collected sap. The sap you’ve harvested can be frozen if you’re not planning to use it immediately. For the next part you’re going to need a large cooking pot. Normally for gallons of sap you’d want something like a 40-100 quart size stock pot. Boiling gallons of sap down will take hours and often it’s wiser to get a gas burner and do this outside. Also boiling down sap can take 28-56 hours so smaller batches in a shallow rectangular pan can speed that up but you have to repeat the process multiple times to handle the quantity. What syrup you do get stores well because it’s highly resistant to bacterial growth due to its highly concentrated sugar content, it is not immune to intrusion by fungi such as mold. In a properly sealed container your syrup can conceivably remain shelf-stable and safe to eat for years if not decades.
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Unlike a number of other potential street trees used in urban environments, American Sycamore tolerates pollution, is quick growing, has pretty bark that is visible in the winter, responds well to pruning and, isn’t picky about soil ph or soil quality. The disadvantages are what you’d expect; it does heave roads and sidewalks, and its roots can get into buried utilities. Since it is a deciduous tree; you can expect autumn leaf drop and of course the Buttonballs. Buttonballs are the common name for the seed clusters American Sycamore drops in Autumn; they’re actually aggregate fruits made of up hundreds of individual seeds called Achenes. The seeds have little fuzzy hairs that allow them to be moved about by the wind but also by water. When the Buttonballs start breaking up in late Autumn into early winter it is sometimes called ‘Sycamore Snow’. This dispersal of leaves and seeds is really no worse than most other street trees. In terms of pest problems American Sycamore can be attacked by a bunch of insects such as; Borers, Scale, Japanese Beetles, varied Caterpillars, Spider Mites. On top of this there are a few diseases that are a problem too as it is susceptible to Sycamore Anthracnose, Cankers, Leaf Spot and Powdery Mildew. It also is not idea for windy areas since it is somewhat susceptible to wind damage. In the end though, there is something magical about a street lined with mature American Sycamore trees that adds to the quality of a neighborhood. They were a common street tree in Orange NJ, which is where I went to high school. Funny thing is, My grandmother used to swear every winter that the trees had died and they were a menace because they might fall down. The mottled bark they were known for included light patches that looked to her like exposed heart wood and so every year they'd 'resurrect' and she'd forget this by the next winter. American Sycamores were the first plant I'd ever seen that trolled someone.
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TKG@tkg-nc· Jan 30

The image below is of one that appeared in my feed today. I'd love to find out where "Truth Seeker USA"s account is actually located at. <Please check the alt text for more>

Normally I reserve my Bluesky posts to stuff about gardening, wild forage, fungi, and other things in the natural world but something appeared in my feed this morning and I could not ignore it. Take a close look at the picture I’ve included and consider it carefully. This is what modern propaganda looks like, and the account it was posted under is called “Truth Seeker USA” and that’s obvious code to anyone with a brain that anything but truth is the objective of the account and it’s going to be MAGA. I bet the people operating the account aren’t even located in the USA, but I can’t check that as of the time I wrote this. The account has since been suspended and I can’t even view the 62 comments on the post. Let’s start with the issues with the stuff in the box at the bottom; the two sources are Joe Oltman and Michelle Malkin. Both of them are conservative if not far-right maga political commentators, Oltman is a pod caster and Malkin who’s real last name is Magalalang; (Ever notice how token MAGA always ditch their real names to pretend they're not what they are?) has written a book that endorses racial profiling and internment. Oltman, is known for having a role in spreading the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, multiple courts have found that it wasn’t. Consider that two people who are known for fabricating are claiming one of them somehow heard Eric Coomer say what’s quoted on an ANTIFA conference call is laughable at best. Last I checked Antifa didn’t have conference calls, it’s not that sort of organization. The stuff up top is also laughable because what is quoted proves nothing, Dominion could have legitimately had those conversations (if they even happened) because they were trying to sell voting machines to foreign countries for their own elections. They could have been having those conversations because tech support was outsourced. This is just another example of lazy propaganda from the MAGA crowd.

