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Aromatic Asters
Aromatic Asters (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) are visited by bees, butterflies and skippers, seeking nectar and in the case of the bees, pollen. The caterpillars of moths and of Silvery Checkerspot Butterflies eat the foliage. This Crab Spider is hanging around hoping to catch some dinner, just waiting for the perfect insect to come along. I’ve got…
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Wild Geranium
Popping up with their bright pink petals on trail edges. Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum), an herbaceous perennial native to eastern North America. Before they send up their buds Wild Geranium looks like this. The leaves are palmate with five sizable lobes. The leaves also have smaller lobes and jagged edges. This is what you need to…
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Virginia Springbeauty
I’ve got itty-bitty buds on my Virginia Springbeauty (Claytonia virginica). Buds that look very much like really teeny tiny jalapeño peppers. What looks to me like those jalapeño peppers are sepals. Sepals are leaf-like structures surrounding and protecting the maturing bud. The number of sepals varies in difference species of flower. In Virginia Springbeauty there…