Two Kinds of Boneset!

   Some of the many wonderful things about Mill Mountain are the numerous wildflowers that grow in it's unique conditions and criss-crossing trails from which to see them. Jeff uses these trails frequently on his running routes and often comes home with stories of interesting flowers and plants that I should check out. Today at lunch he suggested an easy to get to patch of what might be boneset, I just happened to have the camera with me, so off we went up the mountian to see it. The only challenge would be trying not to drown in a pool of our own sweat thanks to the oppressive humidity. While we were there I thought it would be worthwhile to check out the "Wildflower Garden" outside of the visitor's center. We hit the jackpot! Here are the highlights of what we found...

   This patch is located in the Wildflower Garden. There are no plant tags or markers but it looks like Common Boneset (eupatorium perfoliatum).

A close-up of the above

   One of the many patches growing naturally in the woods, I believe this is Upland Boneset (eupatorium sessilifolium).

A close-up of the above

   I don't know why there are Buddleias in the Wildflower Garden (they're non-native invasives!), but I have to say, they were covered in some amazing butterflies. The prize of the day goes to the one above, a Gulf Frittilary. It was gorgeous!

   There were also several Hummingbird Hawk Moths, this one even fanned its faux tail like a hummingbird.

   This Great Spangled Fritillary wore me out as I tried to get its picture, always just slightly too far away.

   We had such a great time, yelling back and forth to each other "ooh, ooh, look at this one!", we'll have to come back on a regular basis to see if we can find any more treasures. We gave up before we even saw it all because the heat and humidity were so bad. 

*Click on the photos above to enlarge

A Few more Butterflies and a Couple of Babies...

   It's been another hot, dry, depressing week here. Temperatures near 100 every day and we haven't had any rain for many weeks. Our days consist of trying to keep everything alive. We planted a lot of trees, shrubs, and perennials this year and we've had to water everything new on a daily rotation. We're still seeing quite a few butterflies passing through. Life seems to be concentrating along the river, although its level has dropped considerably. It's the only place where plants aren't brown and crunchy. I've seen several cool birds: lots of hummers, a Green Heron, a little Blue Heron, a Kingfisher, and some Tree Swallows which I didn't know were still hanging around. I also found two new-to-me butterflies...

 Juvenal's Duskywing

Pearl Crescent

   The critter cam has been very active lately, perhaps animals are on the move looking for water and food since we're in a drought and many have babies with them. Some of the highlights include our first red fox and the emergence of a few junior critters. We have a momma deer and a momma raccoon that are regulars, they just hadn't brought their little ones to the yard until now. 

 The long legs and black markings confirm this is a Red Fox

 I finally bought a second critter cam, I wondered who was eating the plants out of our water pots, now I know! Sorry the flash is too bright. It's so important to provide water for everybody right now.

Momma (zombiecoon) and baby

The Bumblebee Returns

   Finally! The mystery bumblebee was finally spotted in the yard. I had previously only seen it on vegetation along the golf course fairway, just a mere 50 yards from the majority of our flower beds. Fifty yards doesn't seem far for a bee to fly, but for some reason it was really preferring the spotted knapweed in the golf course rough. I still am not certain what kind it is. I previously thought it might be a Golden Northern Bumblebee, but I'm not so sure now. The bees we saw in Blacksburg seemed larger and yellower. I found it on the Agastache "Blue Blazes" in our front yard, then I found another on some Gaillardia. Jeff saw one just today on the Nepeta. I love bees, they always keep me company when I'm out in the yard, and I'm happy to share my flowers with this new visitor, I just wish I knew its name!

Can anyone out there help with the identification?

Mystery bumblebee

Our resident Common Eastern Bumblebee

I planted my first plants today...all by myself!

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                                                      GUEST BLOGGER
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Greetings from today's guest blogger: Jeff Stone, AKA Old Stone, or simply Julie's Husband.

