Skywatch Friday - August 4, 2023

 Moth mullein and very blue skies for Skywatch Friday.

My favorite weed had been blooming for months.  It paused, set seeds, then started in with blooms below and above the seed pods.

These seeds pods are as hard as nuts.  Not as hard as a brazil nut, but harder than a peanut (of course, peanuts aren't actually nuts).  I suppose they'll pop on their own soon, with those splits. 

I can crush some between my fingers, with a lot of work!

Why am I doing it?  To scatter the seeds.  Each little pod holds a lot.  That's how many, a lot. I haven't counted them.

Now I cut off the stems and chop them into pieces to toss into my Toss Garden.  That's how that area began, tossed seed heads from deadheading, and leftover seeds.

Originally from the Mediterranean region of Europe and Northern Africa, moth mullein is now naturalized in the U.S. and Canada.  Some states list is as an invasive species; in Colorado it's a "noxious weed."  When I look up "moth mullein oregon" it comes up on wildflower sites.  So, I don't mind letting it grow.  I pull out any of our noxious weeds, however pretty they may be.  And may of them are very pretty.  Like Purple Loosestrife (not related to other plants called loosestife).  

Enjoy your weekend.