Mountain Mint Reboots Itself - Rising from the Accidental Mulch Shroud

Mountain Mint is known for swarming beneficial insect activity,
unlike any other plant.

As I wrote earlier, Mountain Mint impressed me the first time I saw it in Washington DC at one of the government gardens there. That was around 30 years ago, when finding a supplier of unusual plants was a challenge. Now that takes about five seconds with Google - "purchase mountain mint."

I bought two for a reasonable price and planted them in the front yard. But our helper saw one as a weed to be covered over with cardboard and wood mulch - and he did. I knew the proximate location but could not find it. Nor could he.

Today I was gathering the roses for the altar when I saw a scraggly little thing poking up from the mulch, where I remembered planting the mint. It looked like a newborn colt, weak and wrinkled. I pinched off a leaf and crushed it - mint. No - MINT! That was the strongest mint smell I had encountered.

I was not entirely surprised, because Mountain Mint has a reputation for being aggressive. The large mulched area preserves moisture and promotes soil microbes and earthworms, so I often get super-weeds bursting through for a taste of freedom, sunlight, and fresh air.

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Mountain Mint Herb and Food Use, Medicinal Properties

https://altnature.com/gallery/wild_mint.htm

Mountain-mint is edible and medicinal, raw or cooked the flower buds and leaves are edible and have a hot, spicy, mint-like flavor that makes a great spice or seasoning for meat. The fresh or dried leaves are brewed into a refreshing mint-like medicinal herb tea that is alterative (for that run down feeling), analgesic, antiseptic, diaphoretic, carminative, emmenagogue and tonic. The medicinal tea is used in alternative medicine in the treatment of menstrual disorders, indigestion, mouth sores and gum disease, colic, coughs, colds, chills and fevers.     A strong decoction is medicinal poured over festering wounds. Crushed flowers are placed on tooth ache and almost instantly kills pain. Very aromatic the herb is used in potpourri or burned as incense. Placed in a muslin bag it can be used as bath additive, and is said to be very soothing to irritated skin. Will freshen laundry when used in the dryer. Thrown in a drawer or trunk it will not only freshen clothing and blankets, but keep moths away. Sprinkle on carpets to freshen the whole house and is said to be a good natural insecticide, the plant does repel insects and is good for use in the garden. Crushed flowers are rubbed on clothing to repel insects.

Caution: Not for use by pregnant women, may be harmful to fetus.

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What is the best native plant to attract many different types of beneficial insects?  I live in CT.

Answer:

Beneficial insects come in many different shapes and sizes, and are active at different times of year.  So, the best approach is to plant many different species of regional native plants timed to bloom throughout the growing season.  There really is no single plant that will do it all.  Having said that, any plant in the Pycnanthemum genus (Mountain Mint) is a great choice to include in your landscape.

The abundant nectar of Mountain Mints attracts a dizzying array of insects.  Mountain Mints draws bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, ants, flies and beetles.  I cannot think of another plant genus that attracts such a diversity of insects.  I have seen some extraordinarily large predatory wasps on Mountain Mints – not to worry, though, these wasps are highly effective predators of many insect pests.

Mountain Mints are square stemmed with opposite leaves.  Some have very broad foliage and some have quite narrow leaves.  The plants are strongly scented and as a result, deer and other herbivores tend to avoid them. It’s a good defensive strategy to plant Mountain Mint around plants which deer like to browse.

Some plants, like Broad-leaved Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) prefer moist soil, and some, like Slender Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) thrive in dryer soils.   Although some Pycnanthemum species are vigorous growers, most do well at minding their manners in the garden.  Of the four different species I have grown, not one has been a “thug” in my garden.

There are approximately 20 species of Mountain Mints that are native to North America. These are the ones that I usually see available for sale in the Northeast:

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (Slender Mountain Mint)
Pycnanthemum muticum (Broad-leaved Mountain Mint)
Pycnanthemum virginianum (Common Mountain Mint)
Pycnanthemum incanum (Hoary Mountain Mint)
Pycnanthemum flexusosum (Appalachian Mountain Mint)

I encourage you to add some of these plants to your landscape – you will be supporting a great variety of pollinators and beneficial insects.

Good luck!

Kim Eierman at EcoBeneficial!

