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sparkleflit 76F
5205 posts
5/25/2020 3:35 pm
WILD HONEYSUCKLE...

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sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
5/25/2020 3:43 pm

On the upper left of the last photo you can see the twisted, spiralling of the Honeysuckle stems......they twine up small Alder and Maple trees and small boys look for them. They remove the vine, peel the bark off the Alder and you have a very cool stick.


Koffla 67M
12010 posts
5/25/2020 4:12 pm



After I read [post 221419], I felt it deserved to be shared as a post. Thanks again for sharing it!


myseek1 80F
1376 posts
5/25/2020 5:33 pm

I love the nature where you live...... it looks untouched..... Honeysuckle (Geissblatt in German) is an eye-catcher when blooming. The plant climbs up walls and finds its way on fences. I cherish all plants and flowers that appear unexpectedly in my garden. Thanks for sharing!

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, what you do are in harmony - M. Gandhi


MrsJoe 76F
17309 posts
5/25/2020 5:36 pm

I bet the fragrance is a wonderful as the colors.


Be a prism, spreading God's light and love, not a mirror reflecting the world's hatred.


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
5/25/2020 5:54 pm

    Quoting MrsJoe:
    I bet the fragrance is a wonderful as the colors.

Nope, very little fragrance......I do have a domesticated Honeysuckle just off my deck that is very fragrant though......It must have been planted there by previous owners of this land, but it just appeared one day climbing an Alder tree.....It's the largest and most delicate I've come across. We have another fragrant one in the vegetable garden that is less fragrant but more colourful.....the one near my deck is pale pearly pinks.....


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
5/25/2020 6:17 pm

    Quoting myseek1:
    I love the nature where you live...... it looks untouched..... Honeysuckle (Geissblatt in German) is an eye-catcher when blooming. The plant climbs up walls and finds its way on fences. I cherish all plants and flowers that appear unexpectedly in my garden. Thanks for sharing!
It's second and third growth forest for the most part.....There are several Provincial Parks on the island, on the ocean and on a series of lakes. Our main industry is Wilderness Tourism, so there are financial reasons to take good care of the Wilderness. On neighbouring Vancouver Island there are also Wilderness parks and ski-resorts......


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
5/25/2020 6:24 pm

    Quoting  :

And I envy your access to Culture......Art galleries, Theatre, Live Music.....Restaurants......etc......


Maudie1 74F
8151 posts
5/25/2020 10:28 pm

Reminds me of my childhood and all the beautiful honeysuckle growing wild and free in the ditches and fields.


lilium6 74F
4498 posts
5/26/2020 8:27 pm

Uplifting splash of colour - the end result was well worth the effort. What are those orchid like white blossoms? In the last shot, is that a young bracken frond stretching across the foreground? As a child, I would sometimes eat the young, uncurled tips raw - not overly unpleasant.


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
5/27/2020 3:59 pm

    Quoting lilium6:
    Uplifting splash of colour - the end result was well worth the effort. What are those orchid like white blossoms? In the last shot, is that a young bracken frond stretching across the foreground? As a child, I would sometimes eat the young, uncurled tips raw - not overly unpleasant.
The white flowers are Salal. It's an evergreen shrub with leathery leaves and racemes of dark purple, edible berries. I used to dry them and put them in pound-cake. Now, besides grazing on them, I make a jelly using a mixture of Salal and Oregon-Grape berries. The Salal berries have a warm, rich, dark flavour and the Oregon Grape is pungent, Lemony and sour.....and contain a lot of pectin.....the jelly is similar to grape jelly in colour.....a friend makes the same combination and adds hot peppers.....we trade. The Salal is popular with the florist industry and is harvested from the wild....It doesn't wilt. They are the leaves I dry and press to make my crocheted leaves.I'm kind of a Salal aficionado, LOL.

Yes that is a young bracken frond, you have a good eye......


lilium6 74F
4498 posts
5/28/2020 3:39 pm

Thanks for taking the time to reply.  A fascinating plant with many uses it seems.  I like the idea of using native plants as a food source.  The natural flavour of the berries sounds inviting and that they have a high pectin content is useful to know.  My knowledge of jam/jelly making is very limited but I do know my attempts at making a batch of grape jam was a flop - out of desperation added a load of chia seeds with some success.  I hadn't realised the value of pectin as a setting agent.  An online search revealed Salal was introduced to New Zealand in 1954 and regarded an invasive species as it thrives in acidic soils, thereby choking native vegetation.  Apparently it's also useful for erosion control/dune stabilisation.  I must make enquiries, perhaps I could grow a Salal shrub or two as ornamentals (?). 


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
5/30/2020 4:28 pm

    Quoting lilium6:
    Thanks for taking the time to reply.  A fascinating plant with many uses it seems.  I like the idea of using native plants as a food source.  The natural flavour of the berries sounds inviting and that they have a high pectin content is useful to know.  My knowledge of jam/jelly making is very limited but I do know my attempts at making a batch of grape jam was a flop - out of desperation added a load of chia seeds with some success.  I hadn't realised the value of pectin as a setting agent.  An online search revealed Salal was introduced to New Zealand in 1954 and regarded an invasive species as it thrives in acidic soils, thereby choking native vegetation.  Apparently it's also useful for erosion control/dune stabilisation.  I must make enquiries, perhaps I could grow a Salal shrub or two as ornamentals (?). 


Our soil here is acidic....rain-forest...the Salal is ubiquitous all over the coast from Alaska to Oregon.......It grows on the edges of the forest and clearings or partial clearings in the forest. Depending on conditions, it grows from a foot tall to over 6ft.......Once, while hiking with my 3 year-old, I had to cross an area about the size of a city block that was overgrown with Salal taller than me, with several inches of icy snow underfoot......mostly with the child on my back.......Salal is very difficult to walk through, because it has a lot of tough, woody stems going in all directions and leathery leaves that completely hide the ground, so your feet are constantly caught ........that's why we call it "bush-whacking".....