The new year started off with an unseasonal day – almost 40 degrees and sunshine. By now we would be expecting things to be encased in ice or some amount of snow, and the garden thoughts would be reserved for browsing seed catalogs and planning the spring. Not that there is a lack of yard […]
Archive for the ‘Interesting’ Category
Hello new year
Posted in Interesting, Rants & Raves on January 1, 2024 | Leave a Comment »
Some more olfactory favorites
Posted in Flora, Interesting on July 11, 2023 | Leave a Comment »
It is now early July and flowers are starting to appear in bigger numbers. I feel this is a bit later than last year (that was a super hot and dry summer). I have yet to see monarchs in big numbers this year, the damp and overcast weather which we been having for a while […]
Unintended residents
Posted in Flora, Interesting on July 9, 2023 | 2 Comments »
Unless you start off with a virgin barren plot of land, and radiate the hell out of it, you are going to be contending with other plants, whether you like it or not. Some of these could be have been planted by a former home owner, and these are now established and adding wild life […]
All creatures great and small
Posted in Fauna, Interesting on June 13, 2023 | Leave a Comment »
As usual, it has been quite some time since my last post, and at this time of year that means I am outside. The garden is doing well although we already had several drought spells. We will see what July brings. A mid summer drought that lasted almost two months last year is still impacting […]
Cherry on top
Posted in Flora, Interesting on December 20, 2022 | Leave a Comment »
Well, not exactly, as white oak is really the dominant species where I live. But there are other trees in the understory and for the longest time I could not identify this tree with a smooth grey bark. I finally figured out that it is a Pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica). It is classified as an […]
Repeated lion sighting
Posted in Edible, Flora, Interesting on November 14, 2022 | Leave a Comment »
Well, not exactly. But I am lucky enough to get the beautiful lion’s mane fungus coming back this year. Hericium erinaceus is an edible fungus that looks out of this world. Maybe ‘lucky’ is not the word I should use as it is living on the timbers that hold together a stairway alongside the house, […]
Make room for milkweed!
Posted in Interesting on July 19, 2021 | Leave a Comment »
In my case, I have been doing exactly that for a number of years. Many years ago I found if difficult to even find these plants. Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) was still being sprayed and removed, and you could not yet find swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) in the garden centers. Dial forward a few years […]
Packera aurea (golden ragwort)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on July 19, 2021 | Leave a Comment »
This was an unusual plant to find at a plant store in October last year, but they were on sale and the basal leaves had a nice dark green color, so I took them home and planted them among the pines and black cherries. Much to my surprise they survived and thrived. The plant adds […]
The last of the spiderworts
Posted in Flora, Interesting on July 19, 2021 | Leave a Comment »
Tradescantia virginiana has done well in the woodland garden over the years, but the plants that get more sun have been prolific bloomers. Of course, with the wet weather we have been enduring they all are looking a bid sad and wet right now. I am planning on adding more spiderworts later this year, in […]
Keep hammering away at invasives
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Invasive, Rants & Raves on May 29, 2020 | Leave a Comment »
This is a topic I have talked about in the past, but I was reminded of invasive species when I encountered this setup to evaluate the control/eradication of Japanese knotweed along the CCRT path in Eastham. the contraption consists of nothing more than a wire mesh laid over knotweed roots. I guess the idea is […]