Authentic Skunk Cabbage foliage, courtesy of my (Eli's) wife Emily.
The school she works for has a wetland boardwalk, with identification plaques: pictures drawn by students. I'll post it on Field Day, when I help with activities.
I'll bet half the school could identify this plant.
#ecoregion59
Leafy sprouts that definitely aren't Symplocarpus but may be Oenothera, coming up next to the yellow-green-dappled burgundy spathe of a Symplocarpus foetidus flower
April Fool! This little leafy plant, possibly an Oenothera, is pretending it made that Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) flower!
#nativeplants #ecoregion59
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) emerging from soil in late March
I’d be lying if I said I don’t experience envy toward Bluesky friends in warmer climate zones, but it is nice to see my Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are waking up.
#nativeplants #springephemerals #ecoregion59 #zone6a
A close up view of the fuzzy catkins (flowers) on this Bigtooth Aspen tree
A Bigtooth Aspen tree covered in buds
My Bigtooth Aspen tree is budding. The flowers, known as catkins, have emerged and will begin to hang down in a few days once they have fully opened before releasing pollen. This tree is a male. #ecoregion59 #nativeplants
Two sundial lupine cotyledons emerging
Year 3 of my native plant obsession. So far, I’ve failed, miserably, to cultivate Lupinus perennis (RIP ~10 plugs and a few gallon starts). I direct winter-sowed these in December. Fingers crossed this is the year 🤞
#ecoregion59 #nativeplants #homegrownnationalpark #lupinusperennis
A double-plank walkway over a particular way part of the trail, with bunches of greening sedges with dead leaf tips intermixed with flat yellow dead graminoid leaves. The path past the boardwalk is clearly wet mud.
A rush, with round green stems, surrounded by dead leaves of more delicate graminoids.
A Sedge, bunchy and green in the center with trailing dead tips extending in almost directions
Two Skunk Cabbage spathes, burgundy with green speckles, one with dead tip, otherwise looking healthy and fleshy
Happy Spring Folks!
Update from Eastern MA:
The wetlands are waking up. The rushes, sedges, and Skunk Cabbages are greening up. Skunk Cabbages are blooming. Redwing Blackbirds are singing. The earth hugs my feet and releases them with wet squelches.
#ecoregion59 #nativeplants #spring
A White Pine trunk, grey on the ridges, brown in chips and forrows, with a White Breasted Nuthatch standing upside down, examining a crack
Thick trunk Tuesday?
Here's a Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) on a White Pine (Pinus strobus) in the Acton Arboretum, in MA
#nativeplants #birds #ecoregion59 #forest #nature
May new life continue to emerge every spring. May we nurture it and appreciate it.
Seeds and their trappings in the Acton Arboretum. Coneflower (Eccinacea purpurea), Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida), Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
#ecoregion59 #nativeplants #spring #benediction #life
Purple striped lobes, shaped like a bouquet of garlic cloves, emerge from brown leaves in thin morning light
Skunk cabbage, revealed due to the recent snowmelt. #NativePlants #Ecoregion59 🌱
Red bellied woodpecker side profile of red headed bird with mottled white and black back feathers and white breast grips a suet cage using tail for pecking leverage. Its black bill is grabbing a bite of suet. Sunlit trees in blurry background.
Red bellied woodpecker this morning making use of prop feathers #BirdOfTheDay #SideProfiles #ecoregion59
#birds #nature #photography
Hey, any interest in starting to use #ecoregion59? I'm West of Boston, on the inner rim of the Northeastern Coastal Zone.
The inner rim except for the cutback into the interior along the Hudson Valley: Ecoregion 59i. We should have mostly the same species, doing the same things at the same times.
Walking in Assabet River National Wildlife refuge is a treat in any seaon. I always see birds. I didn't hear the Redwinged Blackbirds announce their return, I was lucky enough to watch some chatty Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) get a nightcap.
#ecoregion59 #wildlife #bluebirds #wetlands #nature #winter
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) cyme: an inflorescence that blooms from the center (terminal flower) out, otherwise like an umbel (umbrella-shaped inflorescence at the end of a stem). Flowers have 5 little white petals and 5 stamens with little yellow round balls of pollen on top
Side and bottom views of Elderberry inflorescences. They begin with a flat top like an umbel, then the cyme blooms from the center, curling back at the edges.
Elderberry Sawfly larva on Sambucas canadensis. Sawflies are welcome guests here. They nibble the foliage, and are found by finches as they work their way up the plants. I have yet to see them do any significant damage. They're just trying to live their lives, and cycling some of those plant sugars and proteins up into the food chain.
Elderberry, 9-12' tall in a habitat behind a path crowded by Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).
Our third episode is out! Genus Sambucus: Elder/Elderberry. Elder is a gateway to foraging, to permaculture, to herbalism, to the Fey. Please step through!
www.iheart.com/podcast/269-...
#podcast #plantpodcast #newpodcast #nativeplants #ecoregion59 #foraging #grownative #permaculture #herbalism
Multiple types of Human prints, stretching into the distance on a frozen pond, with white pines bordering the edges above Grey Birches, Red Maples, Cattails...