TKG@tkg-nc· Jan 23

The Wild Harvest Digest: January 2026, #4 Good Morning Neighbors, Due to formatting issues I'm going to do another forage post instead of one about crop rotation, companion planting and seed selection. #Wateroak #NativeTrees #Forage

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[Author's note, the leaves of this oak are some what variable in shape, to ID it I suggest sampling a few leaves to get a consensus.]
Water Oak (Quercus nigra) is commonly found in Cumberland county North Carolina, and in our areas is effectively an evergreen. It is native to North American and is a fast growing medium sized tree at maturity. It often grows to a height of 50 to 80 feet tall with a canopy that can be up to 70 feet in width. Amongst members of the Oak genus it is generally considered to have softer wood than others and it has a noticeably shorter life span. Your average Water Oak often lives 30 to 50 years though in the urban environment that may be even shorter because of the usual impacts of soil compaction, damage and fungal intrusion. The native region in which you can find Water Oaks is the central or eastern United States, and they prefer forests, flood plains and beside rivers, streams or sloped areas with soil that is on the dry side. You can also commonly find them in the Coastal Plains and Piedmont regions of North Carolina. As you might expect Water Oaks prefer rich moderate to wet soils with a acidic pH and full sun exposure. Saplings will tolerate less than this but will grow to effectively create the aforementioned exposure environment and enrich their soil with dropped leaves.
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You can identify a Water Oak easily by its uniquely shaped leaves which are roughly spatulate or spoon shaped. I personally think they often look more like a vertically stretched version of the club from a deck of playing cards. There is a fair amount of differing leaf morphology on a given tree so you may have to collect or examine a bunch of leaves to reach a leaf shape consensus. The big problem with this tree is its weak branch architecture when compared to other Oak Species. The branch architecture lends to breakage in high winds or ice events which makes it less than ideal for planting near structures. It is however good for planting in open spaces or near bodies of water. Water Oaks are also a host plant for the Larvae of at least seven native species of Moths and Butterflies. In colder climates where Water Oak is deciduous its leaves turn a nice golden yellow color in the fall. As a final note for this section, it has been recorded that Water Oak can produce hybrids with Southern Red Oak (Q. falcata), Bluejack Oak (Q. incana), Turkey Oak (Q. laevis), Blackjack Oak (Q. marilandica), Willow Oak (Q. phellos), Shumard Oak (Q. shumardii), and Black Oak (Q. velutina). The tannin contained in the leaves and acorns of this tree aren’t toxic in general however they can cause nausea and cause iron absorption problems in people. The leaves from this tree are toxic to most livestock with the exception of Pigs. Water Oaks are interesting when it comes to the Oak family because their primary use since the 17th century is as firewood. The leaves of this oak are particularly useful in the compost pile for making leaf mold and they absolutely pulverize when run over with a mower using a mulching blade. The Acorns can be eaten but often they are on the small side and can pose a slip hazard where they fall on hard surfaces as they range from the size of a medium ball bearing to that of a marble (1/2-1”).

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This means you would have to collect a lot of them just to extract a modest amount of nut meat to use for flour. Also the problem of tannin is still there, you’re still going to have to leech it out using boiling or soaking methods. In North Carolina generally speaking Water Oak will have acorns from September to November, but weather conditions might cause them to be plus/minus a month in timing. What you want to do here is to gather several pounds of Water Oak acorns with the expectation that you for every three to four pounds of unprocessed acorns that you gather will produce about a pound of flour in this case. The difficulty of this can vary on the number of trees and if or if not it is a masting year. Masting years are when trees produce so many extra seeds that things that might eat them cannot possibly collect them all. So tannin extraction or leeching is a pretty simple process you can either boil them or let them soak. Both methods prefer that you shell the acorns first; boiling is the faster method and all you have to do is shell your acorns then boil them until the water turns dark. Dump the water and replace it with fresh water and boil again, keep doing this until the water is clear you can add Baking Soda to accelerate this process. The alternative is that you can place the bag in a stream so it’s constantly wet and wait a t least a day possibly several until the nuts are no longer bitter. From here you can dry them, crush them finely to make Acorn Flour, or crush them coarsely so the chunks are of even size and make something akin to Grits. Or you can roast them and eat them as a trail mix sort of snack. There are tons of recipes for making breads with Acorns, failing that there are several companies that make Acorn Flour so you can work out recipes without all the grunt work. As a final note for harvesting, Water Oak can be a host for Lions Mane Mushrooms in the wild.
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TKG@tkg-nc· Jan 16

The Wild Harvest Digest: January 2026, #3 Good Morning Neighbors, Today we’re going to skip on the normal plant focus of TWHD to talk about the most important thing going on at the moment. #Planning #GrowYourOwnFood #SurviveTheRegime

