gray, spelled g r a y

I mentioned lenticels once before - the little spots that trees use for gas exchange. The ones on black cherry (& many - all? - other cherry species) are distinctly horizontal. You can see that here, how they look like little white sideways dashes on the trunk.

(3/3)

Black Cherry is an early successional tree, among the 1st to appear when forests start to regrow. Many people think of it as weedy.

But it hosts over 450 species of caterpillar, & 33 bird species eat its fruit. (Plus a few more eat those caterpillars!)

(2/3)

#backyardforest #gardeningforwildlife

Several branches of a small tree curve upward in a narrow cluster, the branches medium to dark brownish-gray with small white horizontal lines, with several branches catching the late afternoon sun and showing a muted shine on their right sides. The roofs of two houses appear behind the tree, as well as part of the upper story of the house on the left. The tops of other small trees just come into the frame near the bottom, and a clear blue sky is behind all of it.

Today’s photo was taken looking up into the branches of one of our black cherry trees (Prunus serotina). By the time I went out, just these & a few other tall plants were still catching the sunlight, & I liked the way the branches shone here.

(1/3)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants

#SuperbOwl

Me eating a grape:

"I know that Henry James dictated his last novels to a lady who sat in the room with him, typing while he dictated, which must have been one of the most monstrous experiences for the lady you could imagine, having The Golden Bowl dictated to you at the keyboard."

(Reynolds Price)

Typing for Love or Money: The Hidden Women’s Labor behind Modern Literary Masterpieces Taking dictation, revising manuscripts, typing copies, literary amanuenses often labour for little compensation and even less recognition. Christine Jacobson explores the neglected efforts of women li...

#womenshistory #literaryhistory

Have fuuuuun!

Getting a picture today was challenging, even aside from the wind. The sheet of ice on top has really hardened, and I couldn’t venture out of old footprints. It took me a solid 5 minutes to figure out if I could get off the back step!

(3/3)

The shapes of two small curving twigs are melted into a layer of bluish snow.

We have lots of these shapes… here are some more!

(2/3)

The curved shape of a twig with buds sticking out here and there is melted down perhaps an inch into a layer of bluish snow. The dark-colored twig is partially visible at the bottom of the crevice it has formed.

Today’s photo is of a twig that has melted its way down through the snow. I guess the darker color of the twig causes them to absorb that little bit more heat.

To me it looks like something from the game Operation.

(1/3)

#2026photos

Vernal Pools Book — Steven David Johnson - Conservation Photography

“Just 25 years ago, the ‘vernal pool’ habitat concept was hardly even found in the lexicon of natural resource professionals in the mid-Atlantic region, much less known by the general public.

“We can’t save what we don’t understand and value . . . .”

#vernalpools #amphibians #invertebrates

Today’s is some of our yarrow (Achillea borealis) peeking through a hole in the snow, green as can be & ready for spring.

I tried to use a long exposure, but my hands shake too much, & it really didn’t capture the green anyway, so I had to use flash.

(2/2)

#nativeplants

Small feathery green fronds of a plant are shown among many dead stems, brown leaves, and other old bits of plant matter. At the lower and right edges of the photo, areas of icy snow are visible.

We went to a movie after work today, & it was quite dark when we got home. Between that & the snow’s surface being frozen solid again, I didn’t want to venture off the sidewalk, so photo subjects were limited!

(1/2)

#2026photos

🎵🎶Friday morning vibe:

They say we been lookin’ for illegal immigrants, can we check your car? / I say you know it’s funny I think we were on the same boat back in 1694

🎶🎵

For various reasons I don’t think we could put one along the full length of our current fence, but I hope we can make it work somehow. And meanwhile that Yardenalities webinar the other day gave me ideas for how to transition from dead hedge to fencing where we might need to.

(3/3)

#deadhedge

If creating a dead hedge along our property line, our idea would be to make the side facing the neighbors very tidy and straight, and let some short branches stick out on our side to provide perches for birds.

(2/3)

#gardeningforwildlife

Sticks and branches ranging in size from the thickness of a pencil to perhaps an inch thick and in a variety of grays, browns, and reddish tones, all more or less straight, are shown in close-up, oriented horizontally in a stack.

Today’s picture shows some of the colors and textures of the material we collected, trimmed, and stacked toward (we hope) using in a dead hedge.

Dead hedges can range from very neat to very haphazard, but because we are in a town setting, we would aim for the neater end!

(1/3)

#2026photos

Beautiful!

Oh, drat. I had an interesting webinar to join this evening and I lost track of time. ☹️

Guess I’ll wait for the recording!

(& look forward to the next ones in the series… which I will attempt to make better notes about!)

#VNPS #nativeplants #virginianativeplants

Yeah, I should clarify that every oak that had its buds snipped off was no more than maybe 8 inches high max, with most being more like 4 or 6. So between that & the appearance, rabbit does seem likely.

That tracks. I wish I had video of the groundhog among the random plants by the porch, sitting up like a little person, reaching out and grabbing every plant within reach with both its little hands and shoving them in its face. 😂

Also the ones nearest the house weren’t touched, & given that the groundhog lives under the porch, he doesn’t usually shy away from eating things near the house. 😂 Another argument for rabbit perhaps?

I’m not sure who would be most likely to eat oak buds & whether one could tell the difference based on the seedling’s appearance. These seemed neatly snipped - maybe rabbit?

Very true, particularly in regards to deer! (I’m not knowledgeable on numbers for other species.)

In our case, we’re smack in the middle of town & *generally* don’t have deer. (Saw one in the parking lot behind us once years ago.) Most likely culprits in our yard seem to be groundhog or rabbit?

It makes sense to protect them for a little while, so they can feed more critters when they get big.

And in this little tree’s case, so its leaves can again turn the most gorgeous deep red you’ve ever seen when next fall comes around.

(4/4)

#backyardforest

When gardening with natives, one of the goals is to become part of the food web. It’s *good* when critters munch on your plants! It means you’re achieving part of what you set out to do!

…that said, when a plant is very small, even a little feeding can harm it.

(3/4)

#gardeningforwildlife

I intended to surround it with a cage of chicken wire to protect it from being munched on again this winter, but winter got here too quickly. With snow on the ground, I’ve worried it was even more at risk, so I was eager to check on it today, and so glad to find it safe so far!

(2/3… or 4)

Several stems of a tiny seedling tree emerge only a few inches from melted holes in a blanket of snow. The stems are dark grayish-brown, mottled in places with lighter gray or beige. A couple of the stems appear dead, but most are tipped with buds that appear viable.

Today’s picture is a little black oak (Quercus velutina) I put in the ground the autumn before last. Last winter, something nibbled every bud off of it (and most of our other oak seedlings too) - but in spring it pushed out new buds and grew!

(1/3)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants

I was meant to be in the office but woke with a migraine so went back to bed under Nurse Lola’s excellent care. She is an APP (Advanced Purring Provider). Much better now and working from home. 😂