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A Native Orchid
May 9, 2025 Putty Root (Aplectrum hyemale), an Orchid native to eastern North America. A raceme comes up out of the soil mid-spring with no leaves. It blooms with multiple flowers, each perhaps a bit less than 1/2 inch across. The flowers last perhaps 2 or 3 weeks slowly fading away. In autumn a single…
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Deep Red Blooms
May 8, 2025 A deciduous shrub, native to eastern United States, Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus), showing off its dark red blooms right now. This, a young flower. And this a more mature flower. The fragrant blooms will last for nearly a month. The leaves and stems are also scented if rubbed or scratched. The aroma…
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Butterfly Of The Day
May 7, 2025 Seen out on the lane today. A Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arethemis) sitting in the gravel, in the ventral, or wings up position. And in the image below it’s in the dorsal, or wings open position. Native to eastern United States, in the southeastern states in particular. Host plants are a wide variety…
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If I Could Be A Tree
May 6, 2025 Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) in bloom just a few days ago. Trees that I’ve learned a great many things about since I’ve lived up here on my mountain. First off, I was amazed to learn that they grow into very large trees. Growing up with woods just behind my house I was familiar…
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Spiderworts In Bloom
May 5, 2025 These photos are Spiderwort (Tradescantia), blooming in my gardens right now. Tradescantia are native to the Americas from southern Canada to the West Indies to northern Argentina, with somewhere between 70 and 86 species. In the United States there are about 17 native species, many of these are close relatives to Tradescantia…
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Sweet Sweet Rain!
May 4, 2025 Rain puddled on Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). What a pure delight to see how much rain has fallen, yesterday evening and early this morning. The past couple months there has been very little rain and all the plants up here in the mountains are celebrating. Coral Honeysuckle leaves are waxy, water repelling,…
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A Big Skink!
May 3, 2025 A Broadhead Skink (Plestiodon laticeps), trying to blend in with the ledge it is resting on. You might notice that it is shedding its skin, which happens routinely from time to time. These skinks eat a wide variety of insects, spiders, snails, small rodents and smaller reptiles including young skinks, hunting for…
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A Treasure Of Nature
May 2, 2025 A Red Trillium (Trillium erectum). One of many treasures of nature. On Hightop Mountain in Shenandoah National Park. This Trillium doesn’t produce nectar, but flies, beetles, and fungus gnats are attracted to the blossom’s unpleasant scent. They act as pollinators for these beautiful flowers. _______________________ If you would like to receive my…
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A Female Towhee
May 1, 2025 This afternoon, a female Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) came by to take a dip in the birdbath. I so seldom see a female Towhee that it took a moment for me to realize what it was. When males and females of the same species of birds are different in appearance like this,…
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The First Turtle
April 30, 2025 On the way to yoga today, I saw my first Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) of the year. Something that I always do with such a sighting, particularly on my mountain road with hardly any traffic, I stopped, pulled out my camera and took pictures. Having a record of the markings on…