Monthly Archives: June 2019

Callicarpa americana (Beautyberry)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 09, 2019 by Henry
Callicarpa americana (Beautyberry)

Callicarpa americana (Beautyberry)

This native shrub has self seeded in our back garden. I’m of two minds about it. The beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), also known as rench mulberry, sourbush, bunchberry, or purple beauty-berry, does have pretty fruit, from which it gets both its common and its generic name. On the other hand, it’s not really growing where I would have planted it. Every year I think about either taking it out or at least transplanting it to another part of the garden. It certainly grows strongly enough and would probably do well in another location. The flowers, shown here, are not very significant. The big clumps of purple berries that follow are quite nice, though.

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Mushroom

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 08, 2019 by Henry
Mushroom

Mushroom

Those of you who have followed my photographic endeavors for any length of time know that some days I just don’t have anything particularly interesting to share. That’s going to happen when you say you’re going to post a picture from every day. I suppose there are people whose lives are so varied that they always have something interesting going on, but my life has many days that are just like most of the others. I go to work and I come home. My commute doesn’t take me by any grand vistas and there are no mountains or waterfalls to be seen. My yard is fairly pedestrian and while I have flowers and bugs to photograph, it can all seem a bit the same from day to day. This is a mushroom that was in our back lawn, presumably growing on the decomposing roots of one of the trees that we have had to take down. Not much, but it’s one more glimpse of nature.

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Rove Beetle

Photograph taken on Friday, June 07, 2019 by Henry
Rove Beetle

Rove Beetle

I wen out again today to see what I could see. The sky was overcast so the sun wasn’t so hot. The dragonflies were also not about in such great numbers. I did get a few pictures,though, including some of this beetle that I think is a rove beetle, Family Staphylinidae, the first or second largest animal family, with somewhere around 56,000 species in 3500 genera. Only the ichneumon wasps, family Ichneumonidae is larger, with an estimated 60,000 species. Anyway, there are some 4,400 species of rove beetle in our area. You’d think you’d see them a lot more often.

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Plathemis lydia (Common Whitetail), Female

Photograph taken on Thursday, June 06, 2019 by Henry
<em>Plathemis lydia</em> (Common Whitetail), Female

Plathemis lydia (Common Whitetail), Female

It was a warm but beautiful day out today and I have a few minutes in the mid-afternoon so I thought I’d take a walk to the empty lot next to my building. The drainage pond that I generally go to was quite large, overflowing the banks it’s had most times I’ve been, but above it, the ground was fairly dry and I had no problems getting around. I saw a green heron (Butorides virescens) and there were quite a few redwing blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) about. There were also a lot of dragonflies flitting around over the water. I got down on the ground by the edge of the pond and watched them, taking a few pictures now and then. I couldn’t really get as close as I would have liked but I did enjoy watching this female whitetail (Plathemis lydia) laying eggs in the water.

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Orchard Spider (Leucauge venusta)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, June 05, 2019 by Henry
Orchard Spider (Leucauge venusta)

Orchard Spider (Leucauge venusta)

We’re moving from the flowers-of-spring period into the insects-of-summer. Along with the insects come those creatures that prey on them, most notably the spiders and related creatures. Of course, birds, bats, and even other insects prey on insects, but I have a special fascination with spiders. They are not, I am led to believe, universally admired. I suppose I understand that. Nevertheless, I think they are quite beautiful, at least some of them are. This is Leucauge venusta, the orchard orbweaver, and a common resident in our area. It’s so delicate and looks like it could be made of glass. It’s been said that you are never more then six feet from a spider. Even if that’s not literally true, it’s probably mostly true. Sleep well.

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Egyptian Walking Onion

Photograph taken on Tuesday, June 04, 2019 by Henry
Egyptian Walking Onion

Egyptian Walking Onion

I planted a few of these years ago at our old house, after having taken a few bulblets from the top of some growing in a garden we visited. A few years ago I decided to get rid of them, but that’s easier said than done. This one is growing in the grass outside the fenced herb garden that I made a while back. I think we need to be a bit more ruthless in pulling them up. They are interesting, though, and if we had a lot of space, I’d have a bunch. The stems, which are really tubular leaves, have flower clusters at the top. Then bulblets form and sometimes there are flower clusters growing from those bulblets. When the top becomes heavy from the size of the bulblets, the whole plant falls on its side, those bulblets take root and new plants spring up. It’s that spreading action that gives rise to the “walking” part of their name. Anyway, if you’d like some, feel free to ask and I’ll give you a few bulblets and you can start your own colony.

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Asclepias curassavica Orange

Photograph taken on Monday, June 03, 2019 by Henry
<em>Asclepias curassavica</em> Orange

Asclepias curassavica Orange

This butterfly weed, Asclepias curassavica, is also known as blood flower. Cathy recently bought a few plants in both orange (this one) and all yellow. Sadly, it is not hardy enough for in-ground planting as a perennial here, but it should do well in containers and brighten up the back patio. This one is in a container right outside our kitchen door and looks great against the green backdrop of Rudbekia growing around the patio. I especially like the bi-color nature of this one, although the all-yellow variety is nice, too.

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Hail Storm

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 02, 2019 by Henry
Hail Storm

Hail Storm

We don’t get hail all that often. When we do, the hail is generally small and the storm is generally brief. In today’s storm the hail was pretty large at first, with hail at least a half inch across and some more like three quarters or more. That didn’t last long and then the hail was more pea size, which is what you can see in this photo. That lasted a bit longer and then it was just rain after that, really coming down for a while. I enjoy storms, particularly since we live in relative safety and comfort. I wouldn’t have liked being out in this, though.

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Asiatic Lilies

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 01, 2019 by Henry
Asiatic Lilies

Asiatic Lilies

We have some Asiatic lilies in the bed where there used to be an oak tree in front of our house. The oak has been gone for long enough that I don’t remember when it was cut down (and I don’t feel like searching through my journal to find out). The lilies are doing quite well and they are surrounded by other plants which seems to have kept the deer and rabbits from eating them, which is nice. As you can see, they are a very hot orange and are quite spectacular. The tiger lilies, which won’t bloom for a while yet, are much taller and more obvious. These blooms are only about 18 inches from the ground and face upwards, which is terrific.

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