-
In Praise of Blueberries
In my yard I’ve got a good number of mature blueberry bushes. Twelve? Fourteen? Enough that I can stock my freezer with loads of quarts of luscious berries to last throughout the year. And the birds? They’re welcome to their share. I love that the berries entice them. Of the birds that come to enjoy…
-
A Strawberry Leaf
The landscape during winter. Shades of black, brown, white, with a bit of deep, subtle blue-green. A Cardinal adds spark to the setting. Feathers of scarlet keeping him warm. Look down as you step. Wild strawberries that gave you joy last summer have left a reminder. Leaves of wild strawberries now covered with frost.
-
Catbrier and Beautyberry
It has been so dry, but yesterday brought a glorious 1/4 inch of rain. Hallelujah! That rain brings a brief moment of relief to suffering vegetation. The rain also brings beauty to the landscape. I love what rain does to colors, deepens them, makes them more rich. But of course more rich! Those colors are decorated with…
-
Purple Deadnettle
This morning finds me at the yoga studio early. Frost covering much of the world down here in the lowlands. I take the opportunity to capture the beautiful dusting on Purple Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum). A photo from another day, you can see how it becomes a ground cover. Though a native to Europe and Asia…
-
BIG Caterpillar
I am always on the alert for turtles in the road and if conditions allow, I’ll stop and help the critter, usually a box turtle, cross safely. A few days ago as I drove up my mountain, along the twisty, steep, gravel road, I spotted something. Certainly not a turtle, but something I don’t recall…
-
Northern Flicker
A patch of the native plant, Smooth Sumac, Rhus glabra. A wonderful magnet for birds during the late winter and early spring. Hard to decide which might be my favorite bird, but one that is right up there at the top, Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus, is one of the birds that is attracted to the rich crimson berries. The…
-
GOOD Mosquito?
Legs covered in blue and purple sparkles with a gilded body, much larger than mosquitoes that we usually notice, the Elephant Mosquito, Toxorhynchites rutilus, is one mosquito that we should encourage. The largest mosquito in North America, from tip to tip (of its legs) this mosquito measures one inch, and the adult female has a wing span of…
-
Red-breasted Nuthatch and Chickadee Compared
This season two little Red-breasted Nuthatches, Sitta canadensis, have decided to spend some of their time close to my cabin. I’m delighted in part because this species doesn’t often show up here. The last time I saw one was the wonderful winter of 2009 – 2010. This is the one I saw back then, in the…
-
Tulip Poplar
Here in the central Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, the Tulip Poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, is among the first of the trees to begin to change colors in autumn. The apple green leaves take turns, one by one, turning to bright yellow with brown spots. Giving the trees a dotted appearance. Not an impressive start, not a hillside…
-
Chicory
It has a color that pulls me in, bright medium blue, with a smidgeon of purple thrown in. It tugs at my heartstrings. Chicory, Cichorium intybus, is native to Europe but has become naturalized in many parts of North America, and is part of the roadside landscape here in central Virginia. Chicory is a tough plant, sending…