Cross country ski tracks in the hardened snow shell on the pond. White Pines in the distance.
A snowshoe trail and my shadow stretching away across the snowy pond toward White Pines on the shore
Lowering sun over the lake
#Assabet National Wildlife Refuge: I like to step off the trail when the snow is deep. With a floating step that never pierces the snowpack, no plants are harmed. Plus, walk on H2O!
I took hundreds of pictures of White Pines (Pinus strobus)!
#winter #adventures #nativePlants #wetland #ecoregion59
I should also tag this #ecoregion59 #nativeplants #hudsonvalley #kingstonny
A cluster of Cherry Birch (Betula lenta) seeds, like flat, little, open cone scales. Snow, branches, shadows, pines in the background.
Dried milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) seed pods, open on straight stalls, with wispy, wilted, dry grasses in a snowy meadow in the Helderberg Hilltowns of NY
Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) shoots which had melted their way through the snow in the woods, by a stream. They are deep under the snow that followed, ready to grow when it melts.
Red and Scarlett Oak (Quercus rubra and Q. coccinea) leaves lining a shallow woodland snowmelt stream in MA
Winter life in waiting (Cherry Birch seeds),
waiting underground (Common Milkweed),
bursting forth from the snow (Skunk Cabbage),
Breaking down and flowing back into the soil (Red and Scarlett Oak leaves, water)
#winter #nature #forest #meadow #nativeplants #ecoregion59 #ecoregion58
A view of a frozen snowy oxbow marsh off the Concord River, from the trail. White Pines stand tall with Blueberries and Maple Leaf Viburnums appearing as small bare twigs standing at their feet.
A happy young Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) in the snow
Close up view under a hemlock branch, with a white fuzzy bump of a Woolly Hemlock Adelgid on the trig going horizontally across the center of the image. They don't look like much, but when they cover every leaf node, the tree will die. We need cold snaps, with 24 hours of -4°F or less to kill them. I pray fir could each year, but the Hemlock range will eventually be pushed north by this invasive species.
October Farm Riverfront, Concord MA: a winter hike, with river views, and wildlife. Dog friendly.
This is a great place for seeing Hemlocks, from seedlings to big stately trees. I hope we get a fierce cold snap, to kill the invasive Hemlocks Adelgids on them.
#Hemlocks #nativeplants #ecoregion59
A Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea) borders the trail here, showing the characteristic bright red cracks between plates of bark. It isn't clear where the snowy woodland floor transitions into marsh in the background.
A marsh bordered by alder shrubs, with last year's cones still hanging on
The well-trampled snow of the trail, and the tall thin white pines and birch that seem to have raced to fill a recent opening.
A marsh opening up behind a few White Pines
Flagg Hill Nature Preserve, in Boxborough, MA
These popular trails are easy to walk in sneakers, even after recent snow. They take you through White Pine dominated forest, with some oaks and birches. Openings to marshes are bordered by alder and Highbush Blueberry.
#winterwoods #ecoregion59
A White Oak (Quercus alba) seedling at the forest's edge, retaining seemingly every leaf it made this year. They are a lovely rusty red on top, with pale undersides.
The small White Oak, retaining all of its leaves, next to a taller sapling Red Oak (Q. rubra) which is retaining the lower leaves on the side of the clearing. Red Oak leaves are brown in the winter, and White Oak leaves are red. The Speckled Alders (Alnus incana) behind them have attractive cones that were hard to capture, but nary a leaf about them.
Marcescence:
The leaves that intend to #fall have fallen. Some trees, like White and Red oak, retain leaves throughout the winter, especially when they are young. Is it to protect buds from frost or deer? To shelter the soil? It seems that we have more to learn.
#nativeplants #ecoregion59
Our first aronia berries, plump and black on waxy, ovate, lightly toothed leaves. They will stain your fingers, even if you don't crush them.
Rosemallow buds, clustered at the tip of a stem with whorled leaves densely filling in behind. The sawflies were on the lower leaves, and were soon found by finches when they put holes in upper leaves.
Elderberry sawfly on an elderberry cutting I took last year. The cuttings were fine, and all Elderberries were as well. The finches hunted sawflies as they waited for the elderberries to bloom. Nature provides balance when given the chance.
We got our first Aronia berries this year. I learned that each Common Milkweed seed pod comes from one of the 120-200 flowers in an inflorescence. Our lonely northern mallow species, Hibiscus moscheutos proliferated, as did H. sawflies, Elderberry sawflies, and birds. #nativeplants
#ecoregion59
Hibiscus blooming by the path along the walkway, with sedges, Cardinal Flowers, Echinacea, and Jerusalem Artichokes in the background.
Along the steeply sloping driveway is the main pollinator garden and budding food forest. Swamp Milkweed, Bee Balm, Little and Big Bluestem and young Jerusalem Artichokes are growing up in front of the Canadian Elderberry and Pokeweed
Eastern Prickly Pear cactus with yellow flowers, over a loose rock retaining wall by the driveway
A full view of the gardens and Sugar Maple in front, with Bee Balm blooming. This is last year, before the Elderberries were so large.
