Red Twig in the snow

First real snowfall of the season in the village. Just in from the first of many pre-emptive shovelings.

Moon Flower Bud

Chard

dill

borage

mystery vine - can you help identify this?

in the tidal marsh along the trail, approaching the deck

a chicken, a cat and a . . .zebra?

faux brick

squash blossom

Scotty

lattice pie

pink shoes

yellow amanita

Indian pipes

dried grasses

Thalictrum flowers

'Lavender Towers'

Veronicastrum in a hillside garden.

cross-section

Amish Paste

This heritage variety, one of six in my garden, is loaded with these beautifully shaped tomatoes. The plant stands 7' tall!
An abundance of plum tomatoes can be easily frozen in zip lock bags for use later on. To use them just run water over the frozen fruit and they will slip right out of their skins... ready for sauce making.

Patient Mantis

Waiting motionless for prey with its large spiky forelegs folded like hands in prayer.
I was lucky enough to have a hatching of these predators in my yard this season. I've watched them go from 1/2" in length to full size.

Pandora Sphinx

This beauty can have up to a 4" wingspan!
Found at forest edges, river margins and vineyards. In the caterpillar stage it feeds on Virginia Creeper and wild and cultivated grape vines. You can see it in flight from June through August in the Northern reaches of its domain. It is strongly attracted to artificial lights, like most sphinx moths.

Tall Meadow Rue

Canada Lily - "Exploitably Vulnerable" in NY

I haven't seen one of these beauties in a very long time... maybe 25 years! They used to grow along the side of the road on Route 28A below the dike of the upper basin of the Ashokan Reservoir. Then the population of deer exploded and they were gone for good. What a great surprise to see this growing along the Lighthouse trail this evening.

garden mint

California poppy

Throughout the season I sprinkle seeds for these annual poppies throughout my garden, among my veggies, in my containers... ensuring a constant supply.

the promise of an abundance of tomatoes

market fare

Garlic scape chaos

Shad berries

I had my first taste of shad berries (Amelanchier). They taste a bit like a wild blueberry.

opening day at the Market

local luminaries... Jay Ungar and Molly Mason get the season started

sedge

Ninebark flowering on Lighthouse dock

some gaul

Iris psudacorus

shadow

window views

truck

blue sky

from the compost pile

Along the trail

Putto peeking thru the sedum

Winged seed

Rhubarb flower bud

two-by-two

Honeysuckle buds

UNmown grass

Grass keeps growing in its purpose to flower and produce seed. Survival of the species.

It is such a poor choice to plant grass as a ground cover. Especially in those places that no ever walks on...like most lawns...like highway meridians...where the only person ever on that grass is the person on the mower.

Many viable alternatives are available.

All that man power and engine power.

So unnecessary.

When grasses are left un-mown. . . allowed to flower. . . the results, upon close inspection, are often stunning.

My goal is to have all grass gone from my yard by the end of this growing season. . .with the exception of a few clumps here and there... that I will allow to flower.

Anyone want to buy a used lawn mower?

The falls behind Krause's

Main Street window

Jack-in-the-pulpit

Arisaema triphyllum is found in moist woods.

I will never understand

the rampant aversion to dandelions.

at night when you're sleeping ... poison ivy is creeping

Poison ivy greatly benefits from the additional carbon in the atmosphere. It has become more aggressive and it's nasty oils more potent. Right now it is easily recognizable by its small three leaves with a reddish tinge. Walk with care.

forest of horsetails

Equisetum and fern

Arrowwood Viburnum

along the lighthouse trail... Viburnum dentatum

Ferns unfolding

main street

Marsh Marigolds - Caltha palustris

Reaching new heights . . .

Amelanchier in bud - Shadblow, Serviceberry

As you drive around look for the white flowers, blooming now, on the edge of the woods... along with the native dogwoods.

radishes among the garlic

ready

through a garage window

Village Magnolias - a small sampling

breathtaking

In a village whose streets are dotted with spring flowering trees... this very old weeping cherry on Finger Street takes my breath away.

Ralph says:

After dinner / Main Street

bloom cluster

The cluster of flowers surround an emerging leaf.

Lindera benzoin, Spicebush, is a native shrub found in the understory of moist thickets. It pretty much lines the lighthouse trail.

Aquilegia

Columbine foliage

Abstraction of bark

tiny jewels

Seedlings of jewel weed
I still get a kick out of touching the spring loaded seed pods later in the season and having them explode in my hand.