            As the title says, I did my first ever solo planting project today!  Normally planting is not my arena. As I'm sure you have guessed, I am really more the super-hero type. Tough as a two dollar steak,  5'10" and 145pounds (soaking wet) of twisted steel. Kind of a Daniel Craig-young Brad Pitt sort of thing. My days are usually filled doing battle against non-native invasives, tree pruning, log splitting, cursing poison ivy and digging holes in our nearly solid slate yard for Julie to plant trees. Like I said, He-Man super-hero stuff.
          Well, Julie had recently found a great healthy batch of Common Milkweed (commonus milkweedus) at a local plant purveyor but was hesitant to buy any due to the recent heatwave. Super-hero that I am, I purchased said butterfly attractants and decided to plant them quickly and easily as a surprise!
         This morning I finished my watering and looked nervously at the 6 quart-pots. Confidence began to wane quickly. Sure, men women and children the world over do this, so could I...right?  I had planned my work, established practical planting vorticies, solved for X. I put trowel to soil. Three inches in and I hit an electrical cable. Should I have called Miss Utility??? I backed-off and started again. Soil flew, sweat poured, nerves frayed. One down. More soil airborne more sweat and there were 2. Ditto ditto and 50 minutes had passed but there were three plants in the soil. Felt like I could use a shower but I pressed-on.
        As I stood to inspect my work the horror set-in. They were not even close to where I had intended to plant them! Too close to the edge, crooked and planted so deep I could hardly see the tops of the greenery!! I was crestfallen but with the underground wire I didn't know how to solve the situation. Clock ticking must keep going. The remaining three were to go in a bed approximately 8"x30". Dig dig, root, rock, Gatorade, plant plant plant. Not quite as deep as the first three but I had now displaced enough soil to bury a '56 Buick. A bit of mulch and a touch of water. Ok, a lot of water. These were my babies! I finally stopped watering them when the the folks at Spring Hollow Reservoir called and asked me to "STOP".
      When all was said and done, I was covered dirt, mulch and sweat. A pair of Carhartt pants trashed, knees and low back ached and I had consumed enough Gatorade to float a small water craft...and I had a new respect for those of you who do the hard work of planning, planting and curating gardens and habitats.
      To recover from the morning's debacle, I spent the afternoon with my old friends Mower, Blower, Felco pruners and Silky hand-saw. Ahhhhh, back to super-hero work!

P.S. I also knew that I would be guest blogger today so my head nearly spun itself free of my person as thoughts and ideas raced inside. A new level of respect and appreciation was achieved for the bloggers who teach, entertain and share with the rest of us and ask nothing in return.
                                                                                Sincerely,
                                                                                           Julie's Husband

A New Bumblebee

   I love bees. I'm sure few people get as excited as I do when I find and identify a new-to-me species. First, I have to rewind a few weeks, when Jeff and I went up Blacksburg to the Friendly Garden Tour.  At the first garden we visited, there were huge mass plantings of hostas in full bloom with purple flowers. They were covered in bees, most notably bumblebees. I wish I'd taken my camera! The wacky thing was, the bumblebees on those hostas were not the same species of bumblebee that I have in my yard, which is the Common Eastern Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens), of which I didn't see any in Blacksburg. They were much larger and had a yellow abdomen, the Common Eastern has a black abdomen. Roanoke and Blacksburg are only a 45 minute drive apart from each other, but somehow we have different bumblebee species?
   Fast forward to Sunday night, I go out after dinner to look around the yard, to see what there is to see, and...holy cow! There's a yellow butt bumblebee! (I didn't know what else to call it, since ours have black butts, and Carpenter Bees are shiny butts) Luckily I had the camera since the evening has proven to be a great time to look for things and the light is great for photographs. I managed to get just this one photo in focus before it flew away. The plant it's sitting on is spotted knapweed, a non-native invasive growing along the golf course. I'm pretty sure it's the same kind of bumblebee that we saw up in Blacksburg, and it appears to be a Golden Northern Bumblebee (Bombus fervidus). Maybe we do have them after all and I've just never seen them, or maybe they prefer a habitat different than what our property provides. I have since seen one again in the same area, also on spotted knapweed.
   I'm obviously not a biologist or an entomologist so maybe this isn't unusual. What is unusual and frustrating is we have two properties full of native flowers and native-cultivars, and I had to find that bee on a non-native invasive plant. Drives me nuts. (short drive, you're probably thinking) Do they not co-exist well with other species when that other species is much more dominant in number? All of our other bees seem to get along well, and we have a lot of bees. In any case, I hope it stays and lays eggs. And makes it way up the hill to our very bee friendly garden.

