one last cuddle

Magnolia is a genus of about 210 to 340 species. And every single one of them is probably good looking. Can you imagine a family tree with 340 relatives and not a single cousin or uncle or great aunt is weird, or ugly, or so shameful no one mentions their name any more? While I have not met all 340 members of the Magnolia clan, I suspect that they may all be pretty darn good looking, and welcome and even celebrated members of their communities. #jealous

dried magnolia leaves

black and white is always a good idea

The birds are molting. As I walk down to the dock and back all day long, I pick up molted feathers–large and small–as I go and deposit them in a basket I am keeping on the deck. The basket is getting quite full–mostly with indistinct large brown sandhill crane and canada goose feathers. And then today, I found this little gem–black and white and perfect. So, while I could make a very large–maybe even impressive–feather assemblage, I choose instead to highlight this singular expression of “feather”.

woodpecker feather

old reliable

Taking a little break from all the blooms of late. “Bits and pieces” is always fun.

Bit and pieces of found nature

a rose is a rose is a rose

I bought this rose plant last year for Steve for Father’s Day. We were still living in the apartment then, rebuilding after the house fire. We planted it at the house, as symbol of hope. And then we had a huge storm and a 60 year old oak tree fell on it. Hope was hard won last year. We got the felled tree removed but he rosebush looked like a goner. And even this spring, it still looked like it wouldn’t make a comeback. But, it did. Just like our house. Just like STILL blog. Just like me. We all found a way to keep on keeping on. Hope wins.

champagne rose

dull pale pink to deep mauve

We have 14 types of native milkweed here in Minnesota. All of them are beneficial to Monarch butterflies. This one is the common milkweed which is a prolific breeder, so much so that it sometimes referred to as a noxious weed. The milkweed leaves are very large, and often hide these captivating flower clusters–so I took the liberty of removing the top leaves so you could see the flowers. You can see the latex drips from removing the leaves. My local Minnesota Wildflower guide describes the color of the round clusters as “ranging from dull pale pink to deep mauve, the tips of the star-shaped crown often cream colored.” Dull pale pink, deep mauve, cream. Yes, please!

common milkweed flowers (Asclepias syriaca)

P.S. I have been doing STILL during a very interesting period of plant re-classification. As genetic identification becomes more cost effective and ubiquitous, I am witnessing many plants get reclassified. Milkweeds are a good example. The Asclepias genus contains over 200 species distributed broadly across Africa, North America, and South America. It previously belonged to the family Asclepiadaceae, which is now classified as the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.