8/08/11 THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY AND CREDIT RATINGS RULE AUGUST

PRAIRIE CONE FLOWER

COREOPSIS  FLOWER AND SEED HEAD

BROWN EYED SUSAN

MILFOIL

Monday,  7:00 AM.  63 degrees, wind N, calm. The sky is mostly overcast but the sun is peeking through.  The barometer again predicts rain, but it doesn’t look or feel like it will be much of anything soon.
    August is prime blooming time for prairie and meadow species, and native plant restorations in the Bayfield area are at their height of interest.  Although prairie technically is not really part of the far northern flora, most of the more northerly prairie species grow here in one plant association or another; meadow, beach, fen, etc. All the plants mentioned are in the sunflower family, which pretty much rules the prairies and meadows in August.
    The prairie coneflower, Ratibida pinnata, is now in bloom.  It is a tall, very strong perennial wildflower, excellent in native plantings or the garden.
    The brown eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta, is a familiar roadside wildflower common to prairies and meadows and also makes an excellent garden perennial although it may spread.
    We have mentioned the tickseed, Coreopsis tinctoria, before; it is mostly through blooming, but the characteristic seed heads are now evident.
    The native varieties of millfoil, Achillea milifolium,  are blooming strongly; mostly white flower heads but some with a distinct rosy hue.  We have mentioned its herbal qualities previously.
    Well, the S & P has now downgraded our long-term debt, in spite of the extension and the increase in the debt limit.  Damed if you do, damned if you don’t.  I personally don’t think it worthwhile to worry about the rating agencies and the stock market, they are beyond our control.  We should be worrying about putting our fiscal house in order, even if that means riling up the markets by our contrary actions.  Once we get serous about our indebtedness the markets will react positively. 
    What do the stock and bond markets, and credit ratings, have to do with ecology and conservation? Everything.  Without money there can be no restoration projects, no research, no education, no long term commodities market stability.  Throughout history, poor countries have always been those in ecological trouble; ignorance, desertification, soil erosion, monocultures, starvation;  only wealth and knowledge can produce “sustainability” and ecological health in the modern world, although it is no guarantee.  Want sustainability and ecological health without wealth? Get ready to see ninety percent of the people of the earth die.