A blurry photo of one of our regular resident bumbles, Common Eastern, note the black abdomen

*As always, if you think I've made an error in identification, feel free to correct me, I'm not a professional.

Down by the River

   We live about a half mile up from the Roanoke River and Greenway. The Greenway is a paved recreation path that follows the river as it bisects town, and when complete, will be approximately 35 miles long. From my house, I can walk down to the river, walk a few miles out and back, and see a very diverse ecosystem much different than the one at my house or at Dean. It's great exercise and a great nature fix all in one.
   On my last walk, I discovered quite a few swell things, one being a plant I'd never seen before other than in books or online...

Ironweed, not Boneset, Eagle Scout

   This is Ironweed, aka Vernonia. It's a native that favors moist areas. Hence, here it is along the river and not in my dry yard.

   Since I'm just learning to identify trees, I was excited to find so many Paw Paws growing along the river as well. Now I know why I saw dozens and dozens of Zebra Swallowtail butterflies along the river back in the spring, the Paw Paw is their host plant! Sadly it also favors moist areas and is not likely to find it's way onto our property. Judging by how many I see along the river, I don't think it's necessary anyway.

Paw Paw leaves

Paw Paw fruit

   This butterfly landed on my shoulder, then flew up onto this tree, it looks to be an American Lady. I can add it to the ever increasing list of butterflies that we've spotted lately.

   When I go for a walk I'm always interested to see what plant is most attractive to the pollinators, as a possible consideration to add to my landscape. The hands-down winner was this mint...

   I'm pretty sure it's one the "bad" mints, non-native and escaped from captivity. I couldn't locate it in any of my wildflower books. However, it was literally covered in every kind of pollinator you could imagine, especially honey bees.

Honey Bee and Mint

   Just 10 feet away from the huge mint there's a patch of native Joe Pye (Eupatorium). Not a single pollinator on any of it. What does that tell us?

   I think the Joe Pye is leaning over because it's sad...

   Well, my walk was short and that's about all. Plus, my camera battery died.

   *Click the photos above to enlarge them, if your browser allows.

More Butterflies This Week

Eastern Tailed Blue

   Monday evening Jeff and I wandered out into the back yard, there was a break in the heat and the grass felt cool under my bare feet. It was actually pleasant for a change, the heat and humidity has been oppressive lately. Our faux prairie really comes to life in the evening, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, and probably mice too, hidden under the layers of grass. Our recent butterfly population explosion seems to be continuing as Jeff found this little fella in the grass, then about a dozen or so more. The picture doesn't do it justice, it's so tiny, but so beautiful. It's wingspan is about an inch and it's flight pattern is very spastic, like a moth. I've never seen so many of the same species of butterfly in one place.

   We also spotted several Halloween Pennants. They were all sitting on top of seed heads, like the one above, facing the setting sun.

   Tuesday afternoon I spotted this butterfly on the hyssop. I could easily see it from inside the house, it was huge, approximately 4 1/2 inches across. It lingered for about an hour, feeding heavily from every blossom on my hyssop plants.

   I'm guessing it's a Spicebush Swallowtail, but I'm not certain. The size is right, the colors on it's back are right, but it's lacking the second row of orange spots underneath. I just don't know what else it could be, if any of you out there have an idea, let me know! We have several Sassafras trees on our property, which is a secondary host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail, so I've been hoping to see some.

*You can click on the pictures above to enlarge them, if your browser allows.