details matter

i picked these grass heads because the perfectly spaced alternating seeds caught my eye. it wasn’t until after i photographed them that i noticed the stunningly beautiful, sinuous curve of the stems. what an extraordinary detail, on such an ordinary weed, literally picked because my neighbor didn’t mow quite close enough to his wrought iron fence.

ryegrass seed heads

fertility

i have been doing STILL long enough now to know that no two trees, or plants for that matter, behave the same from year to year. temperature, wind, rain, sunshine, humidity, pests (including us), all play a role in determining the virility of plants from year to year. this year, the maple tree that shades our deck has decided it is a very good year to put energy into making seeds. it is, in fact, the best year out of the last eight to do so. we have so many winged samaras on our deck, including a large number of usually rare triplets, that i have considered using a shovel instead of the broom to clear the deck before we sit down to enjoy an evening glass of wine. why this emphasis on reproduction this year in particular intrigues me. so far we are having a generous growing season–sunny, warm days, with regular soaking rains. perhaps it is as simple as “because there is enough energy to do so.” which makes me wonder if human fertility might not work similarly. ok. well, i’ll be thinking about that for a while. see you on the other side.

sugar maple seeds

nature’s delights

it is 9:30 at night as i type this. for 20 minutes i have been looking out my windows at the deepening darkness of the woods that surround our house because there is a firefly light show in progress. we usually get fireflies this time of year, but never in the quantity we are experiencing this year. i don’t know what conditions have coalesced to make such a spectacle. but i’m just happy to be here. it’s my kind of 4th of july celebration

clematis flower and vine

what’s in a name?

orange day-lily, tawny daylily, corn lily, tiger lily, tiger daylily, fulvous daylily, ditch lily, railroad daylily, roadside daylily, outhouse lily, wash-house lily. and to think, i must settle for “mary jo.”

orange day-lilies in late june (Hemerocallis fulva)

macro

believe it or not, this is an extreme close-up of yesterday’s smoke bush. i usually try to avoid posting the same subject two days in a row, but, as you can see, this is almost a different subject.

smoke bush detail (Cotinus)