Next Best - Stored Water. Plus Bacteria and Fixing Nitrogen

I knew my mother's secret for having the best houseplants at Garfield Elementary School. She filled her watering container early, let it evaporate out the chlorine, and then used it. No other teacher had so many flowers in their classroom.

She told me about it with a big smile - "Give it at least 24 hours. Flowers do not like chlorine." Later, when I bought her bare-root roses to grow in St. Louis, she ended up with the best ones in the condo area, and people asked her how she did it. She said, "I grew up on a farm."

Now that regular rains have departed, and the rain-barrels are empty, I have done the same to build up a supply of stored water. When I was done with some routine watering, I filled one barrel almost to the top. Some replacement roses are coming, so they will be soaked in stored water before planting. The $2 rugosa roses will get daily watering from the same supply.

What seems like a lot of water is soon gone when gallons are used here and there. I have four large rain-barrels and four 5-gallon painting buckets (clean).

People gasp at Big Bertha,
which is an expensive copy of the earthworm
they take for granted.

Avoiding chlorine in the water is short-hand for favoring the bacteria cycle. As readers know, earthworms graze on bacteria. The earthworm's rings of muscle and bristle propel them through the soil. They are like the giant tunnel-boring equipment used to create space for subways and underground pipes. From the mouth to the disposal area, the earthworm is one straight digestive track, with little grinding stones to pulverize the intake.

When man tries to imitate Creation, a much more elaborate device is needed, and it can choke on a pipe found in the wrong place.

But earthworms patiently continue the work assigned them, which brings us back to bacteria. The earthworm does not digest the food taken in through its mouth. The bacteria digest the food for the earthworm and get a free ride.

Since most bacteria are not dangerous and help keep disease organisms at bay, they are good and useful.

Nitrogen fixing bacteria are the foundation for improving the soil. I visited the office of a company that drew nitrogen from the atmosphere in Midland, Michigan and sold it to Dow Chemical. Nitrogen gas is handy for preventing fires and explosions in chemical reactions.

Pulling nitrogen from the atmosphere without changing it is an elaborate and noisy operation, but the bacteria do the same and make a compound at the same time. I am no chemist, just a chemnitz, so here is the explanation -

Wiki:

Legume family[edit]

Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae – with taxa such as kudzu, clovers, soybeans, alfalfa, lupines, peanuts, and rooibos. They contain symbiotic bacteria called rhizobia within nodules in their root systems, producing nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow and compete with other plants. When the plant dies, the fixed nitrogen is released, making it available to other plants; this helps to fertilize the soil.^[1][12] The great majority of legumes have this association, but a few genera (e.g., Styphnolobium) do not. In many traditional and organic farming practices, fields are rotated through various types of crops, which usually include one consisting mainly or entirely of clover or buckwheat (non-legume family Polygonaceae), often referred to as "green manure".

Inga alley farming relies on the leguminous genus Inga, a small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing tree.^[13]

Cow Vetch is a legume that produces
seed loved by budgies and other birds.

Vetches are not glamorous because they grow on their own,
but Cow Vetch has a delicate flower that would be prized if rare.

During the District Conventions in WELS - Pageviews Soared

This is not our German Shepherd mix, but it could be.

Pageviews peaked at 6,200 for a 24-hour period and stayed at 4 - 5 thousand a day for 10 days. The 30 day views are around 90,000 at the moment. I attribute the surge to district conventions.

When people are reading stories from way back, I check them out and see if they are worth re-posting.

Reactions to the Universalism of Otten, Cascione, McCain, Harrison, et al. From 2013

How many Lutherans (apart from Bethany members) study
Luther's Galatians Commentary?
Instead, they read Sig Becker, Jungkuntz, and the Brief Confession of Universal Absolution.
Jay Webber mentioned, then ignored the commentary in his odious Emmaus meltdown.

Mr. Mcgranor has left a new comment on your post "A 21st Century Formula of Concord: RESURRECTION AN...":

Many a Lutheran is quick to play theological condemnation games.

Unfortunately you are in a Spiritual Church that you have limited control over. However even that limited control is not entirely asserted by you and others.

If Christ had not effected (sic) even the non-believer the universe would be in hell.

Still i (sic) understand the need to find precise definitive doctrine. At the same time, any doctrine that is not ultimate will not stand; whether it is on paper, or not. Or will stand even though it is not on paper.

This is not relativism; but as Philipp Melanchthon and His Philippist Party suggested--the Spiritual Church is absolutely true.

http://www.everypoet.net/poetry/blogs/dickgentile/philipp_melanchthon_and_his_philippist_party

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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "A 21st Century Formula of Concord: RESURRECTION AN...":

Ichabod -

It is so true what you say:

>>>>> ...... Luther always praises the atonement and describes how Christ has graciously taken all our sins upon Him. However, he never confuses that with the imputation of righteousness..... <<<<<<

Cascione's own words, illustrate his confusion when he mischaracterizes those who reject universal objective justification:

>>>>> .....our own faith causes our own atonement. Hence, the Sovereignty of God would necessarily be more significant than an atonement that we are able to bring on ourselves....... <<<<<<

Cascione overlooks the reality of God's grace. He, apparently is putting words in the mouths of those who believe Scripture's "justification by faith alone." What is so difficult for these Universalists to understand? Can they not appreciate God's good grace, followed by faith? Can they not understand Ephesians 2:8-9? Why do they confuse this and then go on their mischaracterizing binges alleging that those who adhere to Scripture and Luther's teaching on "justification by faith alone" are out to lunch?

Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org

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He was not the leader and not the founder,
but Walther was the enforcer and pimp for his syphilitic bishop,
Martin Stephan, STD.

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "A 21st Century Formula of Concord: RESURRECTION AN...":

I disagree with your analysis Mr. Mcgranor. Christ is of no affect to those who do not believe.

Galatians 5:3-5, "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."

The same response applies to Otten's teaching of the false gospel of Universal Objective Justification. In the previous post Otten makes the following statement.

Otten, "Christ reconciled the world to God by offering Himself as Propitiation to God for the sins of mankind. Paul declared that Christ "gave Himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2:6). John wrote that Christ “has paid for our sins, and not for ours only but for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). William Beck correctly comments in a footnote on this verse in his translation of the New Testament: "His sacrifice wipes out our sins and changes God’s anger to love.”"

This false tenet of UOJ is destroyed by Christ's declaration in John 8:24, "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."

Only through the Holy Spirit's faith, the righteousness of Christ, worked solely by God's grace through Word and Sacrament alone, is any man's sins forgiven.

UOJ declares God's forgiveness upon the unbelieving world outside of and before Christ's faith in man. This is rejected by Scripture in Romans 14:23, "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatever is not of faith is sin."

UOJ is sin.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "A 21st Century Formula of Concord: RESURRECTION AN...":

Link to Otten's war on the Scriptural doctrine of Justification as quoted in my comment above.

http://a21stcenturyformulaofconcord.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-vicarious-satisfaction-of-christ.html 

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I'm taking notes here...
What?

GJ - The UOJ Enthusiasts claim to follow justification by faith, so why do they persecute and excommunicate justification by faith? They love every other dogma. They either adore Fuller dogma or keep their silence. But Luther's doctrine! - they loathe that.

If Herman Otten wants to create a 21st century Formula of Concord, why does he begin by selling a poisonous, hate-filled, lying book about Luther? Roman Catholics laugh about the lies in The Facts about Luther, the equivalent of those nuns' stories about "don't wear patent leather shoes, because they will reflect your underwear." Otten responded - it was for the money. He sells to both sides of an issue.

Not true.

Once I identified Otten with Enthusiasm and UOJ, he refused to mention anything I published. Otten only printed remarks against Thy Strong Word and spiked positive comments. That was "the other side of the issue."

And yet he is happy to sell Valleskey's pathetic UOJ-Church Growth textbook, We Believe...

I can hear the Fox Valley Andy Stanley Chorus saying, "But you only care about him selling your books."

I give away PDFs of every book I have written. Did NPH give away Liberalism? No, but I give it away as a PDF. Bethany Lutheran Church gave away several thousands in free books at two Emmaus conferences (ELS-WELS-LCMS), but the host did not want justification by faith discussed at a "free conference."

I have promoted the free exchange of ideas among Lutherans and other confessions. UOJ, in contrast, silences the Gospel with great venom and dishonesty.

Calvinism is the foundation of Lutheran Pietism,
and its rationalism leads to Universalism.

Consider What Chemnitz and Melanchthon Taught - From 2012

A. Berean has left a new comment on your post "Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Ber...":

Justification - the Chief Article of Christian Doctrine as Expounded in Loci Theologici, by Martin Chemnitz. Translated by J.A.O. Preus. Published by Concordia Publishing House. Page 149.

Also in his Examination of the Council of Trent vol. 1, pg. 532, paragraph 17. Published by Concordia Publishing House. Translated by Fred Kramer.

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solafide (http://solafide.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Ber...":

Here it is to be noted that these three things are joined together: faith, Christ, and acceptance or imputation. Faith takes hold of Christ and has Him present, enclosing Him as the ring encloses the gem. And whoever is found having this faith in the Christ who is grasped in the heart, him God accounts as righteous. This is the means and the merit by which we obtain the forgiveness of sins and righteousness. “Because you believe in Me,” God says, “and your faith takes hold of Christ, whom I have freely given to you as your Justifier and Savior, therefore be righteous.” Thus God accepts you or accounts you righteous only on account of Christ, in whom you believe.

Now acceptance or imputation is extremely necessary, first, because we are not yet purely righteous, but sin is still clinging to our flesh during this life. God cleanses this remnant of sin in our flesh. In addition, we are sometimes forsaken by the Holy Spirit, and we fall into sins, as did Peter, David, and other saints. Nevertheless, we always have recourse to this doctrine, that our sins are covered and that God does not want to hold us accountable for them (Rom. 4). This does not mean that there is no sin in us, as the sophists have taught when they said that we must go on doing good until we are no longer conscious of any sin; but sin is always present, and the godly feel it. But it is ignored and hidden in the sight of God, because Christ the Mediator stands between; because we take hold of Him by faith, all our sins are sins no longer. But where Christ and faith are not present, here there is no forgiveness of sins or hiding of sins. On the contrary, here there is the sheer imputation and condemnation of sins. Thus God wants to glorify His Son, and He Himself wants to be glorified in us through Him.

Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 26 : Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1963). 26:132-133.

SolaFide: Pretty clear, I think.

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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Imputation Is the Foundational Issue - Says A. Ber...":

Ichabod - Thank you for highlighting, A Berean's excellent comment. Yes! The word "Imputation," is at the forefront of this universal objective justification controversy and discussion.

Luther correctly said: "Where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation."

But it is here where the universal objective justification enthusiasts [UOJE] get tripped up, and never do get to first base:

UOJE [Universal objective justification enthusiasts] become hung up on the Atonement as a "be all" and "end all." They would rather just view Christ's universal sacrifice for sin as the one time imputation to the human soul. Their basic view of imputation is that when Christ died and rose; - that is what Luther talked about - "Where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation." To them, that is the sum and substance of imputation. Hence, this is why UOJE often don't highlight the Holy Spirit's work in the salvation process. [John 3:8 in context] They essentially diss (ignore) faith. They bypass faith and actually believe that with the forgiveness of sins brought about by the Atonement, - that has brought [as Luther put it] "life and salvation" to all. So, then, their understanding is all based around the Atonement; that Christ's sacrifice was imputed, - not, faith.

On the other hand, those of us who believe Scripture, (and, the Confessions, concur); we believe that we, (by God's grace) are justified by faith. [Ephesians 2:8-9] We believe that the faith the Holy Spirit creates in us is imputed to us. We could almost use the words "infused" and "continually dispensed." Luther put it this way in his explanation of the 3rd Article of the Apostles Creed:

"In which Christian church He daily and richly forgive sins to me and all believers......"

Finally, I will point to an illustration, using an analogy. [And, I realize that no analogy is perfect]:

The universal objective justification crowds are stuck on the Atonement. To them that is their priceless "auto body."

But, the car doesn't travel (anywhere) without wheels and fuel. Hence, the Atonement without its (Holy Spirit) "imputation wheels & fuel" is useless. Without the Spirit's wheels and fuel, the human soul cannot personally partake of and benefit from Christ's all encompassing Atonement. Nor, (without Holy Spirit wheels and fuel) will that human soul travel to heaven. All that, though, does not matter for the universal objective justification enthusiasts still stuck in their Atonement auto. To them a car without wheels and fuel is a perfect and complete auto.

Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

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GJ - The readers and I are grateful for the thoughtful contributions that arrive as comments.