Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Right on schedule the Michaelmas daisies or asters are blooming! Hybridizers have been working with the wild species and now have produced some great "new" kinds of fall asters. These white ones are among the kinds that they started with. Clicking on photos enlarges them.

Although these wild species plants have very small flowers, the various wild species of bees absolutely love them and that has to be good.

Amazing Morning

Elegant dahlias are still going strong.

It's been a fantastic summer for them.

The  bumblebees love this 'purple' one.

Reason enough to keep it for next year.

Many trees in my north 'forest' are soft wood poplars. They grow fast but easily lose branches, die young, and are toppled by wind. The advantage? Before they fall, they also provide nesting sites for many kinds of woodpeckers and other birds which utilize their vacant cavities after the woodpeckers have left. This limbless giant being explored by Kit fell recently and not during a storm. If you look closely you can spot a large flicker hole and other smaller probably downy and chickadee nesting holes.

I think Colchicums are one of the most under-appreciated fall flowers. I have several species; some start early, others are bridge flowers coming later and linking the early ones to the last flowering varieties. The result is many weeks of bright happy flowers. The catch? Their leaves arrive in the spring and resemble daylilies. They are large and green; they make and store energy in order to produce those fantastic autumn flowers. People tend to lose patience with the large green leaves and cut them off but that is counterproductive, isn't it. Can you identify the differences in the following species. (There are three species now, more later.)