Higher Elevations

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) a tree that I only find further up in the higher elevations where I hike. With the exception of the ones that have been planted here in the vicinity of my cabin. They prefer the cold that the higher elevations provide.

These trees can have a very long life. Two hundred years, three hundred years, maybe even, with luck, four hundred years.

Autumn color from one tree to another is not all the same. The leaves turn various shades of yellow, orange and red. Some branches doing their own thing, turning color well before the rest of the tree.

I admire that. Listening to its own drummer.

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Crimson Leaves

I was away for several days, hoping when I returned that the autumn leaves would be just as beautiful as when I headed south. Taking the back roads seemed to be driving back through time. From autumn into green leaves. Not a sign of autumn anywhere. What a joy to return to discover the leaves here in the Blue Ridge Mountains even more striking now than when I left.

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) with rich, warm, crimson leaves and silvery gray buds, waiting for winter snow and ice, then spring with opening blooms.

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It Calls Its Name

A sweet bird that calls its name. Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe). A bird that comes back to the nest it built the breeding season before, to use it again.

That happens year after year, here at my cabin. A nest was built under the eaves of the wood shop, and continues to be used every breeding season.

A bird that eats insects. During the winter when there are fewer insects to be found, they eat fruit and berries.

Yes, a sweet bird that calls its name.

Super Sassafras Shades

Dependable in its rich colors of October. Sassafras (Sassafras albidum).

Turning from soft green, its fragrant leaves become multiple shades, perfect for the autumn season.

Sassafras, aside from its delightful aroma, has a vast repertoire of colors it shows off as October crawls to the haunting day of Halloween. Warm delightful colors. Many shades of yellow, orange, red and purple to help fight off the chilly days.

Bejeweled

Seemingly bejeweled, the Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). I don’t see nearly enough of these beauties. As adults they seek the nectar of many flowers. A short list: goldenrod, ironweed, sunflowers, mistflower, asters, coneflowers. I’ve recently added Blue Vervain to one of my gardens. I’ve read that they enjoy the nectar of those flowers as well. I’ve got my fingers crossed.

These butterflies can be found in the southern United States and much of Mexico. Next summer I’ve got to work on getting more nectar for them!

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Little White Floral Mystery

Silverrod (Solidago bicolor). An herbaceous perennial that grows in open, dry woods. It grows 1 to 3 feet tall though I have only seen plants 1 to 1.5 feet tall

With white or cream colored flowers that emerge from the leaf axils. Just a 1/4 inch wide and crowded on a single vertical stem. The flowers are composed of yellow disk flowers and white ray flowers in each single bloom, like other flowers in its genus – think of daisies – two types of flowers in each single bloom.

When I first came upon this plant in the woods I had no idea what in the world I was seeing, and it was really a surprise to realize that it was a goldenrod. There is only one goldenrod in the eastern United States with white ray flowers and it is Silverrod.

The plant is often a single, thin, fine hair covered stem, which is a slightly gray-green or slightly reddish-green color.

This is not a plant that I often seen in my wanderings, but it brings pure joy when I see it. My little white goldenrod!

Five Red Leaves

Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) a vine in the grape family (Vitaceae). Native to eastern and central North America. A plant that knows its own mind. One that will wander into areas where you might not want it to grow. Keep an eye on it if you have it in your garden. And beware some (but not all) individuals, after prolonged work with Virginia Creeper can get an itchy or painful rash.

A vine that for me predicts the start of the autumn season. The leaves turn a brilliant crimson, well before some of the other leaves in the forest even think of turning to their fall colors. Saying, “Let the party begin!”

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No Customers

What an absolute kick it is to feed the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) that come to my feeders during the summer. Some of them have been here before and return to my feeders, whether during the summer or during their migration.

But gone is the time when I put out 1/2 gallon of hummingbird syrup every day. And gone is the time when I would see only two or three hummingbirds migrating through each day. I haven’t see one of these comical critters since October 9th.

I’ll keep the feeder out, clean and stocked with their syrup though, through the end of the month. There’s no telling if there will still be one or two coming through after getting delayed for one reason or another.

Come on by! Here until Halloween!

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Late Bloomer

Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blooms in October and November, providing nectar for Owlet Moths.

Unique flowers that make me think of yellow straps of shredded coconut. The blooms closely spaced make it difficult to tell but each flower has four petals that curl up on cold days and unfurl on warmer days.

Blooming after their leaves have fallen to the ground the little trees or shrubs grow to 20 or 30 feet tall with a multi-stemmed clump of 15 to 20 feet wide.

With its leaves gone, the flowers join in the autumnal revelry!

Red Berries Deep In The Woods

Solomon’s Plume (Maianthemum racemosum), can be found in large colonies emerging from their thick rhizomes in the spring. Clusters of white flowers form at the end of their long arching stems. In the autumn you’ll find these beautiful clusters of red berries at the end of those stems.

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