Phase two

Wet woodlands are fast becoming carpeted with the huge bright green leaves of skunk cabbage emerging.

Emerging horsetail

Equisetum is a genus of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. The genus includes 15 species commonly known as horsetails and scouring rushes. Other classes and orders of Equisetopsida are known from the fossil record, where they were important members of the world flora during the Carboniferous period about 350 million years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equisetum

Perpetual offering

One of my favorite flowers

I love the flowers of maples in general... but Acer rubrum, being the first to bloom, tops the list.
Acer rubrum (Red Maple, also known as Swamp or Soft Maple), is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It is aptly named as its flowers, petioles, twigs and seeds are all red to varying degrees. Among these features, however, it is most well known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in autumn.

rarely seen

A stroll through the cemetery revealed beautiful, mature yews and boxwoods that are rarely seen in these parts... and a honey tree with slowly awakening honey bees.

Market Street Sighting

water under the bridge

Market Street window

Cluster of buds

Lindera benzoin - Spicebush. One of the earliest flowering native shrubs. These buds are ready to burst.

This shrub is found in rich, wet woodlands like those along the Lighthouse trail.
In early spring, before the leaves open, the tiny greenish yellow spice bush flowers bloom. The leaves give off a unique spicy odor when rubbed or crushed. The twigs have this smell as well.

Skyline from Market Street

evening on Main Street

paper wings

Young beech trees are easily identified in the winter by their persistent golden leaves.

bracket fungi

surprisingly tough and woody in texture

sighting

I'm convinced these were river otter prints found in the mud along the Esopus Creek along the ECC waterfront. Having seen multiple signs of their presence I'm anxious to actually see them in the flesh playing along shore.

Impaled

Trapa natans - Water Chestnut. . . an aquatic plant native to Asia. In the Americas, water chestnut is an invasive species known for its aggressive growth habits.
With four, hard half-inch spines that are sharp enough to penetrate shoe leather and large enough to keep people off beaches, water chestnut seeds are major hazards to water contact recreation. Additionally, water chestnut can wipe out native bay grasses from some areas, prevents nearly all water use where it occurs, creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and provides only marginal habitat to native fish and birds.

read more about water chestnuts:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/Bay/sav/water_chestnut.asp

delicate negotiations

having withstood months of severe winds, rain and snow
. . . these remnants of last year's growing season will soon be overcome by green

Bark!

Fern spore stalk

Like a string of lanterns. . .

Half way up the lighthouse trail on the right, these pods hang like a string of lanterns. Anyone know what it is? Turns out it is Echinocystis lobata - Wild Cucumber!

Bittersweet berries

Celastrus scandens, American Bittersweet, is a native climber, that can be an invasive vine. Fruits are eaten by songbirds and squirrel. Old fruits are eaten as survival foods by many birds and animals in late winter. Fruits should NOT be eaten by humans.

Walkers

to the lighthouse. . .

American Sycamore - Platanus occidentalis

A great and noble tree.
The persistent fruit is visible after a long winter.






Along with Tulip Tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, this species is one of the tallest of the native eastern North American deciduous trees. Commonly found along stream and river banks, it is easily identified by its exfoliating cream to olive colored bark.

March 19, 2008

Tendrils along bridge railing at the lighthouse

March 18, 2008

Low tide

March 17, 2008

Red twig dogwood circled by Virgin's Bower (clematis) vine

Red-osier Dogwood or Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea/stolonifera)
This is a dogwood shrub with something of an identity crisis. On the scientific side the currently accepted scientific name of this dogwood is Cornus sericea. Although the name Cornus stolonifera is in wide current use. Take your pick.

Red Twig Dogwoods are fast growing, many stemmed shrub, reaching a mature size of 4-8 feet tall with a spread of 10 feet. Stems and twigs dark red when young, gradually fading to grey-green, becoming red again in the fall and winter. It prefers sun but tolerates partial shade. It also tolerates a wide range of soil conditions including flooding and drought but prefers moist to wet, slightly acidic soil (pH range of 5.5 to 7.0). This is a good plant for boggy spots on the property or on lakeshores and streambanks.

March 16, 2008

Skunk cabbage emerging along lighthouse trail.

Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as Skunk Cabbage, is a low growing, foul smelling plant that prefers wetlands. The foul odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies, stoneflies and bees.

March 15, 2008

Lighthouse beach

Phragmites australis, the common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Considered invasive.