last wednesday, the 22nd of october: a goldenrod update

last wednesday was incredibly windy. (milly was looking for a treat from me which i had forgotten to put in my pocket.)

we were really getting blown about as we walked along the river. i purposely walked by the goldenrod plants at the playground.

they've all gone to seed and they look beautiful.

and here are my two goldenrod skeins resting in the sunlight with zuzu in the background.

today's project

on wednesday i was running errands (i visited a library branch on 23rd street to pick up a book to take when we travel soon to florida to see greg's mom) and i stopped by the union square petco store for a few more cans of cat food. it was then that i realized i was near the green market where korrina had just bought a huge bunch of goldenrod. when we were visiting vermont at the beginning of september, i kept exclaiming at all the goldenrod everywhere one turned! fields and fields of goldenrod! i didn't bring any back with me as in order to dye with it, it's best to work with it fresh and i wasn't going to be able to do that as we were stopping in lenox, massachusetts for several nights. however, on wednesday i picked out a large bunch to bring home. i shook the branches out in the courtyard and snipped off the flowers and a few inches of the stems. once upstairs and in the pot, i brought the temperature up to 180/200 fahrenheit and let it sit there for an hour. then i let it cool till the next morning so that i could easily strain it and have it free of debris for the yarn i wanted to dye (which was already mordanted).

(flowers and stems were composted)

i first wet the skeins before putting them in the dye bath . . and then followed a similar time pattern. i brought the temperature up to 180/200 and let it sit for an hour, and then it cooled overnight.

after a few cool rinses in the sink, i hung the yarn up to dry. i can't wait to see how it looks in the daylight.

monday bike ride and a goldenrod nature study

our monday morning bike ride took us to the boardwalk section of the hudson river park.

we sat down to sketch the goldenrod today.

we observed two different types of goldenrod (out of 77 native species according to our wildflower book). we're pretty sure this is "tall goldenrod, " or "solidaga altissima."

it blooms late summer to early fall, it's lower leaves are absent at bloom time; they are stalkless and lance shaped, and are finely toothed to untoothed.

there was also "golden fleece" goldenrod which i identified one year by sending a picture to our hudson river park gardener. it's a low lying dwarf variety that blooms in august to mid fall. the leaves are more plentiful during bloom time, and the clusters are fatter and closer together. the latin name is "solidaga sphacelata."

we also saw wild strawberries hiding underneath the goldenrod . .

and lots of clover covered with morning dew poking it's way through . . 

anna botsford comstock writes on page 504 in her book that goldenrod is like a flower city. she tells a lovely story to her nature study children about the golden city where the people are all dressed in yellow and they live together in families on top of their green shingled houses. you can see that here in the picture. the tubular disc flowers open out like bells and the pollen-tubes, or stigmas, come from their centers. the ray flowers (or petals) come from the edges.

it is all very tiny and not easy to see! this is morgana's book.

she sat and worked by several black-eyed susans that were still in bloom . . 

chanda worked in front of a grouping of fountain grass. a jogger and his dog had just passed by before i took this picture.

chanda drew, and took a sample of, the tall goldenrod, solidaga altissima.

i drew the same. goldenrod is also good for natural dyeing. you can read about it here. natural, undyed peace fleece yarn is good to use, or knitpicks.

there was also a mockingbird singing in the tree on the left . . 

i tried to capture some of his song while the traffic behind me was stopped at a red light.

there was also a plethora of juniper berries!

i always find them very beautiful.

on montauk

we went out monday morning to help nana and nonno settle into the house after the renters had left. (we passed greg somewhere around amagansett: he was on the train, we were in the car.)

we stopped first at the overlook where the goldenrod was seemingly taking over the bittersweet vines and the fence.

 having lunch . .

chanda decided to read ruth fielding at lighthouse point . . i think it had been my mom's book when she was young . . she had found it on the bookshelf downstairs.

after lunch, we went for a walk along hotel beach.

 so did this guy . . 

while nana, nonno and i were at the doctor's on tuesday, morgana and chanda unpacked more boxes and planted the mums my sister's neighbor gave my mom. morgana also trimmed the holly bush . . i mean tree.

 the mums were perfect in nana's iron kettle!

afterwards, we went to the ditch . . 

 

and they went swimming.

morgana ran back to inform me that there were (ahem) a few jellyfish in the water.

but, they both were brave and went back in. the surfers were in (they're the block dots bobbing around in the water two pictures up-they kind of look like seals), and there was a man teaching his three year old how to surf.

i love the goldenrod. i recently read that there are over 100 varieties. i enjoyed reading this person's post (kathy purdy) about trying to tame her goldenrod. she also has several good suggestions for books on native plants of north america.

since we are by the sea, i shall assume that this is seaside goldenrod! it also resembles the pictures i found on walter muma's website about goldenrods.

the grey day made for some nice pictures.

 i also took a picture of the harvest moon.

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nonno's not driving yet. he'll use the senior transportation van for a few weeks. i know he misses his freedom. growing older and wiser is not without it's complications.