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A Beauty Of A Berry
Color Me Disappointed Nearly all the time, when I create a blog, it is the result of research. I’m learning new things, right along with you. Tonight I learned that the bushes I am pleased with – being beautiful and native, are actually not native. Well, that certainly is a surprise! The Impostor Revealed The telling…
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Witch Hazel – Peak
Floral Display Not much is blooming now. About the only thing left putting on a show is the last of the late summer asters, with their lovely, soft lavender, diminutive petals. Tiny petals adding a comforting accent to the brilliant fall colors. Lemon Zest The last floral display of the year is the one I’ve…
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Mystery At The Pumpkin Patch
Sincerity Calls This is the second year in a row that the sincerity of a pumpkin patch in the Shenandoah Valley has drawn me to its brilliant orange-yellow fruit of the gourd family. Childhood All Over Again What fun to be greeted by piles and loads of pumpkins and other gourds, of every size, shape…
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Silverrod
Excitement I love to come home from one of my hikes, filled with the thrill of finding a flower that I’ve never seen before. What a cool feeling! And then to actually find it in one of my wildflower guides! Nothing better! Brilliant, Chrome Yellow Most of us know of the Goldenrod, with its brilliant,…
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The Scarlet Berries Of Jack
True Red At my back porch, I have a wonderful cluster of berries, a color that would be perfect for a Christmas display — a true red. These are the berries of a Jack-In-The-Pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, a plant that is native to the moist woods of eastern North America. The plant gets its name from the odd…
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Blackhaw On The Mountain
Buds and Snow White Flowers From mid-April through mid-May the Blackhaws, Viburnum prunifolium, are in bud and bloom up here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Blackhaw is a shrub or small tree that gets its name from the inky black of the fruit, that develops during the summer, and ripens in the fall. Fruit…
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Sumac For Autumn Color
Pollinator Pleasing In mid-summer there is quite a draw at my wood’s edge. The Sumac is in bloom and pollinators are buzzing all over the flowers. I have two types of Sumac — Winged Sumac and Smooth Sumac, supplied by Mother Nature. For The Birds From blooms to fruit, pleasing different critters. The fruit of…
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Welcome Autumn!
Let The Season Begin! Autumn started this afternoon! Yay! I love to experience the seasons — each and every one — all four, to their fullest potential! As always, autumn is starting slowly. Yes, we’ve had cooler weather, but the leaves are slow to respond and are waiting for the days to get shorter and…
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Happy Yellow!
Happiness! Yellow is such a happy color! I had a dear friend, Pat Gallagher, whose favorite color was yellow, I think for that very reason. She was a truly happy person. She made a point of doing watercolor paintings, and making quilts with the warm color in it, even in the day when yellow was…
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Creatures In The Goldenrod Patch
A Birthday Today was a busy day here at the cabin. It was my Mr. Wonderful’s birthday, so I didn’t get out on a hike. But yesterday I found some fun critters in a large clump of Goldenrod in a power line right-of-way, up by the waterfall. Maybe right now I should be calling that…