Fleabane is prolific in my yard and gardens. It’s a pretty little flower. Interestingly it didn’t show up until about 2010 or so. Might be that I just didn’t notice it, but I think I would have since I spend so much time outside.
Today it grows all over! From the front of the house to all the way in back near the woods. The cheery blooms brighten my spirit every time I see them.
Fleabane is but one of the many daisy like wildflowers that grow in southern Appalachia. The petals vary from white to a pale purple. Most of the ones here are light pink.
Folklore says the name came about because the plant is a natural repellant for fleas. People once added fleabane to their bedticks for that reason. They also dried fleabane and added it to sachets to repel annoying little insects.
I’m glad I don’t have fleas in my bed 🙂 I’m also glad I have fleabane to make me smile.
Last night’s video: What Will Happen to Granny’s House?
Tipper
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I’ve never seen this little wildflower before in NW Arkansas. Sweet and beautiful, thank you for sharing.
Fleabane alive and well in my Florida yard. I’m glad my husband, like me, prefers a natural yard. My favorite weed flower, Apalachicolan Toadflax, didn’t do well this spring after all the cold snaps we had. Used to be, wild phlox commonly grew along roadsides, but everything gets sprayed these days for weeds and pests, so along with overdevelopment, it’s taken a toll on native plants.
I know what you mean about land getting divided down. My family’s land came through a land grant made to my ancestor, Jacob the pioneer Lyda. I believe the last of it went out of the family in my mother’s generation. My grandparents divided theirs in three, one part for them, two for my mother and uncle. It all eventually went to the neighbor up the hill who wanted to pass it down to his family. Two of his children live on that land now.
I see this wildflower growing at the edge of my flower garden and under my steps each year. I had no idea its name was fleabane. Thank you for helping me name it and for the wonderful folklore. My hubby always thinks it’s pretty.
Good morning, Tipper and Acorns. We had rain off and on all night, and just before sunrise this morning a storm blew thru and knocked out the power in our end of the county. It came back on two hours ago and I had to get a hot cup of mint tea for Ed and a cup of hot water for myself. I loved last evenings video. Hugs for you Tipper. It had me thinking of the houses I’ve built over the years and my father-in-law teaching me how to do it all. I’ve seen them all and they are still standing. I even saw the one I built in Wylie, TX on google maps after the tornado went thru and destroyed a lot of places in Wylie, Farmersville and other little towns north of Dallas. My FIL was a wonderful person and I learned so much from him. Singing Praises: I have been so blessed by most of the people GOD has brought into my life and I hope I have been a blessing to them. I have the Fleabane, Buttercups, white and purple yard Violets and a tiny little white flower as well. I hope folks are getting some much-needed rain this weekend and watch out tonight thru Tuesday for possible freeze watches. I keep everyone here and up Wilson Holler in my prayers. TY all for keeping my son and me in your prayers. GOD is so good. The perfect father. I love y’all.
These wildflower posts are sure a cheerful start to the day ! I love them ! Loved the videos , as always also !
Praying for all !
Morning everyone. I didn’t comment last night. I needed to think a bit. I was slightly curious about Granny’s house. Mostly because I know from experience about inheriting. All the taxes that you have to pay (California will suck the life out of you). Then there are the siblings and their kids. My parents flipped houses as an extra income. And they weren’t ready for what the tax man will do to you. No, passing down property is almost impossible in some states. When my mom passed a few years ago. My brother and me sold the property. Had to. He stayed in California. Me and one son moved out here. I gave my boys their inheritance from me to do whatever. The one son bought this house with me. So it goes to him. This house was built in 1940. Everything needs replacing. I refuse to take out a loan. Never have never will. So every year I fix one major problem and pay it off. I knew you would have all this figured out. Tipper, you really don’t know what a special family you have. Trust me, I know. Anna from Arkansas.
We also have fleabane way up here in Alberta, Canada. We see it all over the trails where we go walking. I always pick a little bouquet, along with other wildflowers, for my kitchen table. It is very pretty. Thank you, I didn’t know the name of it until now.
Good Morning, Tipper and Matt, I was going to comment yesterday on what we call a surprise flower popping up in early spring. I love them! Your breakfast made with Pork Belly and what I call milk gravy well all I can say is I sure wished I was there with you:)
Today’s video regarding Granny’s house is really no body’s business, but what really touched my heart was the words Matt spoke that even though you had bought the place it wasn’t the loving thing to do to talk about it while Granny was still living there and in the end stages of life. He said it more eloquently than me but meant the same thing. It comes through very clear that Matt loved and treasured Granny and Pap. God bless you all as you move forward in life following the Shepherd!
