Dependable in its rich colors of October. Sassafras (Sassafras albidum).
Turning from soft green, its fragrant leaves become multiple shades, perfect for the autumn season.
Sassafras, aside from its delightful aroma, has a vast repertoire of colors it shows off as October crawls to the haunting day of Halloween. Warm delightful colors. Many shades of yellow, orange, red and purple to help fight off the chilly days.
Seemingly bejeweled, the Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). I don’t see nearly enough of these beauties. As adults they seek the nectar of many flowers. A short list: goldenrod, ironweed, sunflowers, mistflower, asters, coneflowers. I’ve recently added Blue Vervain to one of my gardens. I’ve read that they enjoy the nectar of those flowers as well. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
These butterflies can be found in the southern United States and much of Mexico. Next summer I’ve got to work on getting more nectar for them!
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Silverrod (Solidago bicolor). An herbaceous perennial that grows in open, dry woods. It grows 1 to 3 feet tall though I have only seen plants 1 to 1.5 feet tall
With white or cream colored flowers that emerge from the leaf axils. Just a 1/4 inch wide and crowded on a single vertical stem. The flowers are composed of yellow disk flowers and white ray flowers in each single bloom, like other flowers in its genus – think of daisies – two types of flowers in each single bloom.
When I first came upon this plant in the woods I had no idea what in the world I was seeing, and it was really a surprise to realize that it was a goldenrod. There is only one goldenrod in the eastern United States with white ray flowers and it is Silverrod.
The plant is often a single, thin, fine hair covered stem, which is a slightly gray-green or slightly reddish-green color.
This is not a plant that I often seen in my wanderings, but it brings pure joy when I see it. My little white goldenrod!
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) a vine in the grape family (Vitaceae). Native to eastern and central North America. A plant that knows its own mind. One that will wander into areas where you might not want it to grow. Keep an eye on it if you have it in your garden. And beware some (but not all) individuals, after prolonged work with Virginia Creeper can get an itchy or painful rash.
A vine that for me predicts the start of the autumn season. The leaves turn a brilliant crimson, well before some of the other leaves in the forest even think of turning to their fall colors. Saying, “Let the party begin!”
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What an absolute kick it is to feed the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) that come to my feeders during the summer. Some of them have been here before and return to my feeders, whether during the summer or during their migration.
But gone is the time when I put out 1/2 gallon of hummingbird syrup every day. And gone is the time when I would see only two or three hummingbirds migrating through each day. I haven’t see one of these comical critters since October 9th.
I’ll keep the feeder out, clean and stocked with their syrup though, through the end of the month. There’s no telling if there will still be one or two coming through after getting delayed for one reason or another.
Come on by! Here until Halloween!
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Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blooms in October and November, providing nectar for Owlet Moths.
Unique flowers that make me think of yellow straps of shredded coconut. The blooms closely spaced make it difficult to tell but each flower has four petals that curl up on cold days and unfurl on warmer days.
Blooming after their leaves have fallen to the ground the little trees or shrubs grow to 20 or 30 feet tall with a multi-stemmed clump of 15 to 20 feet wide.
With its leaves gone, the flowers join in the autumnal revelry!
Solomon’s Plume (Maianthemum racemosum), can be found in large colonies emerging from their thick rhizomes in the spring. Clusters of white flowers form at the end of their long arching stems. In the autumn you’ll find these beautiful clusters of red berries at the end of those stems.
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Wreath Goldenrod (Solidago caesia), one of many species of goldenrod that are native to Virginia. There are 40 or 50 species of the plant that grow in the state. Across North America there are more than 100 native species.
Wreath Goldenrod is a bit different from many other species of goldenrod, with small bunches of their yellow blooms emerging from the spot where the leaves meet the stem, the leaf axil, from one end of the stem to the other. Most often other species of goldenrods only bloom at the top several inches of their willowy stems.
Sneezing a lot these days? The pollen grains of goldenrod are not responsible for hay fever. Those pollen grains are heavy, sticky, and are not wind dispersed. The culprit is Ragweed (Ambrosia). Billions of pollen grains are produced by the green flowers of Ragweed. Those pollen grains are distributed in the wind. Ragweed flowers are inconspicuous, while goldenrod flowers are eye catching. Both these flowers are blooming at the same time, while hay fever is bothering many people, and which bloom comes to mind? Certainly not the inconspicuous green flowers, but the showy yellow flowers of goldenrod.
Ah, beautiful brilliant yellow blooms of Wreath Goldenrod. I’ll take them over the green Ragweed flowers any day.
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There are many, many Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra) falling to the ground here in my neighborhood, up and down the mountain. More than I’ve ever seen on the ground at once. Folklore says that when there is a mast year of Black Walnuts we will be having a hard winter. Hmmm. Could that mean lots of snow? I would delight in that. I adore winter, but particularly snow. But we are suffering through a drought and precipitation of any sort would be quite welcome.
Yesterday I took ten boxes overflowing with Black Walnuts to the Virginia Department of Forestry. Every year they collect many species of nuts and acorns which will be planted, in order to get tree seedlings which will planted by forestland owners. These seedlings should become trees which will be hardy, growing in the same climate from which they originated.
I’m pleased to be part of this program, helping the forests of Virginia grow.
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Purple, my Mom’s favorite color, and who would have thought — a perfect accent color for autumn. All those beautiful warm colors, oranges, reds, yellows, need a soft cool color every now and then.
And providing that color, Asters. So many lavender Asters dapple trails right now. It’s not those I’m speaking of today though. There are a few plants, here and there that are a bit different. A stronger color, making more of a statement. A nice rich blue-purple-violet. These are New England Asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). With their hairy, alternate, clasping leaves, they bring delight to my hikes. The perfect accent color for autumn.
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