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Witch Hazel in Spring
American witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), my hero. “The American witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is one of those plants that would like to have everyone’s undivided attention. You know the type: a bit of a rebel, marches to the beat of its own drum. This native shrub’s unwillingness to heed convention has made it popular among gardeners for…
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Apple Blossom Time
Apple trees at the moment are a huge puff of snow white and soft pink. A delight for pollinators gathering to make the trees buzz with excitement. This pollinator, above, is a Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). Two Spicebush Swallowtails (Papilio troilus). A Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus). A Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis). And looking quite…
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Owling
Perhaps if you are into children’s books or you’re a birder, you know the word “owling.” I’m familiar with the word thanks to Jane Yolen’s lovely 1987 book, Owl Moon. It’s about a little girl and her father who love to go out as the sun is setting, looking for owls. Or as they call…
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Contemplating the Plunge
Contemplating the plunge. A tiny Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) at the edge of the birdbath about to take a dip.
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2022 Hummingbird Arrival
It’s happened! It seems like magic that it is exactly one year after the date when the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) arrived in 2021. Amazing! This first arrival is a male (though these images are of females at the height of Hummingbird season 2016). That’s usually the case. Males are the first to leave…
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Soft Magenta
Just beginning, along trails in the mountains, along the edge of the dirt road that climbs my mountain. Like a soft fabric made just for a little girl’s twirly-swirly dress of emerald green with soft magenta dots. Dancing in the wind, just like that little girl does. Blooms of Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) are just…
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Star Chickweed
A sweet little well behaved native plant that has the burden of a common name which makes me think of an invasive non-native. This is Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) which is native to the eastern United States. Though it looks like the flower has ten petals, each of the five petals is deeply cleft creating…
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The Journey
Imagine you are a winged, feathered creature, just 3 inches long, weighing in at 0.1 to 0.2 ounces. Imagine too that you spend the summer months in Canada and other parts of eastern North America, and you spend the winter months from southern Mexico southward across Central America to Panama. That’s what Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris)…
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Raspberry Awakening
So many native perennials sprouting their leaves as if little alarm clocks have gone off telling the plants to wake up. One of them, Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus), sending out its maple-like, very crinkled, serrated leaves. It is native to the eastern United States By late May bristly buds appear. The stems and branches of…
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A Transformation
In trying to come up with words to describe the intermediate stage of an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) transforming from winter to summer garb, I immediately think of “patchwork quilt” but that is not quite right. After all quilts are beautiful pieces of art. This intermediate stage is an unfinished work, still in progress. The…