Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana). A lovely native to have in the garden. It’s native to North American in all states east of the Rockies but Florida, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Obedient Plant can be found in the wild on river banks, wet ditches, prairies, swamps, and marshy areas. In moist sites it sometimes spreads aggressively. Sometimes that is a good thing.
Pollinators seek the blooms out for its nectar.
A joy to find blooming this time of year.
Such a delicate being. Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus).
A beautiful creature that lives a short life, two to six weeks unless it is fortunate enough to be the last generation of the year. Those of that lucky generation can live eight or nine months.
They’re on their way. Escaping winter. They can’t survive a cold winter no matter what stage of live they are in — larvae, pupae, or adult.
Using navigational aids such as the position of the sun and the magnetic pull of our planet, they travel south. Monarchs in eastern North America follow several paths to reach a common route that takes them to the same mountain areas of Mexico year after year. Monarchs in western North America fly to areas in the vicinity of Santa Cruz and San Diego to spend their winters.
All this travel, some flying as much as three thousand miles. Butterflies that have never flown this route before. Creatures that are not only delicate but incredibly intuitive.
On the way to a babbling stream. Among the browns and plentiful greens, a surprise color. Shiny orange with subtle yellow streaks. Blackening Waxcap (Hygrocybe conica). In the mountains outside Monterey, Highland County, Virginia.
Two dear friends within several months of each over have discovered what I think is this plant. The individual flowers look a good bit like Chicory, the rest of the plant? Oh what a difference. Blue Lettuce (Lactuca floridana).
Blue Lettuce is an annual biennial herb growing from a taproot to a height of four to eight feet or taller. At the top of the stem there is a multi-branched inflorescence with a good many flower heads. Each of the flower heads holds as many as twenty blue or white ray flowers and no disk flowers.
Leaves of Blue Lettuce are alternate. The upper leaves are lance shaped with either smooth edges or serrated edges.
The lower leaves are lobed. Leaves, stems and roots release a milky sap when cut or broken. Blue Lettuce is native to central Canada and the eastern and central United States. A fun find in the forest!
Asia Dayflower (Commelina communis). The wood’s edges now are dotted with flowers of azure. Two pure blue petals and an additional one, inconspicuous white.
A native of Asia. Introduced in the U.S. as an ornamental. With a mind of its own, it has escaped cultivation. Depending on which source one reads it is either weedy or invasive. I love the color. I prefer the word weedy.
Twenty long years ago. But still and forever devastating.
I’ve been surprised to find Honey Bees up here on my mountain as I roam. Whether it is just around my cabin or as I traverse the trails. Honey Bees can travel five miles for food. Generally though a bee will travel about a mile from its hive. Surely there are no managed colonies within that range. Neighbors up here are rare and don’t keep bees. Wild Honey Bees.
A perfect day. A Sunflower and a Monarch.
All along the roadsides. Rich warm yellow greets the cars and trucks that pass. Long-bracted Tickseed Sunflower (Biden polylepis). It’s native to eastern and central United States and south-central Canada.
The leaves of Long-Bracted Tickseed Sunflower are quite distinctive, with sharply toothed margin, opposite and pinnately compound.
These flowers bloom from late summer to early fall. Attracting all sorts of insects — bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, skippers, beetles and more. Along with these Tickseed Sunflowers on the roadsides there are other shining yellow blooms. Other species that I’ll write about one day soon.
I’m looking forward to my Asters blooming. They are a big draw for an incredibly beautiful butterfly. The Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). It’s when those Asters are blooming that I get to see the Common Buckeye.
As an adult and butterfly they have a life of just six to twenty days. During those few days they sip the nectar of not just Asters, but also Tickseed Sunflower, Gumweed, Knapweed, and Chickory.
The Common Buckeye shows up in a different coloring as well. Yes, this is the same species, but is a rosa morph. The coloring of Common Buckeye butterflies are changed by the day length and temperature in which the eggs and then the caterpillars develop. Whatever the coloring, I’m looking forward to spotting some of these beauties.