Our house will be listed today. I'm going to miss the gardens that I poured my heart and soul into for the past three years. I will definitely consider who will keep the birds and the bees safe and fed when considering offers.
#nativeplants #ecoregion59 #actonMA #houseforsale
Yellow larch needles
A closer view of the yellow larch needles
A larch sapling with yellow needles
Larch, also known as Tamarack (Larix larincina) with its iconic yellow needles, a deciduous conifer. #nativeplants #ecoregion59
A yellow bloom on a Witchhazel twig, with long, thin, crumpled petals
Looking up through leafless attaching Witchhazel trees at a large oak in the overstory
Witchhazel is blooming! Hamamelis virginiana is easy to miss. Look up and you might look right past these arching understory trees, but look closely and you may be rewarded with our latest bloom of the fall.
#nativeplants #forests #newengland #ecoregion59 #bloomscrolling #flowers #trees
Chestnut oak leaves
A closeup of chestnut oak leaves
A branch on the chestnut oak with bright red leaves
A closeup of some leaves with speckles of green, yellow, orange and red
Fall foliage on the Chestnut Oak (Quercus montana)
#nativeplants #ecoregion59
Golden Alexander (zizia aurea) seedlings carpeting the forest floor in a woodland
Three red twig dogwood cuttings planted along the banks of a freshwater marsh
Disturbed areas of leaves reveal where we planted today. Here in this drier woodland we planted yarrow, anemone, bluestem goldenrod, and blue wood aster.
White turtlehead, blue flag Iris, and silky dogwood shrubs, wrapped in cages for rabbit protection, along the banks of this freshwater marsh. A brown trail directory sign sits on the right.
Another successful weekend volunteering with Waltham #landtrust stewards. We planted over 200 shrubs, trees and perennials in our efforts to restore the ecology at Woerd Woods. The first photo reveals a carpet of Zizia Aurea seedlings from plants we put in last spring. #nativeplants #ecoregion59
A few Aromatic Aster and Annual Fleabane still in bloom. Fall foliage in the background.
Two Sugar Maple trees and a Black Walnut with vibrant orange and yellow foliage against a partly cloudy sky. In the foreground, the shrub and herbaceous layer has pops of yellow and orange foliage.
Red twig dogwood stems, which have lost their leaves, stand out against the landscape
Aromatic aster in bloom while Goldenrod goes to seed. Red foliage on the red twig dogwood. In the background is the yellow foliage of a Birch tree.
The best time of year❤️🍁
A few late season asters hang on while the fall foliage peaks. There is no shortage of color this time of year in New England
#nativeplants #ecoregion59
Starting from the left, the pale-leaved oak is a Swamp White Oak, (Quercus rubra). Front and center is a Northern Red Oak (Quercus bicolor), with mottled red-yellow leaves. Behind the Red Oak, to the right, with deep red leaves is a Black Oak (Quercus velutina).
Oaks are in full fall regalia, here in Acton, MA. They took their time, then changed fast over this rainy Tuesday-Wednesday. They are just in time to join the maples and birches before the maples go bare. Look at the colors on these three saplings!
#quercus #nativeplants #ecoregion59 #fall
Wouldn't it be cool to scroll your local ecosystem - seasonal #nativeplants info? I started #ecoregion59 with @jp0610.bsky.social so you can see at least our perspectives on the Northeastern Coastal Zone.
Find your ecoregion:
bplant.org/ecoregion_lo...
Ecoregion 59:
archive.epa.gov/esd/archive-...
Aromatic asters (S. oblongifolium) look like New England Aster from afar, but have less pink in the blooms (they are lavender), and smell like balsam when you crush the foliage. They have oblong leaves, as suggested by the Latin name, and the foliage makes patterns that are very distinct from other asters.
Frost Aster (S. pilosum) have tiny hairs all over then, that makes the foliage look frosted. They are prolific bloomers that handle dry sites in old fields very well. Ours are dripping with bees, bumble, honey, and Halictid
Heart-leaved Aster (S. cordifolium) line woods edges, look skinny and small throughout spring and summer, then fill out to bloom profusely in the fall. These plants by the woods in our habitat are shimmering with bees and wasps, with half the flowers shaking from a recent landing or departure
It's Aster season! American asters (genus Symphyotrichum) are diverse and ubiquitous. Take a closer look and I bet you'll find some new-to-you species you've been walking by. My favorite Disney quote: "Look harder" -Rafiki
#nativeplants #bloomscrolling #fallflowers #ecoregion59
Purplestem Aster (Symphyotrichum punicium) flowers with lavender petals (ray florets) and disc florets that are bright yellow when unpollinated and rusty red when pollinated.
Purplestem Aster fliwering in front of the retaining wall 4' from the curb in our front yard.
Some Purplestem Asters volunteered? I probably dropped seed uphill, and they wound up right by the road. I'll move them somewhere with moist soil where they won't block the view of incoming traffic, but I couldn't bring myself to move them in the growing season.
#nativeplants #ecoregion59
