Virginia State Insect

April 23, 2025

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) pollinating apple blossoms, one of the steps in creating apples.

The host plants of the Tiger Swallowtail are those in the Magnolia and Rose families. As an adult this butterfly enjoys a long life compared to many other butterflies, sipping the nectar of many flowers from spring to autumn. Establishing two to three broods during that time.

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Growing At The Summit Of Hightop

April 22, 2025

A plant in the genus Sedum, and one that is quite prevalent in its native range of eastern North America. I first became acquainted with Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum) on one of my many hikes up Hightop, where it grows atop the boulders at the summit of the mountain. It enjoys growing in a shady location but tolerates a sunny location which is the case at the top of Hightop.

After seeing it that first time I was impressed and looked for it in nurseries and managed to find some. I now have a patch of it growing on my back hill. It’s a great groundcover so long as I keep other more aggressive plants from encroaching upon its space.

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More Pink In The Spring

April 21, 2025

This afternoon, climbing up the mountain I was really pleased to find a Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) blooming with the look of, “Happy SPRING!” These flowers are one of many on my list of favorite flowers.

And to top off the fun color, cool leaves, and how they grow into beautiful clumps, comes the enchanting way their seeds are distributed. Above you see fruit capsules waiting to dry.

As they dry they will reach a point where stress is created and the fruits split, curl up and backward, flinging the seeds as much as 10 to 30 feet away.

What is left, in the photo above, delights me. I think of it as a carousel made for tiny forest fairies.

I would love to come by one day and see the fairies riding on the carousel!

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Miniature Iris Growing In The Garden

April 20, 2025

A bright spot in one of my gardens. Flowers my Mom would adore. Dwarf Crested Iris (Iris cristata), found on rocky, wooded slopes. Native to the eastern and southern United States.

Quite short for an Iris, it grows to between 4 and 9 inches tall, and spreads by rhizomes.

Wonderful to see spring unfolding.

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The Easter Bunny?

April 19, 2025

Probably not the Easter Bunny, but a Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii). At one of my favorite places in New Mexico, Three Rivers Petroglyph Site.

Ninety percent of their diet is grass. Other things they eat include the leaves and peas of Mesquite, and the pads of Prickly Pear Cactus. Fortunately for them, considering where they live, they seldom need to drink. They’re able to get their water from the plants they eat and from dew.

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Azaleas Abloom In The Woods

April 18, 2025

Pinxter Azaleas (Rhododendron periclymenoides) are blooming in the woods right now. Taking over the duty of providing pink, as the Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) send out their new green leaves and the pink blossoms drop to the ground.

The Pinxter Azalea is in the genus, Rhododendron. In that genus, there are Rhododendrons as well as Azaleas. They’re a deciduous, woody shrub, which blooms in the spring before its leaves emerge. Native to eastern North America.

So many gorgeous flowers in the woods right now!

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At The Garden Gate

April 17, 2025

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)

They arrive here in late autumn, stay during the winter enjoying the snow, and are here for a good bit of spring. Their population is most dense in the southeastern United States during late autumn, winter, and early spring. The breeding season finds them in Canada, and northern parts of the northeastern United States.

They’ll be here for perhaps two or three more weeks and then they’re heading north. Migration adds an interesting dimension to bird watching.

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Tiny Lilies In Bloom

April 16, 2025

Pure joy every spring when these diminutive Trout Lilies (Erythronium americanum) decide to emerge from the soil and reach their short stems skyward.

In preparation to becoming a Virginia Master Naturalist, I took a natural history class in Charlottesville many years ago. That class was incredible in its content. We took many field trips and I saw things I had never seen before, including Trout Lily in bloom. That inspired me to get some to add to my garden.

They are certainly beautiful flowers but, oh so tiny! Two leaves and a stem reaching up to no more than six inches. Not quite small enough for a doll house though.

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White And Sometimes Pink Trillium

April 15, 2025

White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) in bloom up the mountain right now, sometimes in large swaths.

These flowers spread into large areas thanks to mymecochory, a process I’ve mentioned before. It is the process in which ants are attracted to the seeds of certain plants. Seeds that have elaiosomes, or fatty structures, which the ants feed to their larvae. White Trillium also spreads with the assistance of rhizomes.

Though it is said that the white petals of these flowers will turn pink with age, I don’t often see old flowers that have turned pink, but that does seem to happen. But I also see just every now and then, pink buds or pink young flowers. These are a pink form of White Trillium, Trillium grandiflorum f. roseum.

It is thought that this form occurs because of an infection caused by a microorganism in the plant. These pink forms are found mixed in just occasionally with the normal white flowers.

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Precious Star Chickweed

April 14, 2025

Another native plant that lives in the shadow of a somewhat similar non-native invasive plant. This is Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera), in bloom right now along trails up here in the mountains. Having the name Chickweed in its common name I’m sure will turn people off but this is a good plant. Well behaved and native to the eastern United States.

The blooms of Star Chickweed are 1/2 an inch wide with 5 petals. Because the petals are deeply incised, the blooms give the impression that there are actually 10 petals. A plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae. The stamens of the flowers are tipped with dark anthers, which set against the white petals, is quite an appealing look.

Both nectar and pollen are produced by the blossoms which attract bees, flies, buttterflies and skippers.

And remember it is a GOOD Chickweed!

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