Plant Sightings

Wandering around the mountain top didn’t take me very far today. Here’s a few snaps of some flowering herbs. These herbs are growing in a protected area next to the house that gets morning and early afternoon sun.

Basil is one of my favorite herbs. The aroma of a crushed basil leaf awakens the senses. Basil can dress up any regular garden salad and goes exceptionally well with tomatoes. Basil has relatively large leaves for an herb, measuring 2 or more inches in length and an inch or so in width. The light green basil leaves feel very pliable and smooth and are arranged opposite one another going up the stem.

Light green opposite leaves of basil.

Flowering tops of basil are easily recognized as they appear like groups of little circular canopies with small white blossoms hanging underneath each awning. Circlets of basil blooms are separated by half and inch or more and there will be 10-12 groups of blooms on the terminal portion of the basil stem. Below you can see half a dozen basil flower spikes.

Terminal flower spikes in basil.

The oregano is flowering now and has tiny white blossoms. The leaves next to the flowering tops are tiny compared to the typical leaves, perhaps a tenth the size. Below the flowering oregano tops are seen in the foreground and regular oregano leaves in the background.

Flowering tops of oregano with very tiny white blossoms and tiny leaves.

Catnip grows wild here in southcentral Pennsylvania and we make sure to spread a few seeds around to please the kitties. I like cats a lot more than I like mice and other rodents! The catnip plant here volunteered next to the flagstone walkway just outside the garage. Whenever leaving or entering the garage the scent of catnip fills the air as the car brushes past. Here, we see a bumblebee pollinating the small white catnip flowers.

Bumblebee pollinating the catnip blossoms.

Catnip, Nepeta cataria, is a member of the mint family having opposite leaves that are somewhat arrow shaped. The main stem in the image below was snipped to induce bushiness and indeed, new stems arose from the leaf axils. The new stems now have terminal flower clusters with many small white-to-pinkish flowers.

Pruning the tops of catnip stems will produce a bushier plant.

Catnip leaves feel somewhat soft and have a distinct shape. At the base the leaves are squared off, have a jagged appearance, and attach to the main stem with their own short stem. The best indicator that you have found catnip is to crush a leaf and smell the minty aroma. Rub a leaf on your pants or sleeves to act as a bug repellent. Scientists are studying a compound found in catnip, called nepetalactone, for its pest resisting properties. Most catnip leaves are left untouched by chewing insects.

Pinkish to white blossoms of catnip are packed together at the top of stems.

The one wild flower I did capture today was the Asiatic Dayflower, Commelina communis, an alien that appears in wasteplaces and along roadsides or other disturbed areas. We have a few batches growing at the edge of woods and along the lane. A member of the spiderwort family the Dayflower has radially symmetrical flowers having three petals, two blue petals on top and a third petal below that is white. The simple leaves are alternate and wrap around the stem at the leaf base giving it a sheath-like appearance.

Asiatic Dayflowers last for only one day!

Since I spend a bit of my time appreciating wild flowers and garden flowers, it makes sense that I would notice a lot of butterflies and other pollinators. Many of us design gardens or flower beds with the intention of attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. The Image Gallery of Butterflies and Moths of North America is a great resource for identification help.

A common butterfly for us here in south central Pennsylvania is the Great Spangled Fritillary. Here, one butterfly poses rather bat-like.

The inside butterfly wing patterns usually differ from the outer wing designs.

This butterfly might be missed when you look at it on edge.

Typically, we don’t see this view of a butterfly.

Side view of the great spangled fritillary butterfly.

Frontal view of the great spangled fritillary butterfly.

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly head shot. Check out those eyes!

In case you’re butterflied out, here’s a double tiger lily with a visitor lurking in the shadows.

Beautiful orange double tiger lily.

In the heat of the summer we watched a fritillary butterfly ballet atop the purple cone flowers. The most common butterfly we have observed in the last few days has been the Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly.

While one butterfly seems interested in the nectar from the purple cone flower, the other butterfly seem interested in some other nectar!

With probocis’ curled, noone is drinking in the flower’s nectar at this moment.

Curled sippers at the moment.

The hind wing on this butterfly shows a reflection of the flower’s petal color. Notice the pink cast to the usually white or silver spots. This could be a means of blending in with the environment for the sake of avoiding predators.

As one butterfly repositions on the head of the cone flower his wings open to retain balance.

Wings are spread to maintain balance.

The forewing patterns are different between the male and female of this species. The male has mostly black spots and lines on an orange background, while the female has a lighter tan background and white spots near the edge of the wing with black lines on the inner part of the forewing. Notice how the female holds her hindwing in a more forward position than the male. Is this a submissive posture or an invitation?

We never actually caught these two in the act, but I assure you that plenty of butterfly love is happening all around the cone flowers and the purple-flowered butterfly bush, too!

These sunflowers aren’t a giant variety, but they ARE pretty big, and they really draw the goldfinches. Sunflowers can get so tall and the leaves grow so big.

Sunflowers with several large blossoms.

