gooseberries

Jack in the Pulpit

 The Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants in the wild wild woods have finished flowering.  The 1/4" berries cluster and will stay on the stalk until they ripen to red in the autumn.  Since there are many young plants around the mature ones, it seems the self-seeding process has been successful in recent years.

a walk in the woods

The warm weather and frequent rains have been good for the green carpet in the woods.  Now that green carpet is beginning to bloom.  But it requires a close look!  These blossoms on Enchanter's Nightshade Circaea lutetiana are just 1/8" to 1/4" across.  Each blossom has only 2 petals but often looks like four.  The short white hairs will become stiff hooked hairs as the blossom changes to a fruit capsule containing two seeds; the hairs will allow the seeds to cling to anything passing by.  Tiny but smart when it comes to species survival.

milkweed and tomatoes

My garden has been invaded by Common Milkweed Asclepias syriaca that used to grow closer to the woods.  I usually let some of the stems come up inside the fence; they bloom among the herbs and vegetables so their scent fills the air as I weed and tend the crops.  This week, they are beginning to open and release that fragrance!  The garden is a delight of tomato vines, greens, beans, peas, squash vines, and scented herbs.

borage blooming among the tomato vines

pollinator on tomato blossom

Northern Cardinals

This Spring, the pair of Northern Cardinals claiming the wild wild woods as their nesting territory came often to the tray feeder. The female is a lovely young thing.  Her mate sports a strange mix of feathers, not the usual intense red coat of feathers.  Maybe he is a very young male who has not grown into his full adult colors.  In any case, she felt he was up to the task of helping her raise some offspring.



This week, they are bringing their two youngsters to the seed tray.

NestWatch: 7 Wren nestlings

One of the nestboxes we watch is used this Spring by House Wrens Troglodytes aedon.  Seven eggs hatched on June 8.  Today the cam recorded the adults feeding three times within two minutes.  The adult Wren is only 4.5 to 5 inches long.  She feeds spiders, beetles, caterpillars, earwigs, flies and other insects to her tiny hatchlings.  (MP4 video)

In this video, you can see the wriggling legs of the insects she brings in.  Wrens keep their nests clean; they wait for the young birds to expel a fecal sac (birdie diaper, poop bag).  Until the young birds are 4 or 5 days old, the parents may eat the sacs since the baby's digestive tracts are not very efficient and the sacs may still contain nutrition.  Later, they'll carry them away from the box and drop them. This way, the nest lining stays clean and healthy for the crowded clutch of young Wrens.

woodland mushrooms

NestWatch: 7 Wren eggs

One of the nestboxes we watch is used this Spring by House Wrens Troglodytes aedon.  She has been incubating these seven eggs for nearly two weeks. The male sits in the tree nearby to guard the nest.

caterpillar

My knowledge of garden pests seems to have evaporated over winter . . .
This 2-inch-long small green worm with a silvery stripe would usually be difficult to detect on green plants, but this one was on a native Penstemon plant with rich maroon stems and leaves.
Since there is so much concern about loss of butterflies and bees, I want to encourage any that I can.
To my chagrin, I realized it is a cabbage looper! 
This caterpillar is the larval form of the white cabbage moth, Trichoplusia ni.  They love plants in the veggie garden -- broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, collard greens, potato, tomato, spinach, and cucumbers.  They typically eat holes in the leaves and hide out on the bottom side of the foliage.