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As some of you already know, the weather is about to take a turn towards the cold and there is a possibility that it may do something crazy like snowing on Sunday. The temperatures are again going to dip into the 20’s tonight (Thursday) and then again over the weekend and into Monday if not a larger part of next week. While this is par for course for North Carolina weather it poses a problem to any sort of garden planning. The weather cannot be relied upon to stay a reasonable winter temperature as just last week we were hitting summeresque temperatures in the high seventies. The weather is the greatest moderator of what we can and cannot do in the garden because otherwise it is always a balance of cost, how much labor, practicality and how soon we want it. Winter forces us to sit back and dream of what could be, if only the warmer temperatures could arrive and stay for a bit. So today instead of talking about plants, I want to talk to you a bit about garden planning. Garden planning comes in many forms ranging from the basic ideas you formulate, to whatever you happen to write down in a passing moment and from there it can get sophisticated. Some gardeners keep records and sketch plans, while others with drafting skills produce full on garden designs. There are folks out there who use Computer Assisted Design (CAD) to plan their garden or AI, or just hire a professional and let them work it out from whatever directives the homeowner might have. All of these methods are equally legitimate and plausible. The methodology I use follows a set process that touches on pretty much all of the aforementioned with special caveats for Cumberland County’s soils, weather and other local factors. The first stage of planning comes when the inevitable influx of seed catalogs appear in the mailbox starting in mid-October. I prefer to call this the ‘Tide of Temptation’ because the folks who make seed catalogs know exactly what they’re doing.
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The majority of them as you can see are full of color, each page is bursting with colorful photos or illustrations and captions that read like every selection will absolutely change your life. Even as a professional in the field of Agriculture I’m not immune to the effects of these catalogs. The first part of planning is to select which ones out of the pile of catalogs I intend to use. This means that something like 70% of catalogs I receive will be set aside and never be looked at because that makes a mess of seed ordering logistics and costs more money and time. It also needs to be mentioned that I only showed retail seed catalogs in the picture, I also get farm-grade catalogs that sell seeds in in the kind of bulk levels to plant by the acre. Those catalogs are less flashy because they cater to farm businesses and not to residential customers. Most gardeners might not realize it but consider what it costs to order from all the catalogs in the picture. You’re taking time with each one to figure out what to order, you’re paying shipping and handling for all of it, and then when your order arrives you have to open it create waste from the packaging and sort and store what you’ve got. The time and money adds up so consolidating who you order from is a major time saver when it comes to ordering seeds. Ideally you want to have this sorted out by mid-January so that you can focus on Next is the evaluation stage, this typically starts in early January. Evaluation is straight forward; you would be looking at your garden which is currently to some degree in dormancy or semi-dormancy and asking three critical questions.

“What can I improve upon?”
“What plants worked last year?”
“What plants did not work and why did they not work?”
The first question is a general one; it does not specifically refer to your plants but rather, your garden itself. For example in the second picture you can see in my notes in the composition book
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[Author's note: this is a photo of a very old garden plan, it turned out pretty badly.]
on the right I note that soil erosion is a problem in both beds and that I need to put a barrier in to stop that. In the case of the vegetable patch up top, it’s a soil and lawn intrusion issue that’s causing problems so the answer is to look into a way to raise both halves of the garden bed. In the case of the tall bed which is drawn in a more three dimensional form as it is already a raised bed with structural problems the solution is the same but it requires a taller raised bed solution. Both of these solutions aren’t exactly cheap but if they solve the issue for three to ten years then they will pay for themselves in productivity. The second question leads into the third of course; there’s an old saying about the definition of insanity and for the purposes of gardening it’s especially true. Evaluating what plants worked well in the prior year can tell you what you need to look at planting in the current year but also gives you a chance to look carefully at why it worked well. For example, of the things planted in the vegetable patch the failures were in the Lemon Cucumbers, Swiss Chard and the Brown Sugar Tomatoes. The soil erosion and lawn intrusion caused problems for the Lemon Cucumbers, even though they did produce cucumbers. The Brown Sugar tomatoes never really took off and may need richer soil while the Swiss Chard did well until the summer’s heatwave cooked them off despite being in the shade created by the Lemon Cucumbers. In every case it is clear that I planted things in the wrong locations and underestimated the weather and nutrient loss via erosion and lawn grass intrusion. Likewise, in the Tall Bed you can see that I planted two Lemon Boy tomato plants at one point. They produced heavily over the course of the summer I got a lot of medium sized yellow-colored tomatoes and they were producing until the fall.

