Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed a number of common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) resting on the sedum flowers along my front walkway when I first walk outside in the early morning. As the season turns and the evenings get cooler, bumble bees start to slow down. Bees require a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to fly easily without using up all of their nectar stores; even overnight temperatures in the 50s or low 60s will…
Virginia meadow beauty (Rhexia virginica) is a small perennial wildflower, typically found in areas of sandy acidic soil or in low wet meadows. I often find them around the edges of cranberry bogs (active or abandoned). The plants pictured here were seen blooming at the edges of the restored wetlands where the cranberry bogs once were along the Childs River in Falmouth. The hot pink to magenta colored flowers always seem so fragile to me. I often have a hard…
So many of our wildflowers are relatively small and easily overlooked; blue toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis) is one of these. Common in “waste places”, sandy areas and the sides of roads, this little beauty is native to Canada and the eastern United States. Although the plant itself is typically a foot or two tall, its thin stem, narrow leaves, and tiny flowers (each only ~1/4 long), cause this wildflower to be easily overlooked. Next time you take a walk, give yourself…
Last weekend I visited the Paskamansett Woods in Dartmouth. The trail takes you to and across the Paskamansett River. The low lying area adjacent to the river (i.e., the floodplain), was dotted with new bright green growth. None of our native plants typically leaf out this early, so I wandered in to take a closer look. It turned out that these were the new leaves from Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna), also known as fig buttercup. Lesser Celandine is a low…
March is an unpredictable month. We’re just as likely to have a blizzard as we are to have a 60 degree sunny day. But even though there are still a few weeks left until the official start of spring, there are already many early signs of spring’s approach. Many of our year-round resident birds have started to sing in earnest, in preparation for defending a territory and finding a mate. The Carolina wren in my hard has been “tea-kettling” his…
Continuing my macro explorations from my previous posts (if you missed them, check them out here and here) I switched my focus to wildflowers. Admittedly, January isn’t the most obvious time to go looking for flowers, but many of our local species have persistent seed heads that can be found through the winter. And some of these, as you’ll see, are quite intricate when observed up close. And in at least one case, some flowers already have their spring buds ready…
At 9 months pregnant, my woods walking speed has slowed to almost a snail’s pace. But the beneficial side effect of this is that I notice tiny details I would’ve otherwise missed. On Friday, for example, I noticed a single strange seed pod mixed in among bear oak and huckleberry shrubs. This was a seed pod I’d never seed before, but I was hopeful that it’d be fairly easy to identify. It was part of a low-growing (only ~6-8 inches…
Everywhere you look, preparations are underway. Sometimes those actions are easily observable. For example, people are preparing for holiday gatherings and festivities, and gray squirrels are lining their nests for additional warmth and stashing away acorns in preparation for winter. Even within our own house, my husband and I have been doing our own preparations – getting ready for the birth of our first child (who’s due any day now!). But sometimes those preparations are more subtle, and require a…
While the majority of flowers have their peak bloom time in the summer months, the fall is the asters’ turn to shine. Although a quick look outside will leave no doubt that fall is here, with autumn colors and crunchy leaves falling to the ground, and insect numbers are definitely down, a number of important pollinator species, such as bees and moths are still active… and still need a source of food. Cold hardy late-blooming perennials, like asters, are a…
Much of Massachusetts was in some level of drought earlier this year. All other regions have since had enough rain to bounce back, but as of today, the Cape Cod Region is still classified as having “mild drought” conditions. Although there are numerous adverse impacts that result from a prolonged drought, one positive response is a big bloom year for the coastal plain pondshore plant communities, which thrive in the drawdown areas around pond perimeters in low water years. This…