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Sassafras
You know the question, If you were a tree, what tree would you be? My quick answer would be, a sassafras tree. I’ve had a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Virginia, since 1992. During that time I’ve hiked my mountain up and down, getting to know all the things that grow here. I…
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Wood Poppy
Brilliant color. A sure hit in my garden. Add the fact that the brilliant color is a native to moist woods, of eastern North America, and it becomes a must have for me. A must have for my garden. This screaming yellow bloom is of Wood Poppy, or Celadine Poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum. The Wood Poppy…
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Smooth Sumac
Just a couple weeks ago, some of the bushes along my woodland edges were abuzz with pollinator activity. The flowers of Smooth Sumac, Rhus glabra, were the magnet. Butterflies, including this Red-banded Hairstreak, Calycopis cecrops, were part of the crowd. Honey Bees, gathering nectar, to help some bee keeper with his honey supply were also attracted. And so many…
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Pink Fog
Perhaps spring is here. Though the forecast for this coming Tuesday (the day this will be published) is for more snow. My Redbuds, Cercis canadensis, here in the mountains of central Virginia are just now showing the slightest signs, of thoughts of blooms. This picture, above, was taken 5 days ago, while our newest, 8 inches of…
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Poison Ivy Good?
I am highly allergic to Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). As a youngster, I never got a Poison Ivy rash, though I loved to romp in the unending woods directly behind my house. Vines to swing over the creek, forts my friends and I were out there constantly. In 1985 I had a wakeup call, with…
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Diamonds Of Ice!
As I snuggled in my bed last night, I was prepared for nothing special in the weather this morning. Yesterday‘s forecast had been for snow, sleet and freezing rain. Mother Nature skipped the snow part, and went straight to sleet, and it kept going, all day long. The temperature remained steady at 27…
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Red Maple Common Beauty
Ubiquitous This fall, as I hike the steep and not so steep slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I see many, many Red Maples. Reading various websites and books to get information on the tree, I am not surprised to learn that this is the most common deciduous tree in eastern North America. Yes, it…
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The Comeback of American Chestnuts?
Stories From Long Ago You might be fortunate enough to have family accounts from the older generation of gathering chestnuts, or of your granddad building a fence from chestnut trees on his farm. I don’t have those stories in my family traditions, but still I fell in love with the American chestnut tree when I…