May I Introduce Something Often Overlooked

The world is full of plants that we drive by or walk by and ignore, overlook, or fail to see because they are common, unattractive, or weedy.  My shoreline is dotted with Baccharis halimifolia, a native of eastern North America.  Common names are groundsel, sea myrtle, and saltbush.  You can guess that it likes salty soil.  It is a member of the huge aster family.

It flowers in the fall and is dioecious which means it has male and female flowers on separate plants.  It is found in ditches and in salt marshes and along shorelines and because of its abundance, often overlooked.

This shrub provides food for over a dozen species of moths as well as other pollinators.

The flowers that bloom in the fall are long white paintbrushes that glow in the reflected sun and then burst into long-legged white spiders and sail across the air to form new plants.  Depending on the wind they can fly a good long way.  While it is native to my backyard, it can be considered invasive in other parts of the globe.

It is usually only noticed in autumn when the bush looks like a snow-topped shrub against the autumn colors.

And below, I actually managed to catch a few wind-born seeds using a long-range lens from my deck!!  Pat me on the back.

Small Friends and Even Smaller Acquaintances

Our week has been all rain and much cooler weather (think Ireland) with the collision of Ian and a cold front from the north. This made me wish for spring or sun or something alive outside and not wet and bedraggled. So I will share some insect photos from last April and May. I hope they bring some beauty into your day whether you need that or not. The first one has been manipulated like an acrylic painting, of course.

One of the very earliest of butterflies.  Clearly arrived after a long struggle.  Early April.

Saw these on the walls of my house in early spring and while they look like ants, they are not.

They are praying mantis.  I had forgotten I brought in an egg case inside as a keepsake and it was lying dormant on my bookshelf until spring!  Many people love praying mantis, but they are equal-opportunity dieters, eating both good and bad insects.  I took them outside in small groups by scooping them up on pieces of paper.

Such lovely early spring arrivals and I am looking forward to spring already!  How will I make it through the winter?

Review of the Trip with Some Imagination

I was running a mild temperature when I took most of the photos below, so focus and composition can really be off. Just remember that I did not realize I was sick at the time. Below are the only real elk that we saw. They were young ones avoiding the rut on the hill up the road.

You can see from the collars that the herd is monitored closely. There is a hunting season that allows the killing of elk with strict limits and regulations. 

Above is one of the meadows that provide a view of where the elk males leave the cover of the woods to fight with each other and begin their fall harem.   We saw nothing but the familiar and beautiful goldenrod.

   

We did take a small hike the following day and saw some  more fall color and a small wide lake area where boats awaited the weekend fishermen and fisher women.  

And the ancient spirits of former elk still haunted us.

It is a lovely and vast area and we just touched a small portion and will return in the future with better focus and energy.

Sharing Some Stuff

The world goes round and round.  Someone you love moves away or gets seriously ill or even dies and the dear world does not glance back but greets the new sunrise with bold determination.  You can lag behind and be sad or bereft or even a bit angry, but she does not care because she has far more important work to do.  "Time stops for no man."

Andros Island sunrise.

The sun slaps you in the face and reminds you that there are things to do.  Mother earth has to grow plants and dry up a flood or two. She has to turn the front yard toward the sun for just a bit to dry the dew..

She spins the morning air to dry the butterfly wings that were washed in last night's rain.  She dries the dew from the bee so that he can get off the ground.

Eventually, the cosmos will recover from that pouring rain that bent it low to the ground.

And just as you adjust to there being a new day,  just as you begin to put one foot in front of the other, the day is ending and everything is getting quiet once again and you can stop in thought..

Heavy Air and Languorous Times

My garden is in full bloom and full of fairies. I have moved more and more to planting natives while I still cling to a few of the heavy feeders like my four roses. I avoid sprays at all times, unless terribly desperate. 

My native phlox and native penstemon are big addictions for butterflies, moths, and native bees. Feel free to click on photos and zoom in on the ones below to see better! On days when I feel that there is too much happening in the modern world, I take my camera and walk into the front driveway where the beds need trimming and weeding and plants need thinning and a sense of organization and I throw all those thoughts to the wind and below is what returns on the summer breezes.

The zebra swallowtail is a frequent visitor as we have paw paw trees where they lay their eggs.

I think this is one of the "elfin" butterflies that would have missed my attention had he not landed on the cover to the table.

The American Painted Lady (?) I think this one is a female and they love my Zinnia, a non-native annual.

A gorgeous show-off that always arrives in late July every summer.  Black Swallowtail.  Within weeks his elegant wings get tattered.

This Tiger Swallowtail is showing off against my sunflower plants on the back deck, placed where I can watch the Goldfinch eat.

My butterfly plant did well but has been eaten down to nubs and I had not luck with my Milkweed plant, but this rare Monarch still came for a visit to my Cosmos.

Above is a Skipper, maybe the common Roadside Skipper?

They are in beautiful abundance today after yesterday's rains.

In the very middle is the Hummingbird Moth which sounds much like a real hummingbird if he buzzes by your ear.

The Latest Thing

The world has gone crazy for pollinators.  At least that is true here in my neck of the woods.  And we are learning that even other insects are valuable to the earth.  

When I was a child and we used to drive across the Colorado plains and fields, we would find our front grill and many times our front windshield covered in bugs when we got home.  That no longer happens anywhere we drive.  Scientists discovered several years ago that not only pollinators, but all the other important insects were in serious decline.  Some say as much as 70%!  If you are not a "buggy" person I am sorry.  A decline in any and all insects threatens our very existence as well as many of the birds and that whole tapestry of living beings on this planet.  We are all connected.

So, I took a stroll in my garden and photographed the more lovely of these flying and crawling creatures hoping it will lift your spirits.  (The next time there is a bug in your house, please scrap it up gently with paper and take it outside.)

That Zebra Swallowtail above is on my oregano.

Still Attempting Art

While I have no formal training in composition, style,color values, light balance...I do have some experience with these working with photography. So, I guess my desire to experiment, which cannot be subdued, makes me a bit of an artist. 

My flowers this year are extravagant.  I have upped the watering by 20 minutes and that has made the plants very happy.  Happy enough to begin to fight with each other for space.  Many of my plants are natives and they can usually outcompete the hyrids.

Below the first photo is monarda (beebalm) which with its square stem is related to the mint family, and most gardeners know how that goes!...and grows!  The next photos are all of my tiger lily which can spread as a non-native, but which I am pretty sure I can control.  It is very photographic or should that be photogenic?  I had fun with software changing, adding textures, and dodging and burning below.

Flower Painting

Once again I am hiding out from the heat and playing with software, hardware, and my photos.  You can click for closeups.