Pokeweed

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Sunday, September 28, 2024

By far, the most tropical-looking plant in our yard is pokeweed, Phytolacca americana. My observation holds true after researching its relatives in the genus Phytolacca, which all live in warmer climates than our pokeweed, including southern U.S., Hawaii, Central and South America, southeast Asia.

American pokeweed, Phytolacca americana

Pokeweed is known by many other names: American pokeweed, pokeberry, dragonberries, pigeonberry, inkberry, poke sallet, puccoon, pocan, and likely others. The names reflect various uses: as a dye, food for doves and other birds, medicinal. My favorite name is dragonberries.

Pokeberry is an herbaceous perennial, growing from a taproot to nearly ten feet tall and just as wide by early fall, when the fruits start to ripen. The lush foliage combined with the stunning fruits give this plant its tropical vibe. The somewhat inconspicuous small white flowers grow on pink stems in a cylindrical raceme that hangs down from leafy branches.

Pokeweed in flower

The raceme of flowers becomes a cluster of green berries that turn a stunning dark purple.

Fruiting pokeberry

Many people consider pokeberry a weed. The plant, including the berries (which also stain, hence the name inkberry), is poisonous to mammals, including humans, so that doesn’t help its reputation. But I find it an exceptionally beautiful addition to our yard. I can easily pull small seedlings when they pop up where I don’t want them, just like any weeding that I do in our gardens. Once established pokeberry it is harder to remove, so plan ahead and let pokeberry flourish in a suitable place. In our yard, cardinals, robins, and catbirds appreciate the cover and the berries.

The Bird Bath

My former Extension colleague Karen lives in southwest New Hampshire, where her husband/partner is a skilled stone mason. A few years ago I asked Karen and Andras if they could suggest a place to get a natural rock bird bath. It was my good fortune that they offered a rectangular piece of gneiss that Andras had chiseled into a beautiful bird bath. The banding of light and dark minerals in this metamorphic rock adds such beauty to our yard and offers a drinking fountain for wildlife.

Except for winter when the water would freeze and thaw and break the stone, the bird bath has a prominent position in the front yard among our evolving xeric and herb garden.

Andras’ bird bath.

The bath — about 18 inches by 12 inches — is perched on a large chunk of a tree, giving us a clear view from our front windows.  Yesterday, under an overcast sky and occasional light rain, birds were moving through the yard. A dozen chipping sparrows, a handful of bluebirds, a phoebe, goldfinches, a downy woodpecker, several fall warblers (yellow-rumped, palm, pine). Our flower gardens, yard trees, and shrubs draw them in as they forage for seeds, spiders, insects, and fruits. So too does the bird bath. The bluebirds take turns, splashing about in the small basin. The sparrows and goldfinches wait for their chance to take a few sips of water, while perched on the lip of the bird bath. Later a chipmunk, although wary, takes a drink.

Once a week I scrub the basin to remove algae that forms on the rock and any bits of bird droppings. I never thought a bird bath was that essential for our yard as animals often get enough moisture from the food they eat. But the birds and chipmunks love the bath, as much as we love watching them splash and sip and swallow.

A Woodchuck….and Opossum

My friend John gave me a Bushnell Aggressor Trail Cam several months ago. I’ve moved it around our yard, turning it on from evening to early morning. We’ve seen a doe, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, cardinals, robins, and a raccoon.

Two days ago, while I was sitting in our backyard, I heard a high pitched whistle from under the old shed. Aw, the woodchuck was back. This fellow has been living next door, we think, with occasional trips into our yard. Early in the summer he dug holes under our woodshed and started eating some greens from our garden bed. I put up fences and plugged the holes under the shed. That seemed to work.

But he was back this week. I moved the camera so that it faced the old shed. The chubby fellow seemed to know the camera was there, striking some fine poses. I call it a male given his bulky nature.

The woodchuck eyes the camera.

He looks well fed.

He decides it is safe to emerge and forage in our back yard.

We try to live with various animals in our yard, even those that eat some of our fruits and vegetables. If physical barriers, such as fencing and raised beds, are effective deterrents, then we happily share. I like watching the woodchuck scurry back to his den on those short legs. Woodchucks are surprisingly fast.

Another animal appeared on the camera the same night. The woodchuck ventures out to feed during the day and sleeps by night. Our other visitor — an opossum — has also used the old shed before. They seem to be sharing the space now. The opossum hunts at night. I wonder how they have divvied up the space beneath the shed.

The opossum leaves at 7:38 PM.

The opossum returns at 10:25 PM.

We typically only notice the opossum in winter, when we can see its unusual track pattern in the snow leading to and from the shed. It’s nice to see this one on camera in September.