Author Archives: Brenda Clements Jones

About Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

Correction To Common Yarrow

Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). A native plant with wispy, fernlike, delicate leaves. A herbaceous perennial plant that grows to 3 feet tall that generally produces just one stem, but sometimes up to 3 stems. Those delicate leaves are alternate 3 to 5 inches long with leaflets on each side of the central stem, and those leaflets again are divided into smaller leaflets, which give me the impression of a fern.

These flower heads consist of a dense cluster of tiny, stalkless flowers. A member of the Aster or Composite family, Asteraceae. Each individual flower consists of disk flowers, surrounded by ray flowers, the same composition that a Daisy has. A composite flower. These flowers have a strong scent which attracts pollinators.

A plant that I encourage to just pop up in my gardens.

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Common Eastern Bumblebee

Common Eastern Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens). This one at Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens).

And this one, also a Common Eastern Bumblebee, on Peppermint (Mentha piperita).

These Bumblebees are gentle creatures. They don’t form swarms. Only the females have stingers and if you are stung by a Common Eastern Bumblebee, perhaps you deserve it. It takes much provocation to receive a sting.

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Orange Sulphur

Ah, what a beautiful summer day. Lots of rain the past few days along with loads of humidity. Now, today, a tiny bit cooler and the humidity is down. A good day for being outside seeing the world of nature.

Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurpea) with a pollinator visitor, an Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme).

As butterflies, these Orange Sulphurs gobble down the nectar from many kinds of flowers including these Purple Coneflowers, Dandelions, Milkweeds, Goldenrods, and Asters.

Quite the common and widespread butterfly in North America. Found, southern Canada to central Mexico, coast to coast in the United States except for the Florida peninsula.

Summer’s wonderful, with all the native flowers blooming and butterflies helping with their pollination.

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Dessert Tonight

Oh such beautiful berries. Wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius). Unfortunately they are native to China, Japan, and Korea. Introduced to North America as an ornamental plant, and for its use in breeding hybrid raspberries. A vigorous plant that now grows in many parts of the United States, primarily in the Appalachian Mountains where they can form dense thickets preventing native plants from growing.

But the berries that can be found here on the mountain are collected and made into a syrup, cream is then whipped into soft peaks and the syrup is added to the cream.

It’s in the ice cream churn for a short while, and then we’ve got a delicious dessert. Wineberry Sherbet. Mighty fine!

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Frogs At The Pond

There are several species frogs that visit the pond that I have just above the vegetable garden. The one that I see most often, and frequently in large numbers, is the Green Frog (Rana clamitans).

They’re the first ones to become active in February, when it is mating time.

The top two images are Green Frogs at the pond. This third image is a short distance away at a spring box where five Green Frogs have gathered to discuss happenings on the mountain. You can easily see four of the frogs on the front wall. The fifth frog is at the rear of the box, at the bottom of the square opening.

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Flowering Spurge

Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata). A plant that’s in the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Flowering Spurge has a milky sap that is caustic, so be careful.

Those flowers are really small at just 1/4 inch. The plant grows to 2 or 3 feet tall and has a taproot which makes it difficult to transplant. It can be found in Ontario, and in the United States from Texas north to South Dakota and east through all of the states to the Atlantic.

With a good amount of pollen and nectar to share, the plant attracts many pollinators and the edible seeds are a magnet for Wild Turkeys, Greater Prairie-chicken, and Bobwhite Quail.

Deptford Pink And . . .

Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria) is an annual or biennial plant that pops up in just a few places here, in one of my gardens, in a corner of the lane, or a spot in the woods, every summer. It is native to Europe and though I am dedicated to native plants, it makes me happy to see this slender plant emerging from the soil to a height of 1 to 2 feet. Each bloom a brilliant medium pink measuring in at 1/3 to 1/2 inch across — so you know that the Crab Spider (Thomisidae) on that bottom petal is a mighty tiny one, just sitting, waiting for its lunch to come by.

Another non-native enjoying the nectar of the Deptford Pink, the Cabbage White (Pieris rapae). A butterfly native to Eurasia and North Africa.

Deptford Pink with Lavender (Lavandula), which is a perennial herb, part of the mint family. That Lavender, another non-native, originally came from the Middle East and India. Arabs domesticated it and brought it to Spain in the 7th century. Then the Spanish brought Lavender to North America. Lavender and Deptford Pink, a lovely combination.

Last but not least, another visitor to the Deptford Pinks in my yard, another butterfly, but this one, a native, the Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe). And like the Cabbage White, it’s dining on nectar.

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THIS Is Why I Love To Fly

This indeed is why I love to fly.

I just have to be sure I’ve got one of my many camera with me, the perfect lens, AND a window seat, and I’m a happy camper.

Just so long as there are not tons of flight cancellations happening.

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Happy 4th Of Banana!

Yes, Happy 4th of Banana! And speaking of the 4th, here are some flowers, native to eastern North America, that make me think of fire works.

These flowers, Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma).

They attract all sorts of pollinators, like the Bumblebee in the picture above. A Bumblebee is part of the bee family, Apidae. There are over 250 species of bees in the genus, Bombus.  

Another of the pollinators, butterflies. This one, a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor).

And of course the tiny bird that loves brilliant red, tubular flowers. Here, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is enjoying the nectar of the Scarlet Beebalm.

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Canadian Owlet Moth Caterpillar

Quite the impressive caterpillar. Caterpillar of the Canadian Owlet Moth (Calyptra canadensis). Native to most of Canada and the United States.

Adults have a wingspan of a bit less than 1.5 inches and are pale brown, looking much like a dried up leaf, a perfect camouflage.

The caterpillars of Canadian Owlet Moths feed exclusively on Meadow Rue (Thalictrum).

The coloring of the caterpillar, which I find appealing, is a warning coloration. A warning to predators that they have a very bad taste.

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