Two Eurasian Weedflowers

 Backyard Nature, Landscape History, Natural History, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 172014
 

On my Piney Woods Church Road saunter this morning, I encountered two new “common weed” wildflowers in bloom:  the low hop clover (Trifolium campestre) and field madder (Sherardia arvensis).  The low hop clover is a yellow flower native to Eurasia now common in most of North America; introduced by farmers to improve the soil and feed their livestock, low hop clover is also a wild edible plant.  Field madder, also from Eurasia, commonly grows in farm fields and along road edges throughout the Eastern United States.  It has minute flowers that are less than an eighth of an inch across.  I only noticed it because I was sitting on the ground in one spot for several minutes, during yet another attempt to photograph a lobelia growing alongside a barbed wire fence.

Low Hop Clover

Field Madder

Day 107: A Fallen Star

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 172014
 

Today’s featured photograph is another image in a category that has become a series now, roadbed still lifes.  I turned the corner from Rico Road onto Piney Woods Church Road, and was immediately captivated by this fallen sweetgum leaf, in a found composition with a catkin (probably oak).  The title of this image refers to the star-shaped leaves of the sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua).

A Fallen Star

Love in a Privet Bower

 Backyard Nature, Insects, Natural History  No Responses »
Apr 162014
 

While struggling (and largely failing) to take an interesting photograph of Chinese privet flowers, I caught this pair of ladybugs mating on a leaf.  It’s springtime, and love is in the air.  My wife suggested that this could make a great Valentine’s Day card, but I am not as certain.

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Day 106: Twilight Approaching

 Backyard Nature, Golden Hour, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 162014
 

A few minutes shy of sunset, I lay prone on the slope of the ditch at the end of Piney Woods Church Road, trying to capture a few wildflowers in the golden late-day light.  On a whim, I placed my camera on the ground and aimed the lens up through the base of the grasses growing there.  The result was this enchanting silhouette.

Twilight Approaching

 

In the Presence of the Elements

 Agriculture and Husbandry, Geometry and Nature, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 152014
 

On a cold and soggy day, I walked the length of Piney Woods Church Road, I could see and feel the elemental presences of wind and rain joining me on my journey.  Gusts of wind tugged on horsehair snagged on a barbed wire fence; raindrops feel on roadbed leaves, newly fallen in the morning wind.

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Day 105: Wild Strawberry

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 152014
 

On a raw, rainy, windy morning I set out down Piney Woods Church Road looking for new images, new windows into wonder.  I battled the wind for most of my journey; I would frame a photograph of a flower or leaf, only to have it start to sway in a suddenly-renewed gust.  Ultimately, my favorite three pictures from the journey (this one and two in a subsequent post) were successful because they were relatively unaffected by the wind.  This wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) was blooming in a ditch near Rico Road, sheltered from the elements.  I glimpsed it from above, as I was peering down into the ditch, and I was immediately drawn to take its picture.  I cannot wait to search here for strawberries, later in the season.  I can almost taste them on my tongue as I type these words.

Wild Strawberry

Mass Wisteria

 Backyard Nature, Natural History, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 142014
 

For the first few days that Chinese wisteria is in bloom every year along Piney Woods Church, I find myself guiltily enjoying its decadent bluish-purple blooms with their almost intoxicatingly sweet scent.  But as time goes on, and the wisteria keeps blooming and blooming, I notice that it is everywhere I look, draping the trees and shrubs in thick curtains.  The blooms on each flower head seem to crowd each other out, vying for my attention, practically demanding that I notice their vigor and profusion.  And if there are so many flowers, then what about all the seeds?  Wisteria begins to take on a more sinister tone; there is a dark side to its abundant gaiety.  And by the time the last flower petals finally fall in another week or so, I will be ready to see them go.  About a month later, my humble native wisteria vine that I planted in the front yard will produce a scattering of blossoms, and my appreciation for the genus will be born again.

Mass Wisteria

 

Day 104: Rain Falling on Sweetgum

 Backyard Nature, Geometry and Nature, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  2 Responses »
Apr 142014
 

Not long after I set out for Piney Woods Church Road, the rains began.  I was ill-equipped for a deluge, having left my camera bag at home (trusting too much in Doppler radar maps which showed precipitation still an hour away).  I quickly focused my attention on certain shots — mostly particular wildflowers I noticed in bloom.  Fortunately, the rainfall remained fairly gentle, though it didn’t prevent me from getting fairly soaked.  Toward the end of my walk, my camera still functioning and my body rather drenched, I eased up a bit and began letting images find me.  This is one of the products of that last part of my walk.  Droplets cover a new sweetgum leaf that hangs like a curtain in front of the road I have just walked.

Rain on Sweetgum

Welcoming the Morning Light

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 132014
 

On an early morning saunter down Piney Woods Church Road (rather unusual for me; I tend to frequent the sunset hours far more often), I paused to photograph the newly-opened leaves of a common persimmon (Diospyros virginiana).  I am discovering that if a plant is classified as common, it is often overlooked and under-appreciated.

Persimmon

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