Jewelweed holds a great deal of ground here. Two factors explain why we allow this weed to grow here almost unchallenged. First, the sap of this plant is well known to help with exposure to poison ivy. None grows here but we do have an abundance of stinging nettles. Contact with this plant makes skin feel like it is on fire. Both plants grow here side by side as that is how they planted themselves. Accidental contact with the nettles is quickly followed by crushing the juice filled stem of the jewel weed and rubbing the soothing liquid on the burning skin.
A friend of Becky's cans jewel weed stems for use in the winter. Contact with poison ivy stems in the winter can raise serious welts. Only canned jewelweed is available for off season use.
Touch-me-not is a popular name for this plant. As its seeds mature a coiled spring prepares itself to shoot ripe seeds into the air with considerable force. Both Becky and Amy take great delight in helping this plant spread its seed.
On the day before the rain fell, all of our plants looked like the dead one in the picture. Rain rescued the others but this one is gone. These stems are heavily filled with moisture. When all of the other plant leaves were dust dry, our deer fed heavily on jewel weed. Usually the deer simply pass this plant by leaving it undamaged.
Amish Quilt Patch opened its first flower in the early morning rain. We expect to see more typically formed flowers now that some moisture is in the ground.
Aurora Raspberry was recently reported missing. Clearly it is still with us. I wonder if there is an explanation for why one flower has a single petal pointing upwards while the other has its single petal pointing downward?
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