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| BAD PHOTO, GOOD STORY |
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| A GARDEN ACHILLEA |
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| A ROADSIDE ACHILLEA |
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| DAISY FLEABANE |
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| ...SMALL, ASTER-LIKE FLOWERS |
Saturday, 7:30 AM. 63 degrees, wind WSW, calm. The sky is overcast and the barometer predicts rain. It has sprinkled a bit.
I stopped at Newago’s fish market down the street yesterday and purchased smoked trout and whitefish for lunch, and lingered to talk with a retired couple eating at the picnic bench in front of the store. They were dressed in motorcycle garb and their big Honda bike stood nearby. They were from Pennsylvania, near the Delaware Water Gap, and were returning home, having been to Vancouver. The trip would be over 9,000 miles by the time they were done. They take a big cross-country trip every year. We had a nice chat about their travels, the beauty we have all seen and where and how we have lived our lives around the country. Americans are a footloose breed.
The various garden and wild varieties of Achillea millifolium are blooming, some are garden escapes, others are of unknown origin. There are seventy-five species and many varieties of the genus Achillea, mostly of Eurasian origin but there are native and circumboreal species as well. Named for Achilles, who tradition says used it as an anti-coagulant for the war wounds of his soldiers, its flowers may be white to yellow and even shades of red and pink. The crushed leaves of many varieties have a strong rosin odor. The species name millifolium refers to its many, finely dissected leaves. It is an important landscape perennial, but should be used outside the garden, as it is a rampant grower. The herbal use does work.
Daisy fleabane, Erigeron, a related genus in the Composite family, also has innumerable native and non-native species and varieties, this one a garden escapee.
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