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Sunday, April 25, 2010

Prickly Poppies and Thistles

Seems like the fields of flowers are brutally interrupted by sporadic long prickly plants that create chaos in the natural flow of the wildflower fields. To me, the tall unkempt look of the prickly poppy and thistle is an indication of the beginning of warmer days and summer grasses. Soon, our low growing wildflowers will be consumed by the grasses. As sad as this is, I'm taking note and will be harvesting leaves from beneficial wildflowers and encouraging them to set their seed for a wonderful show next year.

Prickly Poppy is native to Mexico and southwest US. I read it was historically used by natives to assist with reducing fevers and inflammation. It's said the sap can be used to assist with cold sores and blemishes and people have used petals to treat coughs and chest congestion. I'm not using prickly poppy in my products - just thought I'd share what people have used it for. I would definitely do more research before exploring the properties of this plant. It seems like a plant to take very seriously and not abuse.

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