Scent – Tendrils

Yarrow

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). The temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe and North America claim Yarrow as a native herbaceous perennial flowering plant.

It’s blooming right now in this area, looking a bit like Queen Anne’s Lace because of the large clusters of flowers atop the plant’s stems. But those clusters of flowers on Yarrow are quite an irregular grouping while the clusters of flowers on Queen Anne’s Lace is an impressive near perfect circle of blooms.

Sometimes in the autumn a Yarrow leaf will turn beautiful reds and yellows but all season long it has a lovely feather-like appearance. The plant is called the Spanish word for little feather, Plumajillo, in New Mexico and southern Colorado because of the feathery look of leaves.

The blossoms of the Yarrow are popular with butterflies, wasps, flies, and bees.

I often see Crab Spiders on Yarrow too, waiting and watching for their next meal to come along.

I don’t usually notice the scent of flowers that only have a subtle fragrance. It takes a knockout aroma like Japanese Honeysuckle (Mmmmm!) for me to notice but I understand Yarrow has a nice, sweet aroma, much like Chrysanthemums. I don’t usually notice their fragrance either!

Bear Marking Territory

Ah! That feels so good! Sure looks like it, but that isn’t what is happening here. Black bears, young, mature, female, male, all bears mark trees, utility poles and wooden sign posts along their paths of travel.

Most bears that do this marking are males during mating season. They do this marking by rubbing their scent on marking trees. Rubbing, rubbing, rubbing shoulders, neck, back and crown.

They’ll also claw and bite the marking tree (whether it is that wooden sign post, utility pole or actually a tree) often leaving great scars in the wood. Utility poles seem to be a favorite, employing this marking as a way to communicate, one bear to another.

American Lily of the Valley

The Lily of the Valley that we all know, the one that used to grow in our Moms’ gardens is a native of Asia and Europe, European Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis). But there is a native too, though this designation of “native” and it being a different species is not agreed upon by the authorities. I’m going with native and a different species. American Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majuscula). This species is native to Georgia, up north to Pennsylvania and west to Kentucky.

The difference between these two species is quite subtle. In American Lily of the Valley, the plant is shy, only creating very small clumps if any. The European species is quite gregarious, creating large colonies in an aggressive manner. The leaves of the American Lily of the Valley are larger, than the European species. The racemes (a raceme is a flower cluster with the separate flowers attached by short equal stalks at equal distances along a central stem) of the American Lily of the Valley is shorter than the European species. Those racemes of the American species arch under the leaves, while the leaves of the European species stretch tall, as if standing on their tippy toes to see over the tops of the leaves.

I have both of these species and love having them. Oh MY! Such a delicious scent! I prefer the tame manner of the American species and I must say I really prefer native plants anyway for the sake of the environment. These two species bloom at different times though, which extends the time that I can enjoy their blooms and their wonderful aromas. My European species is in full bloom now and my native species is just now beginning to emerge from the soil. Many more weeks of lily of the valley beauty.