Monday, June 27, 2016

Charleston Falls, June 20, 2016...Tom Persing's Photos







This is why Tom and I came to Cedar Pond at Charleston Falls, to see the bladderwort like a carpet on the water.  Below are two closer views.



The second thing we came to see were the milkweed blossoms that were attracting the butterflies.

Great spangled friterllary


Tawny-edged Skipper


Little Glassywing


Hackberry Emporer




Saturday, June 25, 2016

One Piece Left Over, Putting a Flag on a Mailbox

Our mailbox is directly across the street from the end of our driveway.  That can be a bad place for a mailbox when someone backs out.  Periodically, the box and its post gets nudged.  On Thursday, it was nudged enough that the mailbox had to be replaced.

When it comes to mailboxes, the standard  and cheap style is fine with us. We found one at Menard's , our local version of the big box hardware and lumber store.




Cheap is more cheaply made than it was the last time we replaced a mailbox...Tom had to put on the red flag himself.  There was a time not long ago when flags came already attached.



The directions were easy to follow.



But...when Tom was finished, there was a piece left over.




I laid the pliers beside the piece to give you an idea of the size.

Finally, Tom looked more closely at the digram of the pieces...


There was a message in fine print in the lower right hand corner.









Saturday, June 11, 2016

A Visit to Cedar Bog in Champaign County, Ohio, June 6, 2016


Tom and I spent several pleasant hours at Cedar Bog on Monday.  We made the trip because we had seen on Facebook that the Showy Lady-slippers (Cypripedium reginae) were blooming.  We found them shortly after we started down the trail.



The bog  has a boardwalk through it which makes it easy for Tom on his scooter.



 There have been some improvements. There are now helpful signs that explain  special features of the bog and also comment on the plants and animals found there.  I think I would have noticed them if they had been up in 2012 since we were with Tom's best friend who was in the plant nursery business most of his life.  Gary would have liked reading them.


I remember from my first visit to the bog 35 years ago that Terry told us that Cedar Bog is really a fen.  To remember the difference between a bog and a fen, he told us, "Bogs clog, Fens flow".


This sign shows the streams in blue that flow through the fen (Cedar Bog).  The pale lines are the boardwalk.

I was expecting lots of mosquitoes so I sprayed myself with plenty of insect repellent.  I have been at the bog when they have been fierce.  On this day, a steady breeze was blowing and the insects weren't a problem.

We found lots of Lady-slippers. We also found other plants and we met a botanist who was doing a survey who identified some of them for us.  In particular, he showed us a Poison Sumac which we had heard of but never come across.  I had already noticed the sign describing it but I didn't concentrate on it as I should have.  I was glad to have the plant pointed out to me since I am extremely allergic to poison ivy, one of its relatives.




The botanist also identified a Meadow-Rue for us, first by the botanical name which I didn't remember.  He gave me a common name also which I also didn't remember but I did remember that he said the plant has purple nodes on its stem.  I posted the photo on Ohio's Wildflowers and Flora where a botanist was kind enough to identify it as most likely Thalictrum dasycarpum.  One common name that I found in one of my wildflower field guides is Purple meadow-rue.


The same botanist on Ohio's Wildflowers and Flora identified the rest of these photos.  I am pleased my niece sent me the address for this site.  People post beautiful photos on it and many people are kind and help with identification.

Shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa)

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolious)

Great Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea)

Indian Plantain (Cacalia)

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Old-fashioned Coral Bells

This is a plant I remember seeing as a child in my mother's flower garden.  I think it was in the plantings of other family members as well...my grandmother, my aunts.  Years later, I went looking for the plant for my flower beds.  I was startled to find plants with dark purple leaves labeled Coral Bell. I was expecting green leaves.  Nevertheless, I bought the plant.  The leaves just did not look "right". And when the plant flowered the flowers didn't look "right".  They were ugly and nondescript.

Eventually, I found a plant already flowering in a garden store so I knew I had the "right" plant.


Each flower is about 3/16 inch (0.47625 cm) across and 1/4 inch (0.635 cm) in length, dainty and delicate.

Just today, I checked on the Internet and discovered there are dozens of Coral Bells.  To me there is only one, the one that grew in my mother's garden.