pick three things
eight years ago our family fell in love with a tiny village in a forgotten rural corner of languedoc in southern france (my long time followers will know all about this). ever since, we have been going back and forth as often as we can, spending anywhere from two weeks to six months in an unfashionable, slightly impoverished corner of mediterranean france. earlier this year, my husband sneaked off for a quick writing-related visit, and he came back with these three pieces of contraband, slipped through customs, that happen to be a three-part sensual distillation of that part of the world for us: wild fennel, wild thyme, and lavender. in the north woods of minnesota it would probably be cedar, balsam, and spruce. i’m so curious: what are your three primal plants that define where you are from?
wild fennel, wild thyme, and wild lavender from autignac, france
Sagebrush, aspen, pine, juniper. I cheated. That’s four!
Thanks for cheating. It made me smile. I can smell the sagebrush and juniper from here.
Teasels, skunk cabbage and early spring violets
I looked up skunk cabbage this morning thanks to you. Apparently we have it here in Minnesota, and I can’t believe I’ve never seen it!!!
Birch, lilacs and forget-me-nots
Love.
White pine, high-bush blueberry, goldenrod
That’s an awesome list. By the way, I’m curious, in Minnesota we have a highbush kind of blueberry-like berry we call Juneberry. Is that the same thing?
hmm- Here we have a beautiful asymmetrical skinny tree called Juneberry/ shadbush (blossoms when the shad run)/ serviceberry (the funeral services could be held when the ground thawed [fascinating!]) But our wild high-bush blueberries are small-berried (quarter inch or smaller) grow too tall to reach the top berries, typical blueberry crown opposite the stem end, no seeds to work around, bloom in late spring, bear fruit in early summer, ripe in July. Loved by birds and bears and dogs and humans alike. Come visit!
Sea Oats, Adam’s Needle (yucca), American beautyberry. I’m not very familiar with plant names – so I googled my local coastal NC native species…and picked the ones I see most often and find the most intriguing or give me the most pause.