Tipper – I forgot to add to my previous comment: we have fleabane here too – and they do come in different colors – white, pink, yellow and a lovely shade of lilac/purple – but we mostly call them a ‘daisy’ since they look like a variety of a daisy. For whatever reason I have never tried to smell to see if they have a scent, hence why I asked you if they did.
Not a pretty name for such a pretty flower but understand the reason behind it. Does it have a nice scent though in spite of its ‘job’? I am happy I don’t have fleas in my bed too Tipper!!! 🙂
I love wildflowers, this has a pretty bloom. I enjoyed the video last night at Granny’s. I found myself getting very emotional. Thinking about going through my parents and my son’s belongings. Why did they keep the items that they did, why was is so important. Some days I was hard at it; outer days I would just sit and hold something and cry. On a lighter note, I was sure that your chair was going to break at any minute. Matt’s Bait-Tackle & Yoohoo! LOL!!
A question in reference to Janet Morris’s 4/15 mention of “Acony Belle” in a song and my reply about a rare Appalachian wildflower species known as “Oconee Bells”: Does anyone know if we’re talking two names for the same flower?
I look forward to seeing if others might know!
I understand the flowers were first identified in the Oconee section of South Carolina in the late 1700s or early 1800s. It’s found more frequently in the mountainous sections of northwest South Carolina, northeast Georgia, far southwestern North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee.
I did use Google to find out about it but that was years ago when I first heard the song.
Oconee and Acony are not very far apart in pronunciation. ½ a letter, I’d say! So, I vote for two names for the same flower.
That is interesting. While adding the song to our band playlist puts a smile on my winter weary face each early spring, it is interesting to see and hear about a possible real sighting of the “Acony” belle from folks living in the region. My Google search also revealed a tiny home village called Acony Bell in North Carolina. perhaps that is where I should be “planted”? Enjoy the day!
I’ve always liked fleabane. As a child I pinched off the flowers and used them as fried eggs in my playhouse. I find white and the ones tinged in purple around here.
They are the same flower, different names. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortia_galacifolia
Excellent article in Wikipedia. Thanks, Barbara, for the link…yet, no one except the lyricist appears to have used the name “acony” for this flower. Nonetheless, I agree the song is about Oconee Bells.
Good morning Acorns! May all who venture here today have a blessed day! Yesterday, while mowing my yard(3+ hours on my rider) I reflected as I always do. Tipper, your wildflower posts crossed my mind. While they aren’t exactly wildflowers, surprise lilies have intrigued me since I moved into my home back in 1993. I was so shocked by these beautiful flowers that sprang out of my yard overnight. They appeared in several places and since it was before Google Lens lol I set about describing this phenomenon to anyone who would listen and might tell me what they were. I was delighted by their name and then pondered about who had planted them and when. My home is 100 this year♡ and the original house on this very spot was built around 1850. I look forward every year to enjoying my surprise planted so many, many years ago. Also, while mowing the roadside, I thought about the beautiful chicory that Debbie mentioned. It’ll be showing up before long. I purely loved your video on Granny and Pap’s home last night and the thoughtfulness that you all have put into preserving your “compound”. You couldn’t leave a better legacy for your family ♡
I learned something new again today by reading Blind Pig & the Acorn. If I saw that pretty flower growing here, I would call it a daisy.
I don’t have anything but dandelions at my little place this year so far. It has been so dry that my rhododendron and azaleas aren’t blooming like they should. Wildflowers are suffering the same fate.
I do have a myriad of blooms in my strawberry bed but I have watered them.
We have fleabane up here in Northern Minnesota too! I picked some and put it in a Mason jar to have in my living room. I can’t wait to see it again!
I didn’t comment yesterday on the rose bud orchids even though I brought it up. Got caught up in my to do list. I watched your video last night about the house that Pap built for Granny. That leads me to the story of handing down family land through the generations. It tends to get increasingly hard to do and is still a problem for farming families today. The fairest thing is naturally equal division but mountain land varies too much to easily get equal value, such as in useability for farming. And the ‘pieces’ get ever smaller as families grow. My point simply is that it ravels out. But our ancestors were aware and tried to make it work. These considerations underlie much of history but they are behind the scenes. As to fleabane, it is a cute plant but usually overlooked because it isn’t very showy, doesn’t shout but only whispers. It is so like you to appreciate it yourself and draw other’s attention to it. You are a noticing person in both big and small ways.
