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Visitor
There is a visitor at the cabin. Betelgeuse. Named after the red supergiant, second brightest star in the constellation Orion. One of the largest stars one can see without the aid of binoculars or a telescope. And often the tenth-brightest star in the nighttime sky. Pretty cool, huh? Well she certainly lives up to her…
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Nest Building
A female Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus), gathers fluff from last summer’s Tall Anemone (Anemone virginiana) to use to construct her nest. Here you can get a better look at what she’s gathering, from a seed head of Tall Anemone. Throughout the winter my gardens remain untouched just as they were at the end of autumn.…
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Various Shades Of Red
The woods are getting soft hints, just whispers of various shades of red. The Red Maple trees (Acer rubrum) are in bloom. This happens quietly. It doesn’t get much attention. There is a subtlety as it happens. The flowers, quite small, just enough to only create a hint of the color. As the flowers fade,…
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First Evening Of Spring
Along a trail, a ways up the mountain above my cabin, Common Blue Violets (Viola sororia) rise up to greet the evening. The first evening of the new season, spring 2023. There are 87 species of violets native to North America, or perhaps even more. Scientists are unsure of that number. Of those species, there…
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Ruby Slippers
A storefront in Roanoke and what do I see? A pair of RUBY SLIPPERS just waiting for me. (I can do it too, my dear amigo Gar-ee!) ________________________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
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The Season Ahead
Flip the pages of the calendar ahead to June and this is what you’ll find in some of my gardens. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a wonderful flower to attract pollinators, and what better example to find than a Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). _________________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by…
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March 17th
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Oxalis stricta. ____________________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
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Early Spring And A Butterfly
The Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa). One of the first butterflies that you’ll see in early spring, or during warm winter days. They’re able to accomplish this because they overwinter as adults in locations such as tree cavities or under loose tree bark. Emerging as an adult rather than having to mature from a larval…
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A Tiger Beetle
This one, the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata), which I love to find along the trails up here. A lovely color. Metallic, emerald green, though some lean toward a blue-green. A beneficial insect, consuming insects and other arthropods that are pests in our gardens and woods. _____________________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily…
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3.14159265359
Happy Pi Day! Remember Heidi Bakery? Sponsor of The Pick Temple Show. I was on that program when I was in 1st grade. Ah, the memories! ______________________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!