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Perplexing Bumble Bee
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is in full bloom right now delighting bees and butterflies up and down the mountainsides. In this photo, a beautiful bright yellow Perplexing Bumble Bee (Bombus perplexus) is enjoying the nectar that Common Milkweed provides.
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Yarrow
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). The temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe and North America claim Yarrow as a native herbaceous perennial flowering plant. It’s blooming right now in this area, looking a bit like Queen Anne’s Lace because of the large clusters of flowers atop the plant’s stems. But those clusters of flowers…
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Common Whitetail Dragonfly
I’m constantly learning things as I dig through my books and page through various sites on the internet. One of today’s new things is the word to describe the color quality of the abdomen of a male Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia). That word: pruinose, which means frosted in appearance. Makes me think of blueberries which…
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Scarlet Beebalm
Soon to be glowing red in a big swath of my garden. Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma). Native to eastern North America. Attracting hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. Fluttering, buzzing and humming. Spicebush Swallowtails (Papilio troilus) aren’t the only butterflies that enjoy the nectar and help pollinate the Scarlet Beebalm. Oodles show up. A carefree plant that…
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Elderberry
Lots of Elderberry Bushes (Sambucus canadensis) are in bloom up here in the mountains. On a trip to Florida in early May, I saw many in bloom down there along the roadways, making me feel at home. Now I’ve got Elderberries blooming at the edge of the woods outside my cabin too thanks to Saint…
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Common Milkweed
Within just a few weeks this is what Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) will look like up here. It’s a great plant that benefits many insects. Flies, beetles, ants, bees, wasps, and butterflies will all gather ’round to join in the dinner buffet.
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Yellow Garden Spider
Eye catching in its size and coloring, eye catching in its web design. Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia). A pretty large spider. The body of the female, the larger of the sexes, is about an inch in length, up to three times the size of males. Add those long legs and that is indeed a…
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Purple-flowered Raspberry
I had no idea such a thing existed. A raspberry bush with such pretty flowers. Raspberry blossoms of a bright magenta rather than white. Being up on Skyline Drive at just the right time, during bloom time revealed this unusual plant to me. Purple-flowered Raspberry (Rubus odoratus). Since it was growing in Shenandoah National Park,…
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Black Cohosh
A wonderful sight in late June early July. Blooms of Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) when there are few other flowers blooming in the woods. Black Cohosh is a herbaceous perennial native to eastern North America. Quite plentiful here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Rising above their leaves on tall stems to six or eight feet.…
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Green and Gold
A super ground cover that is holding up my back hill, keeping it from washing away. And such a splendid glowing yellow. Bright colors tend to win my heart. Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) is a perennial herb with opposite, oval, hairy leaves, blooming from early spring into late autumn though its peak bloom is in May. I can count…