Let me tell you a story of how June Hughes saved my life. This is a photo I took in my garden a few months ago. When this bush first started growing in April, I thought it was maybe Rhubarb or Celery that we'd planted the year before growing back. We actually were weeding around it and planning on cooking with it.
One nice weekend afternoon, it just so happened that June Hughes (Maidstone Rd) and her brother Nick stopped by. Nick and June are both avid gardeners and were taking a look at what was growing. When I showed Nick our 'Rhubarb', he got worried.
"That's not Rhubarb", he said. Nick took a photo with his plant ID app and, I sh*t you not, Poison Hemlock. As in, the thing that killed Socrates.
Poison Hemlock contains a nuero-toxin that hits your respiratory system and everything on it is poisonous - it isn't even safe to touch. So when I saw this USA Today article noting it being invasive and spreading this time of year, I figured there may be others who would find it helpful that its been seen here in Rectortown proper.
It looks like Queen Anne's Lace when it blooms, and has the same effects on animals and humans. There's a distinctive hazy, purple splotching on the stalks that I tried to highlight in my photo, thats a big give away.
So, in a very real sense, I owe June Hughes and her brother my life - or at least a rhubarb pie.
Perhaps a stupid comment could this be the culprit killing the birds?