I recently traded one city for another and headed south for a long weekend in NYC. Walked all over the place, saw horses and unicorns, ate foods from all around the globe, took in a new garden, and traversed the whole length of Central Park. All the while I kept an eye out for what was blooming, budding and starting to take leaf. Even in the midst of a bustling, cement-filled city, the wild and ‘weedy’ plants still do thrive, taking hold in sidewalk cracks, or in planned green areas, or in forgotten vacant lots. Here’s a few of the green beings that I spied:

Violets in Central Park

Hellebores at The Cloisters

Blooming Cherry Trees

With one of my favorites on the left, Mullein

The other weekend I headed out of town for a day trip to Western Massachusetts. Along the way my traveling companion and I stopped in Florence, MA, home of the lovely Goldthread Apothecary. For months I had been wanting to visit this herbal haven, and it seemed apropos to finally arrive just as spring started to emerge. The store is full of herbs beautifully displayed in glass jars, and has a fine selection of tea blends, liquid extracts, powders, and essential oils. In fact, Goldthread is a full working dispensary that makes up custom formulations. I was in heaven. Take a look…

I bought some dried Helichrysum to infuse in oil for skin preparations, some Raspberry Leaf (Rubus idaeus) for tea, and some Blue Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)  for something yet to be decided – how could I resist that color?!

Thank you, Goldthread for a lovely visit!

This year I will be moving towards sourcing most – if not all – of my herbs from local farms. And Goldthread is one of the places I hope to partner with – I look forward to that very much!