While I was in my garden, talking to Sandy Bradley on the phone, this Tiger Swallowtail visited the Passiflora and had a snack.  It stayed long enough for me to get a bunch of pictures.  You can see how big they both are, about 4 inches across.

 

Tiger Swallowtails will find nectar in all the flowers in our garden:  Marigolds, Passiflora, Zinnias;  but when it's time to lay eggs, the females will go to the Tulip Poplar and Wild Cherry trees.  These are the host plants, providing food for the caterpillars.  The caterpillars will stay on the host plants until they are ready to cocoon.  When they emerge as adult butterflies, they will feed on nectar plants.  Nectar plants are just about everything that's blooming:  Echinacea, Black eyed Susies, Marigolds, Poppies, Cosmos, Coreopsis, Joe Pye weed, New York Ironweed, etc.......

 

I'm so glad I let the Passiflora grow.  This Tiger Swallowtail is too. 

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is Max.  He did NOT drive up here by himself.  

 

Sal came to share Happy Hour on the porch, and Max came along for the ride. He sat up every once in a while to make sure Sal was still here, but mostly he was content to sleep in the Jeep.  

 

Just as a warning:  don't approach the Jeep;  Max thinks it belongs to him.   Good boy, MAX.  

 

 

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

 

 

 

We saw these mushrooms the other day while collecting Chanterelles.  Seek told me they are Trumpet mushrooms.  OK.

 

I just looked up Trumpets in my mushroom book, and yep, it's true.  The picture in the book is almost an exact copy of this one.  It says:  vase-shaped and related to Chanterelles!!!  And they are fragrant.  Didn't notice that.  Now I need to go back there and smell them.  

 

Edibility?  The field guide says Choice.  What does that mean?  Your choice to eat them or not, or does it mean choice like cuts of beef.  I need to think about this.....I am not crazy enough to eat anything I can't identify POSITIVELY.  Besides, these aren't all that tempting.

 

So, don't worry about me:  I am a bit curious, but also EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Here is a good reason to take your walk early in the morning, while it's still foggy.  

 

We were approaching the top of Five Forks Drive, the last big climb on our loop walk, when we saw this.  Love it!!!  Got our picture, took a breather, and continued on.  Home by 9 o'clock.  

 

What a beautiful way to start the day.  

 

HAPPY HIKING!!!

 

We were admiring Rosalie's zinnias, looking for deadheads to gather for seeds, and this Spicebush Swallowtail came to visit too.  

 

I can never tell from the description in the book which is the male and which is the female, (this one is definitely one or the other) but I am sure it is a Spicebush Swallowtail, also called "Green-clouded Swallowtail."  See the greenish cloud?  

 

Another way I know that this is a Spicebush Swallowtail is because there are a bunch of Spicebushes down on the Creekside Trail, and we've seen their caterpillars down there.  Spicebush is most distinctive in early spring when it's blooming.  I'll get you a picture then.  

 

Meanwhile, I love seeing butterflies in my garden, and all around the neighborhood.  They feel like flying flowers.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Nancy and I were walking on the trail the other day, and noticed LOTS of this grass growing.  I asked Seek to identify it for us, and learned that it is called Japanese Stiltgrass.  So when I got home I looked it up, and this is what I found.

 

Its botanical name is Microstegium vimineum.  It is an annual grass with common names like Packing grass and Nepalese browntop, and has adapted itself to live in low light conditions.  Stiltgrass is native to South and East Asia, and has become an invasive species here.  This is what I read in Wikipedia:  

 

 

White tail deer don't browse the Stiltgrass, but eat other species nearby, opening the space for the Stiltgrass to spread and take over.  It is also a common habitat for ticks, so be sure to check your feet and legs after wading through the tall grass.  

 

I have always loved seeing this greenery growing on the forest floor.  Now, maybe not so much.  But, it's better to know than not know.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I met a new neighbor this week.  Denise Mann is a photographer, and she snapped this picture of deer in her yard.  She has other pictures to share, and you can see them by logging in and going to her profile page under the Five Forks neighbor directory.

 

I hope you will enjoy her pix and welcome her to the neighborhood.  She told me that she will be at the annual meeting next week. 

 

Thanks Denise for sharing. 

 

Look around, and you can see these "weeds" growing everywhere.  And they're blooming right now, along roadsides, in meadows, down by the creek.

 

Botanically, it is Eupatorium purpureum, and is in the sunflower family.  Its common name is Joe Pye Weed, or Queen of the Meadow, Gravel Root, Kidney Root, and Purple Boneset.  It is indigenous to the Eastern United States, and grows to a height of 12 feet or more.

 

Joe Pye Weed is very attractive to butterflies, bees, and other nectar-eating insects, and is a larval host plant for Clymene moth.  

 

Joe Pye was an herb doctor in New England during colonial times.  He used Eupatorium to treat a variety of ailments, as some of the common names suggest.   And folklore says that American colonists used it to treat typhus outbreaks.  In the 18th century Native Indians used it in the treatment of kidney stones and other urinary tract ailments.

 

Let's steer clear of the medicinal uses for Joe Pye Weed; and just enjoy its beauty in the meadows.  That's my plan.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

OK,  it's August, and we still have Golden Delicious apples!!  Yay!!!  Our squirrel-proofing efforts are paying off.  From this picture you can't see all the electricity and flashing that we've installed, or all the neighboring tree limbs that we've cut,  but it's working!!!!!  SO FAR!!!!!

 

The limbs on the tree are so heavy with apples, that they are hanging down, but not breaking.  We check them every day.  Harvest time is at hand.  

 

These are THE best apples.  We just haven't had any for the past two years....THIS YEAR WE ARE GOING TO HAVE APPLES!!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Another type of winter squash:  Cushaw.  It is delicious!!!

 

Cushaw is an heirloom variety of squash.  That means when you grow it, and harvest the seeds, they will germinate TRUE to the variety.  Last year when I was in Virginia, we went to "the farm" in Gloucester, and I bought a Cushaw squash.  We cooked it over the winter, made soup, and it was delish!!!! I saved the seeds.

 

So naturally, this spring, I planted several seeds along with acorns and butternuts.  Fortunately I planted these in the shady part of the garden, and they are doing great!!!  One vine has 4 squashes on it.  Each one weighing about 1-2 pounds.  Big enough for us.  

 

Really!!!!  Isn't it pretty?  Oh, the plastic underneath?  That's to keep the ground bugs from burrowing into it.  Best to keep them off the ground.  Don't know how they manage that at the farm.  But in my small-ish garden, it's easy enough.  

 

HAPPY  GARDENING!!!