Monthly Archives: May 2020

Tradescantia virginiana (Spiderwort)

Photograph taken on Monday, May 11, 2020 by Henry
Tradescantia virginiana (Spiderwort)

Tradescantia virginiana (Spiderwort)

One of our favorite herbaceous perennials is the spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana). It’s a native and is easily grown in our gardens. In addition to the ‘standard’ versions, we have a few named varieties. This is one of the plain species and it’s lovely, of course. This one is right outside our back door and this is the first bloom of the year. I’ll almost certainly return to it later, when it has more flowers, or will post a photo of one of the other, slightly more exotic varieties. But they really don’t need much improving.

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Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 10, 2020 by Henry
Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

I know I’ve already had a picture this spring of the lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) from our garden but it’s blooming so well and so long that I thought I’d share another. We’re also in a little lull where there isn’t a lot new coming out, although it’s still changing. So, here’s another view of the little white bells of the lily of the valley, this time from the back garden, near the fence (not that it makes much difference, of course). Soon the flowers will be gone and even the leaves will fade in the coming heat of summer. We are near the southern limit of where it grows well. If you grow it here, it needs some shade to protect it from the heat of the summer sun but further north it does well in full sun.

We also have a terrific crop of Canadian thistle (Cirsium arvense) coming up among it (and many other places, as well) and it really needs to be dealt with. That’s a really problematical weed, having “a deep and wide-spreading root system with a slender taproot and far-creeping lateral roots.” (Source: Fire Effects Information System, US Forest Service). That same document also says that “new plants can also form from root fragments as short as 0.2 inch (6 mm),” which helps explain why it’s so hard to get rid of.

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Uvularia perfoliata (Perfoliate Bellwort)

Photograph taken on Saturday, May 09, 2020 by Henry
Uvularia perfoliata (Perfoliate Bellwort)

Uvularia perfoliata (Perfoliate Bellwort)

It was quite cool this morning after a soft freeze over night. There was ice in both bird baths this morning, not just the pedestal meaning it got pretty cold. I had covered my recently planted camellias and we moved some pots into the garage, so everything seems fine. We went for a very nice walk in Rock Creek this afternoon and saw lots of pretty things, including this perfoliate bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata), a pretty little wildflower we don’t see very often. The word ‘perfoliate’ means the base of the leaf surrounds or is pierced by the stem.

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Chives

Photograph taken on Friday, May 08, 2020 by Henry
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

The chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are blooming. These are one of the easiest herbs to grow and we have them both in containers on our back patio and in the ground in our herb garden. We have to keep the oregano from suffocating them, but they have managed to survive so far. They bloom this time every year and I like to pick some of the flowers to sprinkle onto food as a seasoning. They add a subtle oniony flavour without being overpowering. Of course, the tubular chive leaves can be used pretty much any time, but I think the flowers are special, because they add color as well as flavour.

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White Flowering Clematis

Photograph taken on Thursday, May 07, 2020 by Henry
White Flowering Clematis

White Flowering Clematis

In the back of our garden, near the fence where there was a huge rose bush, there is a clematis. For years it’s struggled to be seen among the rose, which was often out of control. Well, the rose is gone now, having mysteriously died last year. I’m sad about that, and wish it hadn’t died but at least this beautiful, white clematis is still there and is doing quite well, now that it’s getting the sun it needs and isn’t overshadowed by the huge plant. We will need something for it to clime on but for now, it’s just happy to be blooming in the sun.

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Marigold ‘Durango Red’

Photograph taken on Wednesday, May 06, 2020 by Henry
Marigold ‘Durango Red’

Marigold ‘Durango Red’

As mentioned on Sunday, we went to the garden center to buy plants for Cathy to put in containers and into the ground for the summer. These were mostly annuals, although we did buy a few perennials, as well, including a rosemary. This is one of the marigolds that Cathy picked out. It’s called ‘Durango Red’ and it’s a really nice, burnt orange color. It’s especially nice in the rain, which was heavy today. This is out on the driveway right now but it will probably go into the ground before too long. They are a quick and easy way to get a lot of color in your garden.

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Frond of Ferns

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 05, 2020 by Henry
Fern Fronds

Fern Fronds

I’ve used the joke before but it’s true, I’m fond of fern fronds. We have a few different ferns in the yard. There is the northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum, featured seven times so far, apparently), Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), and sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis). This is, I believe, a Dryopteris species, but I need to do some work if I’m going to identify it for sure. The genus is generally known as the wood ferns but some species have particular names, like male fern (D. filix-mas, which is what I suspect this is) or buckler fern.

The other species this might be, and perhaps it’s more likely based on size, is the lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina). Both the male fern and lady fern are native and both are nice for a shady garden. I really should figure out which this is because every time I’m asked, I have to qualify my answer. A fern expert could probably look at my photo and tell me right off, but I need to look up the differences and look more carefully. If and when I do that, I’ll update this post.

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Ornithogalum umbellatum (Star of Bethlehem)

Photograph taken on Monday, May 04, 2020 by Henry
<em>Ornithogalum umbellatum</em> (Star of Bethlehem)

Ornithogalum umbellatum (Star of Bethlehem)

The Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) is a pretty, little, but invasive bulbous plant native to Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. It’s coming up in our back yard and we really should do something about it, although it’s hard to want to pull out something as pretty as this. I’m not sure where it came from as we only have it growing in our lawn and not in any of our garden beds. This time of year they just appear in the lawn. Our mower is out of commission until I get a new carburetor so the grass is getting long but once that’s running again, these will be mowed along with the grass.

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Alchemilla mollis ‘Auslese’

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 03, 2020 by Henry
Water Droplets on Alchemilla mollis 'Auslese'

Water Droplets on Alchemilla mollis ‘Auslese’

It’s a week early for Mother’s Day but we’ve been cooped up for too long and we didn’t want to wait until next week. We took our annual trip to Fehr’s Nursery early this afternoon and Cathy bought a load of plants. As usual, I wandered around and took photos of flowers, etc. I got some nice pictures of various hens and chicks (Sempervivum varieties) including some Sempervivum arachnoideum, which have what look like cobwebs on them. I decided to go with this photo, however, of lady’s mantle leaf (Alchemilla mollis ‘Auslese’) with water droplets on it.

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Necrophila americana (American Carrion Beetle)

Photograph taken on Saturday, May 02, 2020 by Henry
Necrophila americana (American Carrion Beetle)

Necrophila americana (American Carrion Beetle)

We took a walk near Lake Frank today and had a really nice time. We saw one adult and one juvenile bald eagle next to and on the nest across the lake. It’s too far, really, to get a good picture but I did take a few, anyway, just to record the fact. We happened to come across this pile of American carrion beetles (Necrophila americana), presumably on a piece of carrion. They were definitely there for a reason. It’s fine to get grossed out by them, but then, without them, the rotting meat would stick around a lot longer, so in my book, they’re doing us a service.

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Squirrel on a Cow Skull

Photograph taken on Friday, May 01, 2020 by Henry
Squirrel on a Cow Skull

Squirrel on a Cow Skull

Cathy and I were out in the back yard and we heard a scratching noise. We’re used to quite a bit of noise from birds and occasional tree frogs, but this was quite different and we didn’t recognize it. We finally noticed this squirrel on the cow skull that’s hanging on our back fence. The squirrel, in typical rodent fashion, was gnawing on the top of the skull. I assume it’s gnawing on the bone to get calcium and other nutrients. Anyway, it’s one of the reasons you only find relatively fresh bones in the wild. They don’t last long unless they get buried (and probably even then).

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