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Chinese Chestnut
Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) seem to love the catkins on Chinese Chestnut Trees (Castanea mollissima).
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Spiny Cholla
Looking through my photographs. Dreaming through memories of trips past. Trips to my favorite part of this country. The Southwest. This photo makes me think of many visits to my husband’s precious Grandmother and her home in Artesia, New Mexico, surrounded by a yard that was Southwestern landscape filled with native plants including many of…
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The Perfect Magnet
Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus). Sunflowers (Heliathus). A great match for watching those Monarchs come through during migration.
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Arizona
The desert Southwest, such a different environment from where my deep roots are. Different from the lush green of DC, Maryland, and southeastern Pennsylvania. I have an acquaintance who went to the Southwest for a visit and was so disappointed. They returned and only had this to say, “It is SO BROWN out there!” That’s…
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Color
So important to me – COLOR. And autumn really brings it to me. Now, in early autumn, a small tree, Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum), is bringing joy to my heart with its color. In spring, a tree with blooms that attract so many pollinators that the tree itself seems to buzz with activity. But in…
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Fasciation
Fasciation is something that is not really understood by scientists. But it creates cool things to happen with plants. It makes a plant’s growth go berserk in unpredictable ways, growing in a manner that would not normally happen. It is thought that fasciation happens because of a hormonal imbalance in the plant. What causes that…
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Perfect Landing
Shorter days. Cooler temperatures. Leaves slowly losing their chlorophyll. Little by little my mountain is beginning to take on an autumnal demeanor. At a snail’s pace, summer is weakening its green grasp. A crisp day encourages a maple leaf to fall. Crimson falling to its opposite on the color wheel. Emerald green perfectly surrounds and…
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A Mystery
Many of you might know that I love a mystery. Some native, something. A plant, an insect, something without a name. Figure out what it is. THIS was my mystery today. If I had not thumbed through a plethora of nature books since childhood, I would not have even known that this is a caterpillar.…
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Hemiparasitic
Downy False Foxglove (Aureolaria virginica) is a plant that is hemiparasitic. This means it has chlorophyll and performs photosynthesis but also depends upon another plant for some of its water and/or nutrients. In the case of Downy False Foxglove, the plant that it choses to depend upon is the White Oak (Quercus alba). A plant…