Ron, concerning your comment about passing land down through generations. It is only 33 acres but I am the 3 generation of my mother’s family to own the land I live on. I have already deeded it to my son, I didn’t wait until I died, he has it in his will to leave it to my two grandsons – his nephews. The tax office shows me only owning three vehicles and his name is also on the titles with mine. I still pay the taxes on our land for him. My area is one of the fastest growing areas of SC, we get calls or letter’s almost everyday from some land developer wanting to buy our land. We tell them our land is not for sale, his thoughts are like mine, I have everything I NEED. Too many memories and I would have to buy another home and move somewhere else, spend the money and have nothing left to show for it. I am blessed to have a son I can trust and be able to do this, my daughter has passed, otherwise I would have divided it between the two. My reason for not waiting until I died was to protect and keep a nursing home from getting it if I have to go into one before I die. They will take what I worked for all of my life and bend over backwards to take care of a bum that wouldn’t work and has nothing!
I currently live in Florida and own my house here. My wife and I own some land in west Texas. There is seldom a week goes but that we don’t get offers to buy our home in Florida or the vacant land in Texas. We have no intention of selling either one. One of our daughters will get the house and the other daughter will get the land in Texas.
That is the prettiest little flower! I would love to see that all over our yard and in our woods. It grows at our place too, but not in the abundance of yours. I’ve only seen white here. 🙂 I am loving these wildflower posts, Tipper. Thank you!
Allie, you wrote me awhile back asking me about climate change in my area. I am breaking a promise I made, in the last few days one of our local weathermen said it would take 40 inches of rain to truly get our area out of the drought we have now been in for last good many years. One thing being blamed for this change for us is the growth of housing developments and the destruction of so much woodland or farm land- read my today’s reply to Ron. In other words, the land that was once farmland or woodland is now asphalt and concrete with as many homes being built on it as possible. True or not, I can only say I remember from grammar school science that trees and leaves release a lot of nutrients into the atmosphere that might affect the amount of rain. I know rainwater is better than any water from another source when trying to water gardens,
what a pretty flower!
My son has recently gotten me interested in wild edibles. I didn’t know I was actually growing a salad in my yard I just watched your latest video about Granny’s house. I watch ALL of your videos. I love you and your sweet family. I live in southwest Virginia in a little town called Clintwood. ❤️
I enjoyed last night’s video on not just Granny’s house, but the history of all the family homes. Your daddy was an amazing man for so many reasons. I’m so happy for all of you to have created a family “compound” of sorts; that’s so wonderful! I’m keeping an eye on the weather still before putting more things in the ground. I understand we’ll have a few chilly nights this coming Sunday and Monday evenings. Thank you, Tipper, I always look forward to your media. I post as VirginiaBred on YouTube (that’s my Appalachian Trail hiker name) and have followed you for years now. Blessings to your family.
Yesterday your visit teared me up and this morning your post made me laugh…hard! Every time you talk about how much you love jewelweed I know it won’t be long and I’ll be pulling it out of my gardens by the handfuls and yet I’m with you on fleabane daisies. They make my heart dance because they are a soft and pretty workhorse in my gardens. God and the birds are my greatest helpers when it comes to gardening…of any kind. I have to remind myself that every time I’m pulling a “weed” that I think should know better than grace my plant space my brain kicks in to tell me my weeds are someone else’s flowers and God did create everything! So I’m back in my years of master gardeners school hearing the saying a weed is just a flower out of place. I questioned the wisdom then and I find myself still questioning that wisdom sometimes still. But in the eyes of God…all His creation is beautiful and that includes the “special flowers”. Bless you Tipper for starting my day of with laughter!!!:):):)
Glad Granny’s house is staying in the family. Around here, most farms get split into smaller and smaller parcels as they are split and given to children, then grandchildren and so on.
I never knew that. very interesting!
That is a pretty picture of the fleabane. We have wild fleabane around here too, mostly found along roadsides. We also have wild chicory that’s so pretty that will come along later. I love all the wild flowers. I grew up in the edge of a ten acre woods. It was so full of wild flowers and mushrooms this time of year.
Thank you all for the many prayers. Randy and Jeffrey from Alabama thank you for sharing your needs. It will be an honor to pray for your loved ones as well. I’ve seen miracles and my husband was given one too. It’s hard to understand some things, but I trust my Savior and know He is working for our good even in the hardest trials. The bigger the mountain the greater the miracle. God bless all y’all and may you find many blessings in your day!
good morning, thank you for praying for my brother, today is his birthday
Happy heavenly birthday Mr. Bennie!
thank you Sherri