Laura Newton

In solidarity with the Old North Church and those fighting against tyranny, we rang our old train bell at 6 PM. It rang through the forest,the valley too. Maybe just the animals heard but it felt awesome! #LetFreedomRing

I love that the leaves start out purple and turn green as the plant grows, while the flowers turn pink then purple. I wonder if the purple in early leaves is UV protective for the plant since the tree leaves are not yet out to provide shade. Idk as I'm not a botanist. Just guessing!

In SW virginia mountains, they bloom in the fall. We planted 2 that we thought were straight species 3 years ago. One is blooming now for the first time, and the flowers are not the same color as the wild ones. So ours must be a cultivar. Ugh.

Purple leaves are emerging from silty soil among twigs and leaves. Most leaf litter is gone, having washed away during a flash flood event in nearby creek 2 weeks ago.

March 1, 2025 Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) emerging! The last 2 years they were up by Feb 14. Botetourt County, Virginia
#nativeplants #BlueRidgeMountains #virginianativeplants

Interesting. Thank you for the post

Protest sign reads NAZI NEPO BABIES OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT

Bearded veteran holds flag for Veterans ForPeace org

Sign with a grotesque likeness of trump as a queen

Transgender flag waves below the US and virginia flags on top of a government building

Virginia State Capitol, Richmond! Protesting Trump/Musk A great group of energetic, peaceful protestors on Feb 5 2025!
#USprotest #50501 #feb5 #protest #RVA

For the past 8 years or so, I've returned to this Toni Morrison quote again and again.
At this link, Morrison tells the story of how she arrived at this sentiment back when George W was elected for a 2nd term.
www.themarginalian.org/2016/11/15/t...

Wow! That tree! Stunning branch structure and size!

Wow! This is fantastic!

I completely agree! It is a special treat to spot a pileated and their red markings stand out against the winter gray.

The pileated woodpecker is painted with watercolors. The male bird is shown in profile, gripping a tree trunk. He has a bright red crest on top of the head, a long thick gray beak, white on the cheeks and chin, a red patch on the side of the face. The body is black and white.

Bird Art Week at Cornell Ornithology so here is the pileated woodpecker that I painted yesterday. I was inspired by 3 of these awesome dinosaurs that were on our black maple this week.
#birdartweek #birds #SciArt #blueridgemountains #pileatedwoodpecker #trees #watercolorpainting

I came here to also suggest Wood Thrush! Ian is very knowledgeable so we make at least 2 trips a year to talk to him and purchase natives that interest us.

Hi Pandra.
When you're ready to add more nurseries to the list, the Virginia Native Plant Society maintains an excellent statewide list at www.vnps.org. Two that specialize in local ecotype native plants are Moulton Hot Natives (linktr.ee/moultonhotna...) and LERN (www.lern-rva.org).

Nighttime picture with long exposure shows large oak tree with bare branches against blue sky. The bright moon, not seen in the picture, casts shadows of the branches on the white snow covered ground that look like exposed roots

Fun picture of our backyard white oak, Quercus alba, under the full January wolf moon. Taken at 11 PM, the branch shadows make awesome root-like patterns.
#virginianativeplants #trees #moon #nativeplants

A single green leaf coming up through brown leaf litter

Underside of single leaf is a beautiful shade of purple seen against the brown leaf litter.

Cranefly orchid, Tipularia discolor. While we have tons of puttyroot, this is the only cranfly we have found so I went to check on it today. Alive and well! I love the purple color!
#nativeplants #blueridge

Pen sketch of a goby fish with large, downturned lips and a striped body

A wee goby. This lovely was caught by seining in the brackish York River in September, kept a short while in a tank for student observation, then released. I love the mouth and think the sketch shows it well while the fin proportions are not quite accurate.
#SundayFishSketch #SciArt #ChesapeakeBay

Interesting! Thanks! We did have a serious drought this summer with periods of heavy, extended rains in early fall. The mountain laurel, rhododendrons, and blueberry bushes near these fetterbushes are not flowering. Wish I had been up there last spring to see who flowered and who didn't!

Small white bell shaped flower clusters

Green leathery, oblong leaves arranged alternatively

Thicket of these bushes flowering with leafless trees and mountainside in the background

I think this is mountain fetterbush, Pieris floribunda. Location in #BlueRidgeMountains of Virginia, elevation about 2500 feet, bushes about 2 to 5 ft tall in thickets along with mountain laurel.
So confusing because they are blooming on Nov 16! Any thoughts? #nativeplants #blueridge

Thank you! I love that there is a name for this smell!

Thank you! That means a lot to me.

Red maple leaf watercolor shows yellow veins, orange red leaf color with black dots and spots. Sugar maple leaf watercolor is similar with more yellow coloration.

I tried to capture the colors of 2 side by side maples on an October hike. In reality, they both had a more brilliant red but this was what I came up with.
🐡🌱 #SciArt #nativeplants #trees #maples #McAfee'sKnob

A favorite fish of mine! Love how they hop and walk on the substrate. Just plain cute!

This is one of my favorite fishes. They are about the size of my finger and seem to have personality. I love how they use their fins to hop and "walk" on the substrate. And let's face it, they are just plain cute!

Pen drawing of a fish in 2 poses. A profile and siting up looking forward

Feather blennie in 2 poses. From the lower York River close to the Chesapeake Bay. It seemed to be posing for the camera while in the temporary observation tank. #SciArt #SundayFishSketch

The decision making aspect of dinner is the hardest part for me. Like a chemical rxn takes activation energy, dinner decisions require too much energy

Woman standing next to a very large bur oak.

This is me with the Alwood Oak, planted in 1895. So big we couldn't get it all in the picture. I love it so much. This fall we went back just to see its acorns and they are as magnificent as the tree itself! Thanks for for highlighting this awesome species!

Have you seen the magnificent bur oak on the campus of Virginia Tech?

Pink alpenglow at sunrise on blueridge mountain with full moon above among dark clouds

Western sky at sunrise. I caught a nice #alpenglow on the mountain with the full moon setting. This scene only lasted maybe a minute. What a great way to start the day! #moon #fullmoon

Full moon setting over dark blue ridge mountains with high gloomy clouds above

Full October moon, setting at around 7:15 AM in our western sky last month. I'm hoping for a visible awesome moonset for the full moon tomorrow morning! #moon #blueridgemountains