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[Author's Note: This is the same bed but a year later where I tried to use drip irrigation...it did not work.]
The tomatoes were a clear success, but were cut down in the fall to allow the mixed variety of Carrots growing under them to take over for the cold months. As per a number of companion gardening books Carrots and Tomatoes go together but also since the carrots are a biennial, have edible foliage and eventually the root gets harvested and they can keep summer and winter weeds in check. These are the things that turned out just fine, but the collards didn’t make it due to cabbage moths and the Milkweeds just added color and attracted pollinators. The Collards were not exactly failures, it was more that I failed to rotate them to a new area to evade the cabbage moths so the failing here was mine not so much the plants. The sagging bricks are another issue altogether; brick edged beds that are more than three layers high that do not use mortar start sagging as the weight of the bricks compress the soil unevenly. Those bricks then very slowly sink into the earth where the soil and subsoil is softest. This sinking isn’t even and the barriers sagging inward or outward creating airspaces where soil and water escape the bed. However the bed has been there for about a decade and the sagging has only become bad in the last year or two so that’s not bad at all. This is then is an area where I could do better as per the first question; with a barrier material that is more rigid that could last as long hence the notes indicating a move to galvanized metal barriers. The galvanized raised bed barriers are rigid and thus they likely will not go anywhere even as the barriers settle into the earth. The only conceivable problem is that stumbling block we all know about, how much soil will it take to back fill the empty space? <See follow up post for the rest>
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TKG@tkg-nc· Jan 8

The Wild Harvest Digest: January 2026, #2 Good Morning Neighbors, Today’s plant is one you’ve certainly encountered but may have not given much thought to because it’s native to a wide swathe of North America making it fairly common. #EasternRedCedar #Native

