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.

Red Trillium

Oh spring! You bring delight! To roam the woods. Slowly. Taking in all the beauty. Here, one of those treats. Red Trillium (Trillium erectum). Those incredible petals, some so dark that they are nearly black.

It is said that the rotting meat scent of this flower is intended to attract flies and beetles. Reflected in another of its common names, Stinking Benjamin. Though normally I have no problem picking up scents, I was unable to detect the smell of these flowers.

Perhaps I should be pleased about that!

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Wearing Its Name

A beautiful bunch of Red maple (Acer rubrum) samaras, or helicopters, or keys, or seeds. Reflecting its name. But then there are red flowers, red twigs and in the autumn red leaves. Choose what you want that “red” to stand for.

You may notice though that in autumn those leaves don’t necessarily turn red. Some Red Maple trees, perhaps trees with a rebellious demeanor won’t turn red but will become yellow or orange to make the season even more gorgeous.

No problem which color the tree choses, autumn is always a lovely season, paving the way for SNOW! 🙂

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Blooming Saguaro

This East Coast gal has learned a lot about the states of New Mexico and Arizona. One of the things I’ve learned about in my many many trips out there is, this is a Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) and it is only native to southern Arizona and western Sonora, Mexico (old Mexico – not New Mexico). No wild specimens of Saguaro have been found in Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, or in northern Arizona.

But the biggest surprise to me is that these intriguing cacti BLOOM! In the picture above the flowers are a bit hard to see, but look closely and you’ll see flowers and buds on the top of each of the arms. Blooming in May.

And here a closeup of the flowers which are pollinated by insects, birds and bats. What an amazing thing to discover.

After I figure out all the plants here in Virginia, I’ll have to go back out to the Southwest and investigate the plants (and animals) out there.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Tiny Feet

Look at those incredibly tiny feet! The middle toe is just 1/4 inch long. Surely Hummingbirds are students of yoga, since they’re able to scratch their heads and necks with those feet.

Years ago the goal was to put out the Hummingbird feeder by Mother’s Day. This year I put out the feeder on April 15th and on April 17th two or three Hummingbirds were seen migrating through. I’m only guessing that they were migrating through since they arrived at the feeder and gulped down the syrup as if they had been flying for miles. This went on, two and three at a time every few hours, for many days.

Now the steady flow seems to have stopped but there is a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) that keeps returning to my feeder. He takes a quick sip and disappears. I’d like very much to have all of them wear little name tags so I can tell one from the other but I haven’t figured out how to make that happen.

Hummingbird season has begun! Let the crazy circus begin!

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Obolaria

Obolaria (Obolaria virginica) is a small plant that’s native to the eastern United States. The purplish green of some of its leaves helps the plant blend in with the leaf litter where it emerges. It spends much of the year underground emerging as the weather warms and the arrival of leaves overhead encourages it to return to its subterranean home.

A plant that is mycoheterotrophic, meaning it gets a large part of its nutrition from other plants’ fungal systems. This same thing takes place with some of our native orchids. Move one of those orchids to a new location and it is likely that it won’t survive since there won’t be the necessary fungal system to support it. The green of the Obolaria leaves indicates that the plant contains some chlorophyll in its leaves.

Have you seen it lately? Enjoy it while it’s there.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Not Petals But Bracts

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) in the very early stages of floral bloom, back on April 10th. Those little pale green nubs at the center are the buds of the Dogwood flowers. Those four even paler green items extending out from the buds – items that we most often think of as petals are actually bracts.

Buds form on Flowering Dogwood trees in the autumn and need protection from the harsh winter. Those bracts protect the fragile flower buds as snow and ice do their thing.

After months of being inconspicuous, the bracts finally open in early April here in central Virginia. Those flowers are still buds though, like the picture at the top of this post. Two or three weeks later that cluster of buds (those tiny flowers in the center) open. The many flowers each have four petals opening and curling to reveal a single pistil with four stamens covered in pollen. Soon to become the red berries (drupes) that become the look of autumn.

Flowering Dogwood, beautiful in every season

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Ecstasy

Dear readers, friends, and family,

Tendrils is back – finally. My blog crashed on March 29th and I’ve been trying to stay calm since then. As I tried to figure things out it seemed I was hitting a brick wall everyday but thanks to very helpful Rick at Bluehost, in the Philippines, things have been resolved.

I have no clue as to what caused the crash but whatever it was, I certainly hope it never happens again. And I must say I am ecstatic to be able to share my photographs and my ramblings with you anew.

Brenda

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Spring Colors

What a joy to be out and about in the spring finding all the colors that have been sprinkled in the woods by Mother Nature. Such a kick after winter with its black and white landscape. Okay, not literally black and white. Many shades of brown, gray, white and the greens of evergreen trees. That’s my version of black and white, which I actually adore but enough is enough! Spring is here.

Today’s discovery, a new color thanks to spring, and a small evergreen herb, Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis). A plant that is native to eastern North America.

I do indeed love the black and white landscape of winter but I’m ready for more color. And I guarantee that by the time autumn is near it’s end, I will be all set for black and white again.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Tiny Early Spring Butterfly

Teeny tiny with a wingspan of just one inch. Don’t blink. You might miss it.

This is the Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon), that flies in a fast, unpredictable manner.

The ventral sides of a butterfly’s wings are the undersides, the sides that are seen when the wings are held together, closed. That is the preferred stance that the Spring Azure takes in nearly any circumstance. That underside of its wings are pale, pale gray with spots of various darker shades of charcoal gray.

The dorsal sides of the wings are the sides of the butterfly’s wings seen when those wings are open. If you’re fortunate enough to get a glimpse of the dorsal side of the wings you’ll see a lovely medium blue color.

Later in the summer there are some nearly identical butterflies that will be flying around, Summer Azures (Celastrina neglecta). How to tell the difference? When they are flying around.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!