Snake Skin in the Woodpile

I built our first fire of the season in the woodstove. And found this snake skin between the 2 logs i picked up.

Cheryl Wilfong

8-25 Slender Gerardia

8-25
Partially parasitic Slender Gerardia is in flower as is Whorled Aster, so called because of the way its leaves are arrayed around its stem.
John

Slender Gerardia

Whorled Aster

8-24 Sweet Everlasting

8-24
Sweet Everlasting and Closed Gentian, AKA Bottle Gentian, were both in flower in their rather unconventional ways.
John

Sweet Everlasting

Closed Gentian

8-23 American Dagger moth caterpillar

8-23
The 3 inch, hairy, white caterpillar of an American Dagger Moth proved impossible to overlook.
White Snakeroot is in full flower.
A Monarch Butterfly nectared on a roadside Thistle while I snapped pictures.
John

American Dagger Moth caterpillar

White Snakeroot

Monarch Butterfly on Thistle

Monarch

8-22 Swamp Beggar Tick

8-22
Both Swamp Beggar Tick and Panicled Tick-trefoil are in flower.
John

Swamp Beggar Tick

Panicled Tick-trefoil

8-21 Japanese Knotweed

8-21
Ugly invasive Japanese Knotweed is flowering prettily.
John

8-20 Clotbur

8-20
Clotbur can be seen along shores and in other damp places although it flowers are easy to overlook.
John

Clotbur plant

Clotbur flowers

8-19 Pipewort

8-19
Pipewort, AKA Hatpin, grows in shallow still water. It's small button-like cluster of white florettes are above water. Its grass-like leaves are submerged.
John

Pipewort

8-18 Gall-of-the-earth

8-18
Gall-of-the-earth, AKA Tall Rattlesnake Root, is nearing the end of its flowering window.
John

Gall-of-the-earth

Gall-of-the-earth leaves

8-17 Heath Aster

8-17
Narrow stiff leaves and small white flowers make Heath Aster easy to identify.
John

Heath Aster

8-16 Garter Snake

8-16
A tiny but well fed Garter Snake sought out sun-warmed rocks as an aid to digestion.
A Painted Turtle basks on a lily pad.
Along roadsides Blue Lettuce opened its rather unimpressive flowers.
John

Garter snake

Turtle on lily pad

Blue Lettuce

close up of Blue Lettuce flower

8-15 Rough Hawkweed

8-15
Rough Hawkweed and a Knapweed - perhaps Protean or maybe Brown Knapweed - are in flower.
John

Rough Hawkweed

Knapweed - protean or brown

8-14 Great Blue Lobelia

8-14
Great Blue Lobelia is both a native wildflower and a garden favorite. Any found growing wild in this area are most likely garden escapes but it is impossible to know with certainty.
John

Great Blue Lobelia

8-13 Calico Asters

8-13
Calico Asters are brightening edges and thickets and a Gallium sphinx moth nectared at phlox in our garden.
John

Calico Asters

Gallium Sphinx moth

8-12 Sessile-fruited Arrowhead

8-12
Sessile-fruited Arrowhead is in flower as is Bulb-bearing Water Hemlock, all parts of which are poisonous if ingested.
John

Sessile-fruited Arrowhead

Bulb-bearing Water Hemlock

8-11 Round-leaved Sundew

8-11
Carnivorous Round-leaved Sundews and parasitic Dodder are both in flower. Once Dodder twines around a host plant it severs all connection to its own roots. It lives completely off its host or hosts!
John

Round-leaved Sundew

Dodder

8-10 Tear Thumb

8-10
Terminal clusters of small pale flowers and vicious recurved stem barbs help identify Tear Thumb.
A clump of milkweed host several Monarch caterpillars. At least 6 are visible in this picture.
John

Tear Thumb

Tear Thumb's barbs

6 Monarch caterpillars

8-9 berries

8-9
The fruits of Alternate-leaved Dogwood, Tartarian Honeysuckle, Choke Cherry and Black Huckleberry are ripe. The huckleberries are delicious although they are rather seedy.
John

Alternate-leaved Dogwood

Tartarian Honeysuckle

Choke Cherry

Black Huckleberry

8-8 Fall Dandelion

8-8
Fall Dandelion is flowering along roadsides and in disturbed areas and in Newfane Culver's Root is showing its candelabra-like inflorescences beside a rural field.
John

Fall Dandelion

Culver's Root

8-7 Hoary Alyssum

8-7
Hoary Alysum and Hog Peanut are among the species flowering today.
John

Hoary Alyssum

Hog Peanut

8-6 Grapevine Looper moth

8-6
A pretty little moth called the Grapevine Looper rests on a Virginia Creeper, and in the woods saprophytic Spotted Coral-root is flowering … but a bit obscurely.
John

Grapevine Looper moth

Spotted Coral-root

8-5 Checkered Plantain

8-5
Checkered Rattlesnake Plantain and Three-bird Orchids are in flower. In Vermont Three-bird orchids are found only in this area - mostly in Dummerston!
John

Checkered Rattlesnake Plantain

Three-bird Orchid

8-4 Spotted Joe-pye Weed

8-4
Spotted Joe-pye Weed is in flower and a Brown-hooded Owlet caterpillar - a species often found on goldenrods and asters - waits for the cover of darkness before feeding.
John

Joe-pye Weed

Brown-hooded Owlet caterpillar

8-3 Dwarf Sumac

8-3
Dwarf, AKA shining, Sumac is in flower and attracting pollinators, Ground Nut is opening the first of its heavily scented flowers and a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth nectared on Bee Balm in my kitchen garden.
John

Dwarf Sumac

Ground Nut

Hummingbird Moth on Bee Balm