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You can find this tree in the wild ranging from Canada to Maine, as far west as South Dakota, the Great Plains, as far south as Texas and into parts of Florida. It’s mainly seen along the Atlantic coast and it may be the most widespread conifer in the Eastern United States. You might even have one of these trees in your backyard and may not even realize it yet because it’s sapling form looks different than its mature form. The tree in question is the Eastern Red Cedar and it’s botanical latin name is (Juniperus virginiana) which means it is related to Common Juniper (J. communis) which is used to make Gin. Eastern Red Cedars are in the Cypress Family (Cupressaceae) which means they are a medium sized tree with an average height range of thirty of almost seventy feet tall. Since they are a Cypress Eastern Red Cedars are evergreen and their leaves are small and scale like in shape. The shape of the leaves changes as an Eastern Red Cedar matures; when they are saplings the leaves can be almost needle like with sharp points. This can make identification in the field difficult as a small Eastern Red Cedar can look like a different species of Juniper. The sharp scales in the younger plants evolved as a defense against grazing so that Saplings have a better chance of maturing and carrying on the species. For example Deer are known to graze on Eastern Red Cedars when other food is scarce and they prefer the younger softer foliage and the twigs. This can of course be life or death for a sapling so the spines evolved to make the young plants even less palatable. Speaking of carrying on the species; typically Eastern Red Cedars are dioecious meaning there are separate male and female trees but rare specimens are monecious meaning they are both male and female at the same time. In the pictures I’ve included you can see tiny brown tips on some of the stems, those are the plant’s tiny cones. Female Eastern Red Cedar cones mature in the fall,
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September and October. The ones in the photo are the male cones which are found at the tips of branches. The female cones form the Juniper “berries” that we are familiar with. I put the word berries in quotes because they too are a type of cone called a Aril botanically because it’s not a true berry in the botanical sense. Female cones on the Eastern Red Cedar are a modified cone with fused fleshy scales that is specifically called a Galbulus (plural Galbuli) which is specific to the female cones of Junipers and Cypress. In the wild you will find Eastern Red Cedars growing in fields, pastures, prairie hill sides, and woodlands with a wide range of soil types. Red cedar is oddly is not often found in the high mountains of the New England States nor in the Allegheny Mountains. This wide range is because Eastern Red Cedars are a pioneer species meaning it’s one of the first trees to repopulate a disturbed site and by pioneer species standards it is unusually long lived with some specimens living longer than millennia. The oldest known individuals can be found in West Virginia (940 years), A Missouri specimen (LTD95A at 795 years old), A number of Iowa trees in the Palisades-Kepler state park are said to be in the 400 year old range. So for a Pioneer species Eastern Red Cedar has some impressive staying power in the natural landscape. With all the hard details covered we have to move on to how you can use these lovely native trees in your landscape. In a generalized sense Eastern Red Cedars in the urban landscape are great when used as Windbreaks; in fact they are sol tolerant of windy conditions that they were used to offset the windy conditions of the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. Given that they are a pioneer species Eastern Red Cedar is tolerant of a wide range of soils, salt intrusion, brackish marshy soils and even the sandy dunes at the coast. Historically Eastern Red Cedars have been used as hedges screens and as specimen trees and
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and you can see the latter use if you to downtown Fayetteville and look in the older Cemeteries. Some of those Eastern Red Cedars were trimmed as shrubs at one point and with age became full-on trees as the decades passed. Another advantage is that they don’t drop messy fruit, their berries and cones do not attract unwanted attention from insects and, when trimmed properly they are effective as a shade tree. What the trees do attract are Wild birds such as the Cedar Waxwing. Red Cedars are not idea for small shallow planting areas as they develop deep root systems but are not known for heaving sidewalks and curbs which is another bonus. As a final bit good of information about Eastern Red Cedar, Eastern Red Cedar is well regarded in wood crafting and its aromatic nature repels clothing moths and other insects. The heart wood of Eastern Red Cedar is reddish or violet-brown in color while the sap wood is pale yellow and is referred for use in furniture, fence posts, outdoor furniture and other carvings. With that said, its shavings are used in the home to repel insects but its loose grindings are used as mulch in the garden. In an herbal light, the wood of this tree is a mild antiseptic. Many Native American groups used it for incense for ritual purification and parts of this tree are burned in sweat lodges. The Blackfeet made a tea from its berries to halt vomiting but it was also used to handle Arthritis and Rheumatism. The Blackfeet boiled eastern Red Cedar leaves in water added a half teaspoon of turpentine and then rubbed the mix on effected areas. The Cheyenne steeped the leaves of Red Cedar and drank the tea to alleviate persistent coughing or congestion in the throat that would cause coughing. This tea was also said to produce sedative effects and was useful for calming hyperactivity. Cheyenne women drank Red Cedar tea to speed delivery during child birth.
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The one major downside to growing Eastern Red Cedar is that they are a host plant for a fungal disease called Cedar-Apple Rust (Gymnosporangium juniper-virginianae) which you know is going to be bad when the latin name of the fungus specifically mentions a plant’s full name. Getting your full latin name in the scientific name of a pathogen is pretty much the botanical equivalent of when your parents were really mad and used your full name. Cedar Apple Rust is a fungal disease with a two-year life cycle that represents itself on Junipers and Cedars as small swellings on twigs that swell into golf ball sized galls by the fall. In the following spring after a period of rain those galls sprout bright orange jelly-like tentacle looking protrusions that look like something right out of a B-grade science fiction movie. Those orange things are called Telial Horns and they release spores which infect Apple Trees. From there the fungus spears as yellow spots that turn orange-red on the leaves of nearby apple trees. The infected Apple trees can develop reddish-range cracked areas on their fruit making them inedible and also suffer an early leaf drop which after a few years can kill your Apple trees. The only sure is to remove and destroy infected tissue on apple trees and then treat with a fungicide specifically for the Cedar-Apple Rust Fungus or a Copper-Sulfur formulation. Unfortunately the general advice for treating this fungal disease on a cedar is to destroy the cedar. The only exception is if the Cedar is a specimen of note where using fungicide to preserve it is easier than culling. I have to note that the wood from an infected cedar is still useful as firewood as burning destroys the pathogen even if dormant. If you catch an infection before the ‘tentacle-gall’ stage and remove all galls you may became to break the pathogen’s life cycle and manage the disease long enough to make it a non-threat.
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TKG@tkg-nc· Jan 1

This is totally unrelated to TWHD, but this picture was taken a bit before Midnight and I thought I'd share the view.

TKG@tkg-nc· Jan 1

Due to limits on the number of photos I can post this one was left out. Check out that Scarlet Oak's root flare!

TKG@tkg-nc· Jan 1

The Wild Harvest Digest: January 2026, #1 Happy New Year’s Neighbors, To ring in the New Year’s properly, we are going to talk about a plant that can be seen all over Fayetteville but is most distinctive in plantings arranged by our Local Parks and Recreation Department. #Oaks #Trees