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July 07, 1994 - Our Roadside Flowers Are World TravelersJuly 7, 1994 • The Suffolk Times • 7A Our Roadside Flowers Are World Travelers By Paul Stoutenburgh Most of the so- called wildflowers we see along our roadsides are not true wildflowers but rather stowaways from around the world. Many traveled here among seeds and plants that were brought from the old country" by Focus on immigrants who wanted to make Nature sure they still had a piece of their homeland in their new country. The majority of seeds of the wildflowers we see along our roadsides came across the ocean hidden in grains that were sold throughout the country, which is why they are so well distributed almost everywhere you go. Because of the ease in which seeds can stow away and eventually escape into the countryside, we have had to re- sort to tough inspections of all plants and seeds entering our borders. Not only do seeds sneak in but insects and plant dis- eases also hitchhike their way into the country, with sometimes disastrous results. The Japanese beetle is a typical example of an insect that came uninvited and whose population exploded into our plant community. The American chestnut and the Dutch elm diseases also rode in uninvited with devastating results. When it was discov- ered, it was too late and eventually the American chestnut, one of the great 'The D woods of the eastern seaboard, was elimi- dlsea nated. The Dutch elm disease has practical- p ra c ly wiped out those Wiped o graceful umbrella trees of old. A few graceful still remain but only trees with tender, loving care and much manipulating do they hang on under the ever - present threat of the disease. How many of you have traveled over- seas and before you got off the plane they came in with a spray to insure the plane wouldn't carry any uninvited in- sects? It happened to us when we en- tered New Zealand. meant they had started to enjoy the true meanings of life. I've mentioned before that when our daughter got married she had large bou- quets of wild Queen Du These invasions of insects and plant disease show how easy things get around these days. Years ago cargoes mainly came by boat but today airplanes bring fruit and vegetables, plants and flowers, seeds and bulbs from all over the world. There are a few things going for us that prevent many of the tropical diseases and insects from invading our area and one of them is cold winters, which we all remember from last year. Still, we're under siege from infiltrators of many kinds. Roadside Flowers Even though some of the seeds are unwanted because they become weeds in our garden, they do add much to our roadside travel. The bright, yellow -cen- tered daisies bring back memories of when we were young and could pick bundles of daisies in almost any field or roadside. Remember the chains of daisies that were made and strung around the necks of youthful children and mothers'? I'm afraid many in today's world are out of touch with the picking of wildflowers. It's too easy to stop and buy the flowers already preselected and arranged. Yet nothing was more memo- rable to me than when our grandchildren picked a simple bouquet of clover, daisies or dandelions. for I honed this elm Anne's lace. It was interesting to hear the se has comments about how t r a l l beautiful and simple y they were — so per - ut those feet for a companion bride dressed in umbrella white. Today I see the flower shops capital- of old.' izing on these lacy white flowers. Before we had cows in our pasture we always had an abundance of flowers there, mostly daisies, clovers, Queen Anne's lace, milkweed, etc., but today the hungry mouths of munching cows look not for the beauty in the flower but, I assume, for the taste. They not only eat the wildflowers, but they have a way of * .10. i 82 Years Ago July 6, 1912 Greenport Locals: Stanley Lowndes has a new six - cylinder, six - horsepower Knox car. "Captain Stan" is a lover of speed. It is said that he is going to furnish all his guests with elastic band hats so as to prevent their blowing off, when the chauffeur strikes up a 60 -mile clip. (For those who do not know the meaning of all this, let it be said that some of Capt. Lowndes' particular friends have a habit of throwing their hats out when the car strikes a speed that makes them wish they had lived better lives.) What a shame it is that Greenport, with one of the finest waterfronts along the Atlantic coast, has not a public bathing beach. Hundreds of people come here every sum- mer who are fond of bathing, but who have to go to Sandy Beach or Shelter Island. Greenport ought to have a public beach. Won't somebody start something? 50 Years Ago July 7, 1944 Auxiliary to Award War Bond: A fifty - dollar war bond will be given to the person who guesses the near- est to the time when the clock stops. This unique method of raising funds from the Eastern Long Island Hospital is Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh DAYLILIES —Call them anything you want but they are a delight to the eye. Here, alongside an old building, they set the stage for a perfect sum- mer picture. leaning over the fence and taking the heads off my roses and other flowering plants within their reach. It becomes quite a problem for if you've ever seen a 1,000- to 1,500 -pound steer pushing against a fence — well, you soon learn not to plant so close to where they can reach. Driving toward the cottage tonight we were checking the plants along the way. Of course, I've already mentioned Queen Anne's lace and the daisies that are just about past. Chicory blooms ev- ery day whenever the sun shines but then for only half a day; it closes by noon. Chicory's flowers are a dainty blue, about an inch in diameter that grow on a two- to five- foot -tall stem. It goes by other names such as corn flower, blue daisy or coffee weed, the latter because its roots have been dug and ground up to make a substitute for coffee, or in many cases, to enhance coffee. The tender, young leaves can also be eaten in a being staged by the Greenport unit of the hospital auxiliary. On the stage of the Greenport Theater on Saturday evening a clock donated by Schaumburg's jewelry store will be wound and set. The clock will then be sealed in a carton by a number of hospital officials. The sealed package will then be deposited in the vault of one of the banks, not to be opened until Sept. 4. At that time the person whose guess was the nearest to the time that the clock stopped will be awarded the bond. Cards on which to record your guess can be procured from members of the auxiliary. 25 Years Ago July 11, 1969 A Big Pile of Oyster Shell: Fifty thousand bushels of oyster shell, now at the Long Island Oyster Farms plant in East Marion, will be planted in local waters to attract new sets of young oysters in what is becoming a major effort to revive the oyster industry in this area ... The huge pile of shell is the fast sizeable amount of oyster shell to be seen in this area in some 12 years. Richard Nelson, vice president of the Long Island Oyster Farms, spoke to the Greenport Rotary Club yesterday on the work being done by his company and the research and genetic tests now being conducted to advance into scientific production of oyster crops. salad, so try some. Farther down the lane was Campion, an inconspicuous plant of one to two feet with pinkish -to -white flowers blos- soming above a bladderlike vase. This is a real traveler. It came from North Africa and found its way to Europe and then to America where it was naturalized and has spread everywhere. It can be a persistent weed in your garden and one that is best removed by pulling when the soil is wet. Inkberry or pokeberry is just starting to show itself along the roadside. It will eventually grow from three to six feet with clusters of dark -black berries and colorful leaves in the fall. I knew a fel- low from the service who was from the south and he introduced me to the art of cooking "poke" when it was really young in the spring. The root and mature plant and berries, I'm told, are poisonous but the tender greens in the spring tasted pretty good. Beware the Nightshade Another poisonous plant with rather inconspicuous purple flowers is evening nightshade. It's a member of the potato family and its small, potatolike purple flowers with yellow centers are found on climbing vines. In the fall the clusters of berries turn scarlet -red and are quite handsome and inviting but remember, they too are poisonous. A shrub that towers eight feet or more in height is now in bloom with umbrellas of white flowers that later in the season will also have berries, but these are good to eat or, better yet, they make one of the very best jellies — and that's the elder- berry. Mark these well for when the flowers fade they'll be hard to find along the roadside edge. P.S. They also make an excellent wine, one my father knew all too well. And so every time we drive out the lane, new flowers await us. A few are native but most of the ones we see are travelers from far around the world — immigrants. But then, wasn't it the im- migrants that made America, and today isn't it our immigrant plants that make our highways and byways a more en- joyable place to travel?