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Braiding Sweetgrass

 Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants was written by Robin Wall Kimmerer in 2013.

She is a scientist not a poet, but to me, she asks an essential poetic question when she wonders why it is -- and then makes a scientific study to find out -- that there is something so beautiful about a field of yellow and purple flowers.

In a field I pass on my walk:

Goldenrod and purple loosestrife.

Goldenrod and joe pie weed


Comments

  1. TaborSeptember 11, 2022 at 12:53 PM

    I did start reading that book and it now seems to have been misplaced!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OlgaSeptember 12, 2022 at 8:18 AM

      Kimmerer also has a book about moss (!) that was highly recommended to me and is now on my list.

      Delete
  2. KaySeptember 11, 2022 at 4:29 PM

    I've always loved wildflowers. Yellow and purple are complementary colors on the color wheel and so pretty when contrasting next to each other.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Arkansas PattiSeptember 11, 2022 at 5:38 PM

    Yikes, my allergies acted up just looking at the Goldenrod.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OlgaSeptember 12, 2022 at 8:26 AM

      Goldenrod gets a bad rap since most of the prblematic pollen comes from ragweed -- or at least that is what I have read. I am sure it is quite possible to be allergic to goldenrod, but it is a super star as far as pollinators are concerned.

      Delete
  4. Linda ReederSeptember 11, 2022 at 7:03 PM

    I have heard of that book. My sister-in-law was given it, and with it she received a braid of sweet grass. it was very fragrant.
    I love the meadows of wild flower color. We used to have big areas of purple loosestrife. I even tried to buy it in nurseries, but then it was determined to be a noxious invasive weed and outlawed here. Alas, no more purple wetlands.

    ReplyDelete
  5. OlgaSeptember 12, 2022 at 8:32 AM

    I would guess that purple loosestrife started showing up in VT maybe twenty years ago. It is invasive and you can't buy it or plant it here. There have been aggressive attempts to eradicate it but it fights back and self seeds like crazy. It does give me a bittersweet sadness because I think it is so pretty to see.

    ReplyDelete
  6. gigi-hawaiiSeptember 12, 2022 at 10:38 AM

    That sounds like a very good book to read. Beautiful flowers!

    ReplyDelete
  7. MaebemeSeptember 12, 2022 at 10:42 AM

    We have similar issues with purple loosestrife here, it is so pretty but it chokes out the native plants. Such a shame.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jenn JilksSeptember 12, 2022 at 5:06 PM

    I shall have to look for that one!

    ReplyDelete

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