Wild Wild Woods

 

This wildflower was finished blooming and was forming seeds. But its seed head sprouted green leaves!  Fascinated, I looked closer.  Some of...

Blossoming among the grasses and rushes around the pond are Blue Vervain, Culvers Root, Wild Bergamot, Evening Primrose. Seed heads of Penst...

Northern Blue Flag Iris versicolor bloomed in June at the edge of the pond. Now, in July, seed pods have formed. When they are ripe, we...

Before June, dandelion flowers are one of a few important food source for pollinators, providing both nectar and pollen for bumblebees and h...

  Birds are already pecking out the sunflower seeds (top) and goldenrod flowers are releasing each seed with pappus, a tuft of hair that hel...

If you would walk around this pond today, you might see many insects on the flowers.   Along with searching for a meal, they also carry poll...

Scouring Rush Equisetum hyemale grows in the wetland around the pond.  It is also called 'horsetail'. This plant's ancestors ha...

Small wildflowers grow in the riparian area surrounding the pond. Some are invisible to the casual observer because of their small stature, ...

Some of the wildflowers need special treatment before they can reproduce.  This is not the desired form of 'special treatment' for p...

 Some plants stand through winter, displaying their structure and form with monochrome colors frosted in snow.

 

  I have been wandering the riparian buffer and clipping some of the wildflower seed heads to distribute them around the pond. Some native w...

Autumn chores for me include wandering the riparian buffer around the pond and assisting dissemination of wildflower seeds.  Some native pla...

Even while fading and going to seed, the Bur Marigolds Bidens cernua nod as their seed load gets heavier.  They are called 'Nodding Bur...

The Blue Vervain blossoms have mostly gone to seed. In the buffer around the pond, they've been blooming since mid-July. The flowers of ...

Queen Anne's Lace Daucus carota is a member of the carrot family.  There are several of these tall striking 'wild carrot' pl...

The Musk Thistle Carduus nutans I've been watching since May is now blooming.  The plant is more than 5 feet tall and branched out reg...

Daisy-like flowers are scattered here and there around the pond.  Most are the Ox-eye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare,  a common wild flower. ...

Hiding in the reeds, unsure of what to do next, these three young Red-winged Blackbirds are waiting for instructions from a parent.  They fl...