Signs of the Season

While eating dinner this evening I noticed a grackle singing from the top of an oak tree, my first grackle for the season.  Deciding to take a short sundown stroll after the dishes were done I checked our flowerbeds and found the daffodils just beginning to poke their heads above the soil. 

As my wife and I strolled along we noticed two robins hunting worms along side of our garden, another first for the year.  The sunset this evening was one certainly worth savoring.

The honking of migrating Canada Geese drew our attention to the western sky.  The dark silhouettes moving rapidly across the colorful evening sky vividly tells the story of the changing of the seasons.  

   

Waiting

Waiting for the next breeze to spread its seed far and wide the tiny parachutes attached to each seed glow, backlit by the late evening sun.

Tartarian Honeysuckle: an Invasive Species

The ripe berries of the Tartarian Honeysuckle appear to glow with their own internal light in this backlit photograph.

Tartarian Honeysuckle was introduced into this country first as an ornamental and later for wildlife habitat improvement. Although it will crowd out native plants it does provide a huge mast crop that is a favorite seasonal food for many species of song birds.

As to whether it is ultimately beneficial or harmful is for someone more educated on the subject than I to decide. As for me I am content to allow them to grow in my fence rows providing a multitude of meals for my little feathered friends.

Teasel: A Crown of Thorns

As I was composing this image, I was struck by the thought that the Teasel head appears as a Crown of Thorns.

Teasel, a prickly plant of the over grown meadows and roadsides is great to photograph but beware of touching. Last year dry brown teasel appeared many times in the blogs I visit regularly attesting to its popularity as a photographic subject.

Tom over at Wiggers World posted about it, describing its past use in carding wool along with photographs of crafts created by his better half. After beating the seeds out of the dried heads my wife has successfully used Teasel in her autumn flower arrangements.

However stately and beautiful a Teasel plant may be, I can attest to the fact that it is no fun to bare-handed grab a bale of hay containing dried Teasel.

Palm Frond

No series of Florida photographs would be complete without that of a Palm Frond. The sunlight filtering through provided attractive highlights on this particular leaf. I captured this shot at Hollis Gardens which is located in Lakeland beside Lake Mirror.

I jokingly refer to Lake Mirror as the “cement pond” (an inside joke for those old enough to remember the Beverly Hillbillies). Lake Mirror is a small lake surrounded on three sides by a concrete wall & walkway and on all sides by city.

Snowy Teasel

Beautiful to the eye but prickly to the touch

Teasel provides photographic opportunities year round.

New Leaves in Mid Winter

Imagine my surprise at finding new leaves in the middle of our Pennsylvania winter. Nestled in a well sheltered hollow with a good southern exposure, I found these tiny leaves growing on a Multiflora Rose.

Multiflora Rose, once recommended for planting as a living cattle fence and also used as crash barriers in the medians of divided highways, is now considered a noxious invasive alien plant species.

Although the Multiflora Rose has fallen from favor, I enjoyed finding this token of the season of new life just around the corner.

Stripes, but no Stars

Hanging like flags from the top of a small bush, the stripes on these dead leaves caught my attention.

Enduring the cold dreary days of winter is made much easier by searching for treasures such as this that are not available at any other time of year

Marsh Grass

The cap of fresh snow bows the head of a stalk of marsh grass

In a few short months the lush greenery of spring will abound; but for now I am content with photographing the subtle beauty of winter.

With Heads Bowed Down

Even bowed down in death, the snow-capped thistle heads hold promise of life beginning anew.

Autumn Bulrushes

The soft browns of the bulrushes against the small lake in the background caught my attention. This shot was taken moments before the sun set.

Backlit Fern Frond

While on our Blogger Family Photoshoot I noticed Amy shooting some ferns whose fronds had begun to change colors. After she finished I took my turn shooting and selected this single backlit frond.

I wonder if she captured a better image than I

Poke Berries

Pretty as Poison

Foxtail

Simple yet Elegant

Mayapple

I remember my Grandfather teaching me to look for mushrooms among the Mayapples. Each spring Granddad would make numerous trips on his old Ford Ferguson tractor to the southwestern end of his creek bottom to search among the Mayapples for white morel mushrooms.

Frequently he would be rewarded with a number of the delicious delicacies. Grandma would slice them in half and soak them in a pan of salt water overnight. The following day would find her rolling them in flour and browning them in her cast iron skillet. Granddad may have found them but the entire family loved to eat them. The tasty plate of mushrooms would disappear all too quickly!

I assume the mushrooms still grow there but they are camouflaged so well that I never was good at finding them. Today I was content to photograph the delicate blossom of the Mayapple

Backlit Poison Ivy

As the sun neared the horizon this evening I was struck by the beauty of its warm light shinning through these new ivy leaves. After reviewing Chad’s latest post I felt this shot could benefit from some creative PhotoShopping

Colt's Foot....An Early Bloomer

Colt’s Foot is one of the earliest blooming flowers in my area. Its perky yellow blossoms are frequently confused with dandelion but closer examination reveals that it is a completely different plant. Colt’s Foot grows on road banks and other areas of poor soil.

Where I find beauty others only find problems. I did a Google search for it and the first hit was, Colt’s Foot, Recognition and Eradication.

It makes me wonder if we humans are frequently too hasty to eradicate life that may not fit our concept of how our world (or our garden) should be.

Lichens

Tiny lichens cling tenaciously to the face of the rock. Slowly, ever so slowly they break down the rock face forming new soil.

The Common Mullen Cont.

The stately Mullen, considered a weed by many, stands with its flower spike erect. It has been used as a medicinal plant in the past for the treatment of many ailments. Native Americans are reported to have used its large leaves as bandages.

This photo show a large group of first year plants with a few second year plants mixed in.

As is frequently said, Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder. While many see the Mullen as a noxious weed I see it as one more beautiful plant in this wondrous creation that we have the privilege to spend our few years in.

The Common Mullen

The Mullen stands alone in a field. It’s pretty yellow flowers are long past, the leaves which once were a greenish gray are now brown. Where flowers once bloomed, now only dry husk remain. This Mullen has served its purpose; the seeds of a new generation have been spread.

The Common Mullen is an interesting plant. It is a biennial, the first year it grows only leaves, then flowers and dies the following year. I have learned of a study began in 1879 where seeds were placed in jars of sand and buried. They are dug up and a few planted every twenty years. The Mullen seed is one of the few varieties that continue to germinate well over a century after having been collected.

Before we grab the hoe to remove the next Mullen we find in our garden, perhaps we should stop to consider that just maybe the plant that produced this seed grew in the days of our Great Grandparents or before!