A note to me: next year, plant more Sunflowers. You need to see more butterflies.
I’m hoping I’ll get the message, and act on it.
The top photo: Monarch at Sunflower (Helianthus annuus). And this: A Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) visiting a Tithonia (Tithonia rotundifolia).
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Out, taking in all the beauty of what was once summer, becoming autumn. Some warm colors but still mostly greens. Pale soft lavender-blue catches my eye. Puffs of Blue Wood Asters (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) reaching out to the sunlight.
Snapping photos with every step. And there in one of the pictures a surprise. I didn’t even know it was there as I was clicking away. A Leaf Cutting Bee (Megachilidae). These are the bees that cut circles or ovals from leaves, making interesting patterns. They use these leaf cuttings to seal off the cells of their nests, helping to prevent the larva’s food supply from drying out.
A little critter. Smaller than a Honey Bee.
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A favorite of mine, Wreath Goldenrod (Solidago caesia), which I came upon while my camera and I were out this morning.
There are about 75 species of Goldenrod (Solidago) native to the United States and over 40 species that are native to Virginia.
Like many other plants in your garden you should leave the seed heads in place to feed wildlife over the winter.
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An early visitor. At about 8 o’clock this morning this Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) came by looking for a bite to eat. It’s not particular about what a meal might be. A bird that is about the size of a Robin or Crow looks for berries and small fruits, nuts and seeds, and quite popular – acorns. It will also consume various insects, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, true bugs, spiders, worms, snails, crayfish, lizards and frogs to name just a few.
The Brown Thrasher is in the family, Mimidae, the same family as the Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) and the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). These birds, all three of them, are quite talented with their vast repertoire of songs they can sing, also calls of frogs, and mechanical sounds.
Such talent!
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My Lego Sunflowers in front of one of my paintings.
After all, playtime is very important.
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The remains of Hurricane Helene came through with her wind and rain, leaving many branches and some trees down on the mountain. Nothing serious thank goodness and how nice to have neighbors that travel with a chain saw in their truck. Many of those branches and trees were taken care of before it was even known that the road was blocked.
This picture is of American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) branches that came down during the event. Loaded with many Persimmons just waiting to be discovered by the Black Bears (Ursus americanus) around here that love those fruits to gobble down.
There’s a pile of bear scat on our lane as a testament to their consumption.
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Betelgeuse, my GrandKitty, the Grand Pumpkin Inspector.
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus) still in its summer finery. Not quite in the mood for autumn yet. Lots of time left though for the leaves to turn their golden hue.
A native bush that is growing in a good part of eastern North America, to a height of 6 feet and a width of about the same. Early summer flowers of a medium shade of magenta that result in fruit that wildlife enjoys, but I’ve read that they are not particularly delicious for us humans. Insipid I think was the word used.
That’s fine they are insipid, they’re for the wildlife after all!
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Those of you that know me, know that I’m extremely interested in the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), the blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) that came close to totally wiping out the species, and the work being done by The American Chestnut Foundation.
So you can imagine how surprised I was yesterday afternoon while I was out with my camera, when I spotted an American Chestnut bur!
Though not often seen, American Chestnut trees are still around.
Keep your eyes open. There are all sorts of surprises out there.
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Went out this afternoon to get a picture of this Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea). I put a pair of scissors next to it for scale, but I realize now that those scissors were a poor choice since they are small but in the photo they look large. They’re just 5 inches in length. But with that measurement you can get a good idea of the mushroom’s size. Generally they range in size from golf-ball to beach-ball.
These mushrooms are native to temperate regions world wide. And are usually found directly on the ground or on rotting wood.
A bit of comedy here as I’m reading about this mushroom. I see that they usually appear a few days after a heavy rain. Hmmm. Really.
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