Summer, Already?
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- The green is closing in.
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- Even the tree trunks are disappearing under the toxic vines. The botanic name “toxicodendron” means “poison tree”.
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- The poison ivy is looking especially luscious this year.
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- Fire pink, one of my favorites along the roadside.
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- There are few forest flowers so screamingly red.
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- The multiflora rose, an invasive species from Asia, now everywhere in the southeastern US.
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- This stuff is so hard to kill, it’s illegal to grow it in some states.
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- This appears to be some sort of Wild Bergamot. Monarda fistulosa, maybe?
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- Whatever it is, I think the flower heads are cute, in a Sideshow Bob sort of way.
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- Four leaved milkweed. I’m particularly interested in Asclepias species, this one is dainty and a bit hard to find.
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- I admit it. I’m stumped.
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- I wish someone would tell me what this is. Insect eggs? Fungus?
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- Dame’s Rocket. From the mustard family; wonderful smell in the afternoons.
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- A shrubby pink locust growing in front of the cabin.
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- Rose campion. We’ve got it all over the yard this year.
April Evening:
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- The woods are greening up really quickly
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- Viburnum prunifolium, tasty berries in the fall, my luck they’re probably toxic.
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- Silene virginica; red flowers are so rare in the woods.
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- Robinia, I don’t know the exact species.
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- Podophyllum peltatum
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- Lonicera sempervirens, a honeysuckle species that is actually native to the US.
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- Robinia pseudoacacia; the scent of the flowers was incredible.
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- Robinia pseudoacacia
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- Another two or three weeks and the undergrowth will be completely impenetrable.
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- I know, we’ve all got this one, but I’ve never photographed it before.
Sculpture Garden:
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- Achillea millefolium, Common Yarrow
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- Artemisia “Silver Mound”, a commercial hybrid
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- Symphytum asperum, Rough Comfrey
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- Euphorbia “Blackbird”, a commercial hybrid
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- Matricaria chamomilla, German Chamomile
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- Hydrangea quercifolia, Oak-Leaf Hydrangea
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- Lychnis coronaria, Rose Campion
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- Sedum “Autumn Joy”, a commercial hybrid
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- Cirsium vulgare, Bull Thistle
Into the Woods:
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- A tattered Luna Moth, near the end of its one-week lifespan.
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- Silene virginica, the Fire Pink
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- Silene virginica, a closeup of the flowers.
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- The road into the woods, scene of my constitutional a couple of days a week.
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- The road slowly peters out as you go deeper into the woods.
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- This was just too cute to pass up.
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- The dogwoods are hard to ignore.
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- A gooseberry bush behind the cabin is in bloom.
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- Asimina triloba, the pawpaw, or Ozark banana.
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- The flowers of Asimina triloba, the pawpaw.
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- Too bitter for me, but the deer like this stuff.
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- I have to admit that I don’t know what this is. Anybody have an idea?
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- A little thicket of wild blueberry bushes, with new spring foliage.
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- This little trickle was quite impressive only a week or two ago.
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- Deer tracks in a muddy spot in the woods.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place:
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- Just that first little bit of green…
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- After the green is gone, the dead bits still serve a useful purpose.
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- The streambeds are still as much water as rock, but only for a few more weeks.
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- Even the naked rock supports life.
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- Where there moisture, there’s moss.
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- As long as there’s water, the rock is a fertile home.
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- There are animals among the rocks, too.
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- New green on the old rocks.
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- Mosses and lichens often thrive in environments where other organisms struggle.
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- Fire Pink, a plant that is one of the first to return to damaged ground, as along this railroad cutting.
After the Rain:
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- Thalictrum thalictroides, Rue Anemone
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- The man at the end of the block has lilacs already coming into bloom. I guess location really does matter.
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- Podophyllum peltatum, the Mayapple or Ground Lemon
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- Water droplets on a young Flannel Mullein, Verbascum thapsus.
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- Antennaria lanata, wooly pussytoes
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- Cercis canadensis, the Eastern Redbud, one of two species native to the Ozarks.
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- Erythronium americanum, the Trout Lily. In a few weeks it will produce a nodding yellow blossom.
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- The trees are budding out, and the streams are filling with water.
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- Although pretty now, these forest streams are ephemeral: the water will be gone in a couple of months.
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- A small waterfall bringing water down from the hilltop into the railroad cutting.
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- A forest stream.
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- Water droplets in a cedar branch.
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- The dogwoods are early and bright in the deep woods.
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- The dogwoods are only just beginning to come into bloom.
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- The dogwoods are blooming before most of the trees even have green buds.
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- The trees are just beginning to show buds.
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- One of my neighbors has cleared a homestead in the woods.
Preparing for Spring:
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- Call it a garden in training.
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- The infamous Pokrivkat.
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- Peppermint and frittilaria. I hope the mint will mask the foul smell of the frittilaria when it blooms.
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- I’m so ready to unwrap the porch, but I know that the moment I do, winter will come back.
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- Double daffodils.
Saturday morning:
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- White spirea in my neighbor’s yard.
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- Japanese Quince at an abandoned house down the road.
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- Early fruit tree, buzzing with bees.
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- I’m not sure what this tree is — it looks like hazel, but bigger, and the flowers have no scent.
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- This iron fence still guards one of the abandoned houses in the area.
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- Forsythia.
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- A fence-building project long abandoned, on the hill above where we live.
Sunset in Winslow:
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- A view toward the south, along the valley, with Mount Gayler rising on the left (I think…)
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- Past a certain point, the road is easier to walk than to drive.
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- Periwinkle. Like so many plants here, it’s actually an invasive import that has become completely naturalized.
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- Wild muscari, growing on the slope behind the cabin. This is also an immigrant that is now naturalized.
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- This is an invasive shrub from Asia that has become fully naturalized here.
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- There are trees coming into bloom down in the shadows long before the ground-living plants.
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- The road down in the valley.
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- My cabin, as I come back up from the road that leads down into the valley.
Where I live:
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- Fall – The Methodist Church
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- Fall – Main Street in Winslow
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- Fall – The neighbor’s pasture
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- Fall – The woods up the street
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- Spring – Early spring frittilaries
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- Spring – Black Widow in the garden
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- Spring – Rose-Breasted Grosbeak male
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- Summer – Where I Work
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- Summer – My Cabin
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- Summer – The Bromley Birds
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- Summer – Argiope spider with her prey
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- Summer – Blue Sage, Pineapple Sage, Mint in front of the Cabin
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- Summer – Garter Snake Lounging in the Trees
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- Winter – Cardinal Male
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- Winter – Pooh, the Neighborhood Cat
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- Winter – My Cabin in the Snow
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- Winter – Pair of Cardinals
All photos by David Holcomb, all rights reserved. If you would like to use one of my photos, please let me know first.
David, My husband and I are friends of Jackie and attend church with her. Love your art!
Myra, thank you so much! I’ve been neglecting this blog all summer, but I’m starting to get a handle on my time now that the cooler weather is here, and I’m hoping to do more artwork and get back to writing more. Wish me luck!