I love watching my garden wake up in the early morning hours of the summer.
As the sun readies itself to crest the eastern ridge, birds and bees and small mammals
are beginning to stir. Like many mornings, I am captivated this morning by the mullein
plants. In this late summer moment, their stalks of creamy yellow
blossoms reach into the air, stretching up taller than I am.
Mullein is full of life. A hummingbird is visiting nearby honeysuckle and
its path crisscrosses those tall stalks. A woodpecker, intent on its foraging,
doesn’t seem to notice. It goes up and down the stalk, perhaps eating the
ants and other bugs as well as eating some of the millions of seeds that are
forming. One morning while I was harvesting strawberries, I found a whole
family of voles underneath the thick mullein leaves. The babies were small
and hairless, probably only a few days old. The large leaves perfectly curled
over their nook, offering a beautiful refuge from the world.