Category: Wildflowers

The Beauty is in the Details

Sometimes the beauty of, or the interesting look at something is up close in the details that would otherwise get lost in a larger view.

Eastern Red Cedar is a fairly common tree locally, usually getting a good start in fence rows and abandoned fields. Many consider it to be a weed to be eradicated, yet they provide rot proof wood for outdoor use along with the fragrant lining of cedar chests or closets. This is a view of some of the seeds just as they begin to mature and turn the darker shade of blue.

This is a wild grass called Wide Leaf Uniola that grows well here. The seed heads are it’s most notable feature, mostly because of the shape of the seed clusters and the droopy look of them. They also move in the least bit of breeze and make me think of schools of little fish for some reason.

I don’t have a name for this little flower yet, don’t recall ever seeing one of these before. This was a single plant I spotted while out for a walk a few days ago, it was really wanting to be photographed so I obliged. Surprisingly, this one didn’t seem to be suffering any from the hot dry weather we had through most of June and the first couple weeks of July.

Finally, a very orange fungus, tentatively identified as a Cinnabar Polypore, all dressed up for autumn in pumpkin camouflage. Pretty tough to miss this one. A few years ago there was a large dead tree at this location, the trunk of which was almost covered with this same fungus. That was quite a sight with hundreds of these popping out all over the tree. All I know for certain is that I won’t be having any of these on the menu at my house!

Thank you for reading, until next time.

Weekend Adventures Part Two

Returning home Sunday evening, I decided to drive to the end of the road to see what was happening and make a photo of any interesting things I chanced upon. The sun had set already so it was going to be a bit tricky, since all I had was my phone. Still, it is a camera, and Ansel Adams said something to the effect of the most important part of any camera being found in the twelve inches behind the viewfinder.

This is a corner of the old barn I keep returning to with some attempt by sun and clouds to add interest to the scene.

I had passed these deer earlier but they were too far away for a good photo, and I was thinking they would be gone by the time I came back . In reality they were much closer to the road! There was none of the usual whitetail deer nervousness, just a calm look to see if I was a danger, then back to grazing. Gourmet soybeans, anyone?

The Butterfly Weed is a bonus shot as it was actually getting fairly dark by this time. Still, I had to try. Photos like this are good since they can be worked out several ways with good result. This one still has possibilities for some other versions. I chose to bring out the foreground and flowers for now.