7.07.11 Round-leaved Sundews were in bloom today. The flower stalk uncoils and diminutive white blossoms open, one per day. Insects become trapped in the sticky juice produced by the glandular hairs on the leaves.

7.07.11 Retraction! In yesterday's post, I mis-identified this flower. It is Fringed Loosestrife - noticeable with a hand lens, on the lower leaf stems there is a definite "fringe".

7-7

Today Ragged Robin - somewhat rain bedraggled - was in flower.

John

7.05.11 A sunny spot gives a home to three varieties of Loosestrife. Although this one is named Hybrid Loosestrife, it is not really a hybrid.

Butter-and-Eggs, Toadflax, of the Snapdragon family, is starting to blossom in gravelly roadsides.


This Canada lily looks so exuberant, it is appropriate for fireworks and July 4.

7-6

Today Ragged Fringed Orchid opened flowers in the field behind my house, and Monkey Flower opened in a nearby wet meadow.

John

6.30.11 Spin the color wheel and it lands on Yellows: Yellow Loostrife aka Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris) and Canada Lily (Lilium canadense). Then one from yesterday: Motherwort- the only alien in the bunch - in close-up, the profile is a definite clue as to the origin of the scientific name, Leonurus cardica. I can hardly wait for tomorrow's finds!

6.30.11 In the pink! Pipsissewa crowd a mossy bank; Partridgeberry, pink form, in damp moss: both were photographic challenges for me in the intermittent strong breeze.

6-23

Venus's Looking Glass - so named because its tiny black seeds resemble hand mirrors - opened a single flower to the rain today.

John

6.22.11 Some flowers look great in a warm summer rain. Such is the attractive Foxglove Beardtongue found along an otherwise dry bank.

6.20.11 A morning roaming Maple Valley turned up a few unexpected finds. Ladies' Tresses, Round-leaved Sundew, and Blue Toadflax pictured here were some of the visual treats. Coming upon two foraging grouse families and a fawn bedded down among the tall ferns added to the wonders.

A black bear prowling around the house at 7:45 p.m.. Sniffing the ground underneath the bird feeder that is up on a second-story deck. It finally took out its frustration on a bird house and ate baby chickadees for dinner.

6-10

Parasitic one-flowered Cancerroot AKA Ghost Pipe was flowering today in a samp, shady fieldside thicket in my neighborhood.

John

9:00 p.m. trip to the compost pile where i beaned a skunk on the nose with a watermelon rind. I didn't stick around for a closer "sighting."

5-29

Today was a good day for ditchweeds! Virginia Waterleaf was at its peak.

And this 2 ' high green-flowered orchid - tentatively identified as a Northern Green Orchid - stood tall on a hillside seep. I say tentatively identified because often it's easier to find wildflowers

than it is to name them, and I'm not certain about this one!

John

5-26

This morning I found this Wood Turtle trying to cross Rte. 30 just south of the covered bridge. It was healthy but frustrated by traffic. Its carapace measured 7 inches and the growth ridges on its scutes proved it to be at least 15 years old.

John

5-23

Mayapples are flowering. This one is in Bess and Charlie Richardson's yard.

John

5-22

Yellow Wood Sorrel, English Plantain and Bulbous Buttercup (shown) were flowering today.

High overhead a raven fledgling begged loudly as it pursued one of its parents across the sky.

And this American Copper butterfly worked the wild strawberry flowers.

John

5-21

Hairy Solomon's Seal (pictured), False Solomon's Seal, Wild Madder, Bugle (a garden escape), Robin's Plantain and Pink Azalea (pictured) all flowered either yesterday or today.

American Copper butterflies have emerged. A few warm days should bring a flood of lepidoptera over the coming week.

John

5-19

Today Herb Robert was starting to flower. And both pink and white varieties of Tartarian Honeysuckle - that aggressive alien invasive shrub - were bursting into bloom.

John

5-17

Clintonia AKA Bluebead Lily (pictured) is in flower. Also in flower are Downy Yellow Violet, Japanese Barberry, Wild Sarsparilla and Bog Chickweed.

John