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How Colorful!
Looking as if it’s dressed to go out to a festive event with those striking colors, this is a caterpillar of the Brown-hooded Owlet (Cucullia convexipennis). At this stag in its life it eats Asters and Goldenrods, and I’ve captured this one eating away on a Goldenrod. As an adult it will become a very…
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Another Blue Flower
An unusual flower color. Of all the flower colors, blue constitutes less than 10 percent. These blue flowers are Tall Bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum), native to eastern North America. A plant that grows with a central stem, that is usually unbranched, to a height of 3 to 6 feet. Part of the common name, bellflower, takes…
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Sherbet
Oh my. Wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius) are everywhere up here. They’re an invasive plant, native to Korea, Japan and China. The Wineberry is technically not a berry but a hollow cluster of drupelets called an aggregate fruit. Whatever the name, they are delicious, whether on your morning cereal or made into some sherbet to have for…
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Butterfly
Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) attracts many pollinators. This one, a Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia). ________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
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Fibonacci Sequence
A Confusing Bumblebee (Bombus perplexus) wanders on an Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) collecting pollen. In my wild imagination though, I am thinking it is examining the Fabinacci spiral arrangement of those cone florets. Surely it is that smart. ________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
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They Have Fledged!
I first started getting photographs of the little Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) on June 30, ten days ago. It was the first day I noticed mom and dad Carolina Wren going back and forth, back and forth. You can go back to look at those pictures at: brendaclem.com/feeding-the-babies/. Today things were a little bit different.…
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Beautiful Blue
Beautiful blue, a common color along roadsides right now. It is blooming time for Chicory (Cichorium intybus). Chicory is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to western Asia, North Africa, and Europe. It found its way to North America probably in the 1700s as European settlers were arriving on our shores. The plants grow to 1.5…
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At The Garden Gate
Female Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), a summer resident at the garden gate. ________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
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Well This Is A Bummer
This afternoon, roaming around, preparing for tonight’s blog post which would have been Ironweed (Vernonia). I happened to glance at one of the leaves of the Ironweed that I was going to photograph and there was a strange looking creature that looked as if it was dressed up for a masquerade ball. Unfortunately this gaudy…
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Abloom Up Here Now
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is blooming now, in many places. Often growing to a height of about 3.5 feet. Each plant is unbranched until near the top where the flowers appear. The blooms are in densely packed clusters that are either flat-topped or dome-shaped. Individual flowers have 3 to 8 ray florets and 10 to 40…