13 Comments

Looks like maybe a Mexican petunia?

Expand full comment

That seems very likely—thanks! Invasive here, though there’s also a related species that’s native: https://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=20144

Expand full comment

I've seen them growing around DC - seems like they can make it through our increasingly warm winters.

Expand full comment

Christopher, thanks for linking to my post above. You sent quite a few new readers my way. Unrelated, did you see that the editor of The Revelator listed Empty Lots at the top of his list of 20 books to read this year? He described it as “quite possibly the best ecology book I’ve ever read”—this from a guy who is probably the most likely to have read alllll the ecology books.

https://therevelator.org/environmental-books-inspire-dec2024/

Expand full comment

I did see that, thanks! Kind of blown away by that quote. And I’m delighted to hear I got you some new readers—you deserve them 🙏💚

Expand full comment

Thanks. :) And, his words were right on point; it’s a great book.

Expand full comment

again - appreciate your post ...felt similarly finding a wild growing edible - especially for me with Portulaca Oleracea - common Purslane - that's so delicious. It's hard to know what's in the soil....unless you've had an opportunity to observe the area over time....

Expand full comment

Thanks! And yeah, this soil I know has a history of industrial use, and something about eating roots and bulbs in that soil versus fruit on branches above it triggered an instinct—especially after another reader recently warned me to be very wary for similar reasons of trying any of the invasive taro root that grows thick around here, as I wrote about some weeks back.

Expand full comment

Yeah, Ruellia. (Mexican Petunia)

Expand full comment

👍🙏

Expand full comment

Heard you on WPR with Larry Meillor! Best wishes on your book tour.

Expand full comment

Awesome! And thanks 🙏

Expand full comment

one of the moments I hold dear from childhood took place during a trip with my family in Northern Michigan....we were going North for the weekend - something of a tradition for Michiganders - even folks not of great means. We were en route, hauling a small Nomad trailer when Dad had to pull off due to a flat tire....long before cell phones and out in a rural area where it would take hours to get help. Our mother took the 3 kids for a walk on the other side of the ditch - and much to her delight, found outcroppings of wild asparagus among other plants she identified, letting us know which of these are edible and those to avoid. She had us gather the small bundles of tender shoots - Rhea's promise that we'd have an amazing experience eating them that evening when we reached our destination....as children her way of turning a difficulty into an adventure of discovery was transformative and definitely turned the three of us into asparagus lovers.....

Expand full comment