Anyone ready for a game of checkers? Little Bear is all set to challenge you if you’re up for a game. Just have to move the flowers out of the way.
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Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum). A perennial evergreen, a succulent herb.
Woodland Stonecrop is the most common native Sedum species in eastern North America.
Its spiky white flowers bloom from April to June. The nectar and pollen of those blooms attract many species of bees. The plants generally are 3 to 6 inches tall, sometimes reaching a height of 8 inches tall.
I have Woodland Stonecrop growing in my yard. It’s a great native ground cover. Highly recommended.
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Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) is an herbaceous perennial, native to eastern North America, most often growing in the Appalachians, the Northeast, and the Midwest. It grows to 1 to 2 feet tall in riparian forests, mesic upland forests, and rocky forested mountainsides.
Virginia Waterleaf spreads through rhizomes. Its clusters of flowers can be white, pale pink, soft blue or lavender.
This plant gets its common name as well as its scientific name from lighter green spots occasionally on the leaves, giving them a water stained appearance. The perfect name.
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Two days ago I saw this bird at one of my feeders, being camera shy. Despite his efforts, I managed to capture him in pixels. I’m glad I did, since this picture helps me identify him, and records his visit to my yard. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus).
Spring of 2018 was the first time I ever witnessed any of these lovely birds passing through. I’ve seen at least one male and one female each spring since. This year, so far, I’ve only seen this male, in the picture above.
This is a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the photo on the left. And looking totally different, in the photo on the right, is a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
I hope this trend continues. A few Rose-breasted Grosbeaks coming through in the spring is way better than none at all.
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Fire Pink (Silene virginica), is native to eastern North America with the exception of the farthest northeastern states of, New Jersey, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The flower of the Fire Pink isn’t large. It is from 1 to 1.5 inches in size. It’s brilliant crimson color though, makes its blooms quite eye catching.
It’s a short lived perennial that shows off its blooms from April into August.
The Fire Pink is a member of the Carnation family (Caryophyllaceae). Members of that family are called pinks because of their look, giving the impression that the ends of the petals are cut with pinking shears.
I’ve found Fire Pink on many occasions, as I hike in parks close by, and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. That’s the location of these photographs, as well as in a garden just out my cabin’s back door. That’s where I found some of these beauties blooming just yesterday. What a joy native plants are!
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Looking forward to another bright, bountiful, Blueberry season. They’re transforming now, from blossoms to berries, on the bushes. All set to tempt the song birds that gather at the feeders. That’s fine. They are plenty of the delicious morsels. We can share.
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Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). I’m always pleased when I find one of these medium sized (4 to 7 inches long) lizards checking out things here at my cabin.
They’re native to the eastern United States and prefer woodland edges, rock piles, and rotting logs.
They eat beetles, ants, moths, grasshoppers, spiders, and stink bugs. Yes, they eat stink bugs! Oh how I wish there were more of these lizards out there. There are enough Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs (Halyomorpha halys) here to feed them for a LONG time.
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My blog site was down for many hours. It’s up now. Post soon to come!
Bren
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A fern that emerges in early spring, Rattlesnake Fern (Botrypus virginianus). A deciduous perennial that is made up of a lone, triangle shaped sterile leaf. The leaf, being triangular, gives the impression of being three separate leaves.
On some of the Rattlesnake Ferns one more leaf is produced in late spring, a fertile leaf, growing directly from the base of the original, sterile leaf. During the summer, spores are released and distributed by the wind.
These fertile leaves are beautiful, the sporangia, which contain the spores, look like small green beads growing in precise lines along the leaflets.
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Looking through my photographs just now. In the file of yellow images, I came upon this one, taken May 12, 2020. A still mottled, male Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). He’s not totally grown in his complete breeding attire. But soon to be gorgeous in his yellow and black feathers. He’s perched on a seedhead of Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica) with a couple of purple buds of the same species in the background.
The Goldfinches at my feeders have increased in numbers, coming to a great crescendo. The past couple days there have been thirty or forty of the yellow birds out there with their sweet calls, gobbling up the hulled sunflower seeds. And the molting progresses. Many of them are looking much like this little guy. Almost complete.
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