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At The Watering Hole
It was surprising to me, the popularity of the old watering hole, just outside my kitchen window, when the temperatures dropped. I’ve had a cool little dripper device hooked up there, for years, which has brought a nice population of birds to entertain me, wet their whistles and satisfy their thirst. We had a impressive cold…
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Snow!
I’m easily entertained. Give me a little snowfall and I’ll be elated for hours. I’ll become the little girl from so long ago. The little girl who grew up on the best sledding hill in Prince George’s Co., Maryland. Other things take me back to my childhood. Bicycling does it too. But snow provides the…
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A Beauty Of A Berry
Color Me Disappointed Nearly all the time, when I create a blog, it is the result of research. I’m learning new things, right along with you. Tonight I learned that the bushes I am pleased with – being beautiful and native, are actually not native. Well, that certainly is a surprise! The Impostor Revealed The telling…
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The Museum Of Autumnal Color
The Flatlands Over the weekend I was down in the flatlands. The truely flat lands of Maryland and Delaware, way out on the coast. The flatlands where there is not much going on tree-wise, autumn-wise. Just occasional farm stands filled with lovely orange pumpkins and garden mums. That’s autumn for the flatlands. While away,…
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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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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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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…
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Sumac For Autumn Color
Pollinator Pleasing In mid-summer there is quite a draw at my wood’s edge. The Sumac is in bloom and pollinators are buzzing all over the flowers. I have two types of Sumac — Winged Sumac and Smooth Sumac, supplied by Mother Nature. For The Birds From blooms to fruit, pleasing different critters. The fruit of…