Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus). Blooming with a color that I like to call screaming yellow because it is so bright. Perfect for bringing cheer.
An herbaceous perennial native to eastern and central North America.
These cheery flowers attract many pollinators. Butterflies, skippers, beetles, pollinating flies, bees, and beneficial wasps seek their pollen and nectar.
The bloom season is summer into autumn. Wonderful flowers that I love to see trailside.
Celebrating autumn early. A small tree that I depend on to create the colors of the season. Not many but enough to know what is coming. Red and green. A few of the leaves of Winged Sumac (Rhus copallina) jump ahead of other leaves starting the color change.
A tree that enchants me, not only with red and green but with flowers during the summer that attract large numbers of pollinators. Bees so busy they seem to make the trees hum with glee.
So many favorites. This is one.
Got hay fever? It’s caused by the pollen of Ragweed (Ambrosia). There are 17 species of Ragweed in North America.
The species Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) has opposite leaves that are up to 12 inches long and 8 inches across. The plant can grow to between 3 and 12 feet tall. Flowers are inconspicuous, growing in cylindrical spikes, a dull yellow green, 3 to 6 inches long.
And the species Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) has leaves that are feathery/fern-like that grow either opposite or alternate along its stems. The leaves are 6 inches long and 4 inches across. This plant grows to 3 feet tall and branches frequently. This species also has cylindrical spikes of flowers that are 1 to 4 inches long. These flowers start as green and turn yellow green or brown.
Keep these Ragweed plants in mind as you sneeze and look for something to blame. Ragweed plants are not pretty and blend right in with the rest of the green plants at the road’s edge. They are not eye-catching.
Don’t blame the beautiful Goldenrods. They are innocent.
White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), is an herbaceous perennial that blooms from early autumn until frost. Native to the eastern United States and Canada. Its flowers are an important source of food at the end of the season for bees, moths, flies, and butterflies.
White Snakeroot plants grow to be 2 to 4 feet tall. They prefer shade to partial shade.
Like many plants that grow around us, this is a plant that is poisonous, containing tremetol. If you don’t know the plants in your gardens and in the woods around you, really really well, don’t eat them.
I recently spent a few days in Highland County, Virginia, where there are a multitude of Sugar Maple trees (Acer saccharum). They are ubiquitous in those mountains. Here at home, in the mountains of Greene County, they are not as common. At my altitude there are a few and further up they are a bit more common.
Along a trail up here, this Sugar Maple leaf had fallen to the ground. Just beginning to reflect the season. It was slowly losing its green before it took its tumble. Yellow sneaking in to take its place. Most leaves are green up here at the moment. Slowly, slowly, things will change.
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). Leaves turning a brilliant red.
Responding to cooler temperatures, shorter days, leaves stop making chlorophyll. Decreasing chlorophyll diminishes the green, which reveals the reds, oranges and yellows that are left in autumn leaves.
Partridge Berry (Mitchella repens). A gorgeous evergreen trailing vine. Growing just two inches tall, with stems of up to twelve inches long. Though a vine, it doesn’t climb.
Buds emerge as pairs. Each pair has ovaries that are fused at the base and will result in just one scarlet berry. Both flowers must be pollinated for that single berry to be created.
A special plant for many reasons. Its requirement for light is minimal. Shade is fine. Moisture is important. A plant that is not happy in drought.
A plant that I found growing on my Grandmother Clements grave. That makes it particularly special.
Just a few now. Gone are the mobs. Gone are the battles. Gone are the tiny, silly clowns. Though I’m still seeing those that are migrating from the north. Only one or two descending upon the feeders at any given moment. I miss them already. I’ll see you guys in the spring. The feeders will be out. Waiting for you.
The Aromatic Asters (Aster oblongifolius) in my garden are just beginning to show off their soft lavender blooms. Those few flowers have gotten the attention of an Eastern Calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus). It’s a tiny creature, measuring just 1/4 inch long.
Though it looks like a bee or a wasp, it is a fly. It doesn’t sting. Count those wings. Just two. Bees and wasps have four wings. Flies have just two wings. And a mighty good fly to have around. It’s a pollinator. As an adult it eats pollen and nectar. While in its larval stage the Eastern Calligrapher eats aphids and other small garden pests. Indeed, a mighty good fly to have around.
It started just over a week ago, and some leaves are playing their part perfectly. Meteorological autumn has begun. Temperatures are cooling. Days, little by little, are getting shorter.
Trees of the forest pick up on these signals. They know it’s time to get ready for the cold that will descend upon them. Prepare for winter. Stop producing that green chlorophyll, and let the leaves become brilliant red, yellow and many shades of orange.
These leaves, of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), have picked up on the signals quickly.
