Category: Nectar

Zebra Swallowtail

The larval host of Zebra Swallowtail (Protographium marcellus) is any of the eight species of the genus PawPaw (Asimina). I’m in the process of replacing three PawPaw trees that I recently lost. An important quest for me.

Exquisite Zebra Swallowtails depend entirely on PawPaw trees for their very existence. No PawPaw trees, no Zebra Swallowtails.

They’re native to eastern United States and southeast Canada, the state butterfly of Tennessee.

As adults these butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers such as blueberry and blackberry blossoms, lilac, milkweed, redbud, verbena, and dogbane. They also get minerals from moist sand and soil. But they need those PawPaw trees to get started. I’ve got them ordered. Soon to be put in the ground here at the cabin, and OH! Those blooms. I love ’em!

White Turtlehead

I’ve only ever seen the caterpillar of the Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton). Never the adult. That one sighting was an hour from my cabin at Buck Hollow in Shenandoah National Park. Since that brief observation I’ve learned that the main larval host plant of the beautiful Baltimore Checkerspot is White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra).

I’ve learned that the Baltimore Checkerspot is the state insect of Maryland. A state that means a great deal to me. So I’ve planted White Turtlehead in one of my gardens. Hoping it might bring me luck. And with that luck a Baltimore Checkerspot to my garden.

One of the Turtlehead’s pollinators is the bumblebee who uses brute force to reach the flower’s precious nectar.

My flowers are white while others of this same species sometimes have a slight hint of pink or lavender.

White Turtlehead is a herbaceous perennial, native to most of the eastern half of the United States. It prefers damp conditions such as stream banks where it grows two or three feet tall. Full sun to partial shade will keep it happy. Blooms arrive mid summer into early fall. And in the meantime I’m patiently waiting and hoping.

Juniper Hairstreak

How often do you get to see a green butterfly? For me, not often at all. Actually only once. And here it is. This is a Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus gryneus). Their host plant in my area, the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia, is Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). The Juniper Hairstreak overwinters as a chrysalis. A mighty small butterfly with a wingspan of one inch. This one, in the image above, is drinking nectar from my Apple Mint.

2021 First Female Hummingbird

It is said, by those that seem to know, that after the first male Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrives in the spring, the first female with arrive in seven to ten days. Well it did indeed happen. My first male arrived on April 14 and today, April 22, the first female has arrived.

It got down to 31° last night and flurries were flying. And now, this afternoon more flurries are coming down. What a welcome for the hummingbirds.

But in the blink of an eye the Obedient Plants will be blooming and soon after, the Scarlet Bee Balm with be summoning the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Calling to them with one word they won’t be able to resist. Nectar.

Apple Blossoms

Apple blossoms. What a fragrant delight. And they bring in a host of visitors that provide great entertainment just to sit and watch. It’s been really breezy today. Petals have been flying like snow. Apple blossom season won’t last much longer.

Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) are one of the many species of butterflies that make the apple tree seem alive with action. Both nectar and pollen lure the insects in.

Another of the insects that answer the apple blossoms call are moths. This one, a Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis).

Birds get the call too. This is a female or juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) that uses the branches of the apple tree as a resting spot. In this image it’s sitting on a grapevine with the apple blossoms in the background. I’m wondering, if I’ll find a hummingbird nest in the apple tree if I search carefully.

This a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum). What a surprise I had to see these birds eating the blossom petals. Amazing to find that they enjoy eating the petals.

A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is making sap wells in the apple tree’s bark. This enables them to consume both the sap that collects and insects that are also attracted. The sap wells are the very small round holes in the bark. If you look closely you can see claw marks from bears climbing the tree.

After the blooms come the apples and the bears. I guess this critter thinks that the apples are his to be taken. This is a yearly tradition. I sure appreciate the bear coming by for a photo op.

Blueberries

I’m watching both the progress the blueberry blooms are making as well as the calendar. Watching the blossoms grow and mature. Watching the weeks go by on the calendar. Right now in early April there are only tight buds on the many bushes.

And it’s hard to say since this is weather related and as we all know the weather can be extremely capricious. Hard to say when the blooms will be open.

Hard to say when the butterflies and bees will be called to the blueberry flowers. Called by the nectar and pollen. Called to pollinate the blooms that will become delicious morsels of goodness.

It will seem like forever to me. Going from compact buds to petite orbs. Forever and still not exactly what I’m waiting for.

Slowly slowly those petite orbs will swell. And go from apple green to a lavender blush to finally deep blue. But I’ve learned over the years I can’t be too quick. Those first berries looking so luscious blue are still lavender blush on the other side. The far side hidden and waiting to fool me. Be patient. They will turn totally inky blue with a white bloom with time. That’s what it’s all about. Patience and waiting.

I’ll be waiting. All this time. Waiting to pull out simple ingredients.

Waiting to turn those berries, those luscious inky blue with white bloom berries into blueberry pies. Other things too, but oh those pies!

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

Tomorrow one hummingbird feeder will go up on my front porch. The time is about right, but I don’t know exactly when to expect my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). I want to greet whoever shows up first, with a welcome mat and a feeder with its favorite syrup. The recipe: 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water, NO food coloring.

The season will start out very slowly. Male and female hummingbirds ready for mating season. Females, totally in charge of nesting. Selecting the site, collecting the materials and building the nest. Oh, I wish I’d discover one of those tiny nests. Over all these years of watching hummingbirds. Looking for the nests. No luck. By mid July into August, with juveniles at the feeders as well, I’ll be putting out many more feeders. They’ll be emptied quickly by the entertaining hungry little critters. Keeping me busy with great demand for many bags of sugar.

Many flowers await the hummingbirds as well, not just the feeders filled with syrup. In the image above Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma) calls to the incredibly little bird. Also planted around my cabin, Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and a native honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) provide nectar for the birds.

The hummingbird above is a male juvenile. See his speckled throat? Those feathers will soon become the ruby color we all know and watch for. An iridescent ruby, showing up as black unless the light is just right. I’m so looking forward to having these travelers back. They bring with them luggage. Luggage filled with pure levity.

Wood Poppy Revisited

I’ve written about Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) before but I enjoy the native flower with its happy yellow so much I’d like to tell you more about it.

The deeply lobed green-blue leaves of Wood Poppy are poking up from the surface of the soil here in the Blue Ridge now, as the month of March approaches its midpoint.

By the beginning of April, I expect I’ll be seeing some woolly buds ready to reveal their four golden petals.

As the flower opens the two pale green sepals that protect the bud soon fall away.

The flowers of Wood Poppy provide pollen but not nectar to their visitors. Those flowers have many stamens that are topped with rich yellow anthers surrounding a pistil, style and stigma.

After insect or self pollination a seed capsule is formed which eventually hangs below the leaves.

Many seeds are released from the capsule. Seeds which are distributed in a process called mymecocory, or in simpler terms, seed dispersal by ants. These seeds have nutrient rich appendages called elaisomes. Ants collect the seeds so that their larvae can be fed the elaisomes and the remains of the seeds are tossed away in the ant colony’s “trash room.”

That trash room in an underground ant colony is the perfect place to start growing seeds. Of course the ants aren’t aware of it, but they are perfect little ant farmers. Starting a new cycle of Wood Poppies.

Bloodroot

It’s hard for me to believe since I’ve still got snow on the ground, but spring is nearly here. At least meteorological spring. It arrives on March 1. The weather here is assuredly unpredictable. We’ll see what the month of March brings forth. Spring or more winter? But plants will be sprouting no matter. One of the plants I expect will greet me later in March is Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). A plant that’s native to eastern North America.

Take care when you’re out hiking, particularly when you aren’t on a well established trail. These little first sprouts of spring are not necessarily obvious.

Bloodroot emerges from the soil, stem carefully wrapped in a deeply veined dark purply leaf.

As the bud grows the leaf unfurls and turns to a rich green with a silvery-green ventral side. With each flower there is a single deeply lobed basal leaf. A leaf with five to seven lobes that grows to be three to five inches across.

The flower is a burst of eight to sixteen snow white petals centered with an oval yellow-green pistil which is topped by a pale yellow stigma. The pistil is surrounded by bunches of stamens with glowing yellow anthers. The blooms don’t provide any nectar but the pollen on the anthers brings bees, flies and beetles that pollinate the flowers.

And that pollination allows the seed pod to expand. Filling with seeds that have appendages called elaiosomes. Ants bring those seeds to their larvae. The larvae is fed the elaiosomes and the still intact seeds are discarded to the nest’s “trash room” which is the perfect place to start these seeds growing. This process which happens in many cases throughout the plant world is called myrmecochory. A weird/fun word which has become one of my favorites.