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Mystery At The Pumpkin Patch
Sincerity Calls This is the second year in a row that the sincerity of a pumpkin patch in the Shenandoah Valley has drawn me to its brilliant orange-yellow fruit of the gourd family. Childhood All Over Again What fun to be greeted by piles and loads of pumpkins and other gourds, of every size, shape…
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Berries – For The Birds
Open Season For Dogwood Berries Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, is perhaps at its high point in popularity at this time of year. As I watch out my kitchen window this rainy afternoon, in just a matter of perhaps five minutes, I see three tufted titmice, a pair of cardinals and a sprightly squirrel all gobbling down their…
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Silverrod
Excitement I love to come home from one of my hikes, filled with the thrill of finding a flower that I’ve never seen before. What a cool feeling! And then to actually find it in one of my wildflower guides! Nothing better! Brilliant, Chrome Yellow Most of us know of the Goldenrod, with its brilliant,…
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Thinking About Maples And Syrup
Sweet Memories Vermont and a telescope making conference, Stellafane, used to draw me to the land of black and white cows, Ben and Jerry’s, Sugar Maples, and maple syrup. I went up there for Stellafane for nearly 20 years straight. It was an education. An education in telescope making and astronomy in general, an education in…
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The Scarlet Berries Of Jack
True Red At my back porch, I have a wonderful cluster of berries, a color that would be perfect for a Christmas display — a true red. These are the berries of a Jack-In-The-Pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, a plant that is native to the moist woods of eastern North America. The plant gets its name from the odd…
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Jack-O-Lantern Mushroom
Watching For The Jack-O-Lantern I’ve been watching, not for the Great Pumpkin, but for a large cluster of Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins, Omphalotus illudens. Day before yesterday, they popped up. I think if I had been sitting there watching and waiting for them, I would have seen them spring up from the dark, dry soil, since I have been…
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More Beauty Ferns
A Huge Boulder I’ve gotten to know my mountain here where I live, quite well since I’ve been hiking everyday that weather allows. One of many favorite spots is up where wild columbine grows in profusion, in scarlet dress, and cinnabar chanterelles pop up like tiny gum drops, all over the hill side. Just past…
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Blackhaw On The Mountain
Buds and Snow White Flowers From mid-April through mid-May the Blackhaws, Viburnum prunifolium, are in bud and bloom up here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Blackhaw is a shrub or small tree that gets its name from the inky black of the fruit, that develops during the summer, and ripens in the fall. Fruit…
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A Good Day For Monarchs
Oh What a Day! I think it was just a perfect day! After finding a sincere pumpkin patch and locating a large, golden orange squash that would please even the Great Pumpkin, I returned to my cabin to find a Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, enjoying the many varieties of asters that I have in the yard. What a…
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Sap Wells
Dots Dots Dots Ever notice lines in the tree bark? Lines of little dots, little holes, made in thoughtfully placed rows? A Message? These rows of dots, look to me like someone is trying to tell me something. Or that someone has a brand new drill and has to try it out, decorate something with…