YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN’T TRUST ME IF I TELL YOU TO “EAT THIS”

I’m not sure if I have a black thumb, but it is close.  My parents were Iowa farmers, so you’d expect me to have a lovely, manicured garden.  Believe me, I try.  But my garden is less than perfect and I long ago accepted the fact that I don’t do a great job watering plants which appears to be key.  My solution is to convert my flower beds to native plants that can survive my neglect.  Native plants, by default are well suited to local conditions.  They can survive our soils, pests, and water cycles.  One of my favorites is Echinacea (commonly called “coneflower”).  The name Echinacea refers to the prickly, spiny seed head.  Echinacea was traditionally used to fight infections.  You can buy it today in “medicinal” teas at your local grocery store.

 I like to pull a practical joke on young biologists or any other unsuspecting person for that matter.  I like to saunter up to an Echinacea flower, rip off a few seeds from the seed head, and hand them to the biologist.  “Here, eat this!”  Little do they know that the seeds contain a chemical ( a complex of isobutylamide apparently) that causes your tongue to go slightly numb.   That is one of the many reasons I keep this plant in my flower beds.