utube

“Hexing Herbs”

ESPatch Oct 31, 2012 6 comments

Jimson weed, jamestown-weed, Mad apple, devil’s apple, devil’s trumpet, devil’s weed, stink weed, apple of Peru, malpitte,

a lot of names for one plant.

Commonly known as datura, these seedpods give an indication that you don’t want

to mess with this plant. It just looks dangerous.

The word Datura comes from Hindi dhatura (thorn apple),

though this is one apple you don’t want to be biting into, an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Probably not in this case.

Datura was considered particularly sacred in Ancient India as it was believed to be a favorite of the Hindu god Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of Dance.

According to Hindu mythology, Shiva’s cosmic dance represents the fundamental energy of the universe.

Sphingid moth on datura trumpet.

European usage of Datura can be traced back to pagan rituals. The Church suppressed knowledge of the plant during the medieval witch-burning period and associated Datura and other similar plants with the

The plant belongs to the classic “witches’ weeds,”along with deadly nightshade, henbane, wolfsbane and

mandrake, among others.

Witches, like the shamans of the Americas, often used psychoactive plants to search for inner wisdom, to divine the future or to find answers to life’s deeper questions.

One of the hallucinogenic potions used by these “witches” was a concoction called the flying ointment, (I am sure for a very good reason). It was a rather lethal brew made from the so-called “hexing herbs,” one of which is datura.

The ingredients were rendered down in fat – requiring some sort of large pot (cauldron), a long implement would have been required to stir the bubbling mixture (like a broomstick handle).

Datura contains chemicals that are extremely toxic and dangerous. In non-lethal doses however, these chemicals cause delirium, amnesia, delusions and hallucinations vivid enough that the witch ingesting the potion would genuinely believe that she was flying, coming back to earth a few days later, no doubt with a bump.

Today the image of the witch cackling and “flying” around under the moonlight on her broomstick still remains a cultural iconic image…

…thank goodness.

***Disclaimer: To anyone reading this, please do not experiment with this plant, witches and shamans knew exactly what they were doing.

Halloween excitement has been brewing all this week in the Patch, this bleeding zombie appeared more interested in the texture of these coneflowers rather than the procurement

of more brains. I have no shortage of these unidentified little brains that are found floating in my pond.

Moving along:

Bees,

Snout Nose Butterflies,

Libytheana carinenta

queen butterflies,

gray hair streaks and a bunch of these

tiny Syrphid hoverflies have all been feeding all week on nectar produced by my purple and fragrant mist flowers.

I have three fragrant mist flowers planted together for maximum punch, when these fully open it is insect mayhem.

The moths on these flowers appear to have consumed too much nectar and are now not adverse to being “handled”.

Happy Halloween from the pumpkin Patch.

Stay Tuned for:

“Bugs and Ducks”

All material © 2012 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Fantastic Mr Phlox”

ESPatch Oct 12, 2012 5 comments

Here is snippet of a small back garden overhaul that I have just completed in central Austin this past week.

The property had a few limping shrubs and lots of bare dirt and drainage issues.

A naturalistic corner water feature was introduced as a focal point to a new patio, introducing the sound of running water to entice birds and nature.

Here it is plumbed up, mid-construction.

Quite a few hours were spent shuffling moss boulders around to get the desired two-tier wells to flow naturally and to eliminate any splash-off that would deplete the reservoir over time.

When installing water features I try to create as much visual depth as possible, lots of overhangs,

and deep cavernous caves.

The flagstone echoes the color of the of the moss boulders. The gray gravel (Tejas black) slows down water flow and improves drainage, it blends naturally into Mexican beach pebbles around the fountain.

Back in the Patch:

It is the time of grasses.

Purple fountain grasses come to life this time of year as the sun sets,

providing movement and a dramatic effect when planted together in large stands.

The Patch Hell strip got a bit of a facelift this week with some left over Tejas black gravel.

So much gravel I will now have to go back in and dig out this drowning agave.

The opuntia tree in the background has grown considerably the past few years,

the woody base looks very prehistoric leading up into the crazy antler paddles.

The gravel also contrasts well with chartreuse bamboo muhly.

Here is a frosty trio,

Gaura, rosemary and artemesia ‘silver king’.

Gaura lindheimeri

This plant is also known as whirling butterflies, describing how the flower heads dart and move around on long and slender stems. Planted into a sharp soil this plant shows up every year without fail and has even spread to a couple of new locations across the sidewalk.

Like canna I remove spent flower spikes to prolong the bloom period.

Fantastic Mr Phlox also started to bloom this week,

providing refreshment for this skipper, perhaps a clouded skipper?

Palm grass brings a touch of the tropics to central Texas. They also grow extremely fast and are great for filling in large areas.

I have mine planted under the shade of my post oak and another predominantly in sun, it doesn’t care.

Like myself, it responds well to an occasional summer beverage.

Old yucca flower spikes make great futuristic “fire swords”, he has played with this one for days and I am constantly tripping over it on my back deck. Just when I thought this particular fire sword was about to disintegrate,

I noticed this…

…This will be the third flower spike (brand new fire sword / health hazard) for this soft leaf yucca this year!

There has been a lot of activity in our Michelin Star Patch restaurant.

This waiter diligently took our order,

and in no time a hearty fall “broth” was presented, wait, is that plumosa fern in there as a garnish?

Hibiscus is also festive, turning from green to golden-red.

Pride of Barbados seeds are getting prepared to free-fall from the safety of their capsule.

Almost there now.

Finally:

Should you live on a sloping property you may consider this as a rather unique garden feature: