I would make a chart of our life, know how its shores trend,
know why just this circle of creatures completes the world.
what kinds of birds come with what flowers.
Henry Thoreau, April 18, 1852
The progress of the
blue vervain measures the true
time of the season.
August 21, 1851
Methinks blue
attracts us in a flower.
The sight of it is more affecting
than I can describe or account for.
Blue vervain (Verbena hastata)
February 8. Mrs. Monroe says that her mother respected my grandfather very much, because he was a religious man. She remembers his calling one day and inquiring where blue vervain grew, which he wanted, to make a syrup for his cough, and she, a girl, happening to know, ran and gathered some. February 8, 1858
July 17. Verbena hastata, blue vervain. July 17, 1852
July 21. That was probably the Verbena hastata, or common blue vervain, which I found the other day by Walden Pond . July 21, 1851
July 21. Verbena hastata, apparently several days July 21, 1856
July 23. Blue vervain out some days. July 23, 1853
August 20. The flowers of the blue vervain have now nearly reached the summit of their spikes. August 20, 1851
August 21. Bigelow, speaking of the spikes of the blue vervain (Verbena hastata), says, “The flowering commences at their base and is long in reaching their summit.” I perceive that only one circle of buds, about half a dozen, blossoms at a time, -- and there are about thirty circles in the space of three inches -- while the next circle of buds above at the same time shows the blue. Thus this triumphant blossoming circle travels upward, driving the remaining buds off into space. I think it was the 16th of July when I first noticed them (on another plant), and now they are all within about half an inch of the top of the spikes. Yet the blossoms have got no nearer the top on long spikes, which had many buds, than on short ones only an inch long. Perhaps the blossoming commenced enough earlier on the long ones to make up for the difference in length. It is very pleasant to measure the progress of the season by this and similar clocks. So you get, not the absolute time, but the true time of the season. August 21, 1851
August 22. The circles of the blue vervain flowers, now risen near to the top, show how far advanced the season is. August 22, 1859
August 23. The Verbena hastata at the pond has reached the top of its spike, a little in advance of what I noticed yesterday; only one or two flowers are adhering. August 23, 1851
September 14. Blue vervain still. September 14, 1852
October 12. The stems of the blue vervain, whose flowers and leaves are withered and brown, are nearly as handsome and clear a purple as those of the poke have been, from top to bottom. October 12, 1857
January 24. The blue vervain stands stiffly and abundant in one place, with much rather large brown seed in it. It is in good condition. January 24, 1860
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Blue Vervain
A Book of Seasons, by Henry Thoreau
"A book, each page written in its own season,
out-of-doors, in its own locality."
~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2021
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