Running into our fascinating native green tree frogs, Hyla cinerea, is a regular occurrence at JLBG, and I seem unable to resist taking far too many photos of these amazing creatures. Recently, I was able to capture a ventral view for the first time, when one perched on my office window, doing its spiderman impersonation.
Last weekend, Anita and I watched as one of our indoor cats, Jake, was glued to the glass door as a common box turtle sauntered, seemingly purposely down our 50′ long sidewalk and toward the door. It (he?/she?) finally stopped just a few feet short of the door, where it just sat and stared, with
Greeting me on a recent foggy winter morning garden walk was a specimen of the fascinating Clathus columnatus, better known as column stinkhorn. It lives on dead and decaying organic matter, so is often seen growing in mulched areas. In the US, it’s typically seen East of the Mississippi, but many mycologists theorize it was
Foghorn Stinkhorn Read More »
Walking through the nursery this week, we spotted a fascinating triangle orbweaver spider (Verrucosa arenata). These cuties are usually seen in late summer and fall in open woodlands. Their diet focuses on small insects such as mosquitoes, but cause no harm to humans, except arachnophobes. We love the color echo with the ground fabric and
Itsy Bitsy Orb Spider Read More »
As fall temperatures drop, it’s not unusual to find our native bees asleep in some of the most interesting places. We caught this carpenter bee fast asleep on the job this week, clinging tightly to the spines of an Agave parryi.
We love fall not just because of the weather, the colorful foliage, the fall bloomers, but also for the fall fungus. It seems like some of the most incredible fungus of the year happens in fall. When we go outside to take plant photos, it’s hard to resist the amazing fungi as well. Like sand
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Working in the garden recently and stumbled on these flower calyces (the things that protect a developing flower bud) from a nearby Japanese persimmon. Nature creates the most amazing art if we just slow down enough to notice.
