Early August in the Mid-Atlantic has a particular stillness — tomatoes ripening faster than anyone can eat them, roadsides gone tall and unruly. Drive past any unmowed field edge this week and you've likely passed two of this issue's herbs: Queen Anne's Lace at full bloom, and goldenrod just starting to push its first yellow plumes.
They show up together so often this time of year they're worth covering side by side — one with a look-alike worth knowing before you touch it, one blamed every fall for a mess a different plant makes. Herb three takes us southwest: mesquite, a desert tree with everything to do with a question readers keep asking — whether low-glycemic baking flour is worth the hype.