The Coldest Part of Winter

Two days ago we had snowflakes falling! Sleet too.

The first frost took the Salvia flowers fairly early in the winter. Then it got warm again. Light cold fronts came and went. And it truly hasn't been COLD until now. The Gulf Fritillarys disappeared with the flowers. The passionvine died back, but did attempt to send up new shoots during the warm intermediary. The dandelions, which often provide winter nectar for honeybees, waited late to flower, due to the unusually warm winter. I've found more around the DFW area because it's been colder there.

I've found a book that identifies passionflower for its edible and medicinal uses, Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants by Christopher Nyerges. The Foraging Texas website, by Dr. Mark "Merriwether" Vorderbruggen, mentions that, in addition to the consumption of the juices around the seeds, the roasted seeds are a favorite snack in Puerto Rico. The white pulp inside the skin of the passionfruit/maypop can be scraped out and eaten. Both sources mention that the leaves can be made into a tea (flowers too, but much less strong). The tea acts as a sedative/anti-anxiety tonic - combats unrest, agitation, exhaustion, nervousness, nervous headaches - the alkaloids in it make for a good "sleepy time" tea. Merriwether suggests not taking more than 2-3 cups per week. You can also smoke the leaves. They can be wrapped into herbal cigarettes and the calming effects can help smokers quit. Beware, though, because the smell is similar to that of marijuana! The Gulf Fritillary caterpillars and eggs can be eaten in an emergency situation, but they won't afford you very much food.

Publicado el 14 de enero de 2021 por redpenny redpenny

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Hi, reaching out from az! We got our first Passion flower in spring of 2020 and with it came the butterflies and caterpillars we now have a total of 5! It seems that the butterflies and caterpillars are in full force this year! I did just read that ants are great for keeping the population lower since they eat the ends. Unfortunately we do spray for pests bi monthly due to the high population of roaches. I fear that has effected the transition from caterpillar to butterflies.

We are curious to see this year if adding more plants helps the vine have an opportunity to grow since the butterflies have multiple options to lay their eggs. I am curious if you feel like the butterflies feel smaller?

Anyway I enjoyed reading about your experience and wanted to share ours!! Thank you!

Publicado por maggsl hace casi 2 años

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Vida Silvestre es una entidad asociada a la Organización Mundial de Conservación