Tag: AMARANTH

Autumn in the Neighborhood

Dear Liza,

Our weather is changing here in Portland. Reds and oranges are creeping into the wide swaths of green in our Laurelhurst Park and all through the neighborhood.

The dogwood trees are fruiting, all those pink blossoms fattening up into bumpy red berries. The birds and squirrels are noticing, for sure.

This colorful plant needed some looking up, because it is all over one block. It’s even coming up in the sidewalk! It is called Amaranth, (also called Love Lies Bleeding) and is an ancient grain. It is very healthy to eat… I wonder if these folks know that.

Another crop that is escaping and going rogue is this hops in a parking lot. The soft-stemmed hops plant has found an obliging maple tree to climb on and a blackberry bush to hang out with. Aren’t they pretty together?

I hope your Fall neighborhood is pretty!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Fall on the Way

Dear Liza,

Portland is changing with the seasons, as it should. Fruit is becoming ripe all over the neighborhood, and folks are more than willing to share!

A house a few blocks away has a gigantic Asian Pear tree with more fruit than they can handle, so they offer a ladder, a nifty bucket-on-a-stick grabber, and even paper sacks to take your fresh fruit home. Thanks, neighbors!

As we walk around, we keep having to look UP… to see flowers! Sunflowers have hit their growth spurts and some are ten feet high!

And then there are Amaranths, these red feathery beasts, taller than me and absolutely magical looking.

Even Laurelhurst Park is getting into the change. While some late linden trees are still blooming, giving the scent we call “Portland Summer”, some others are already turning yellow.

Soon this part of the park, which we call the Middle Heights, will be bathed in cool autumn sunshine as all the leaves turn the ground bright yellow.

And of course, the roses are still with us.

Love,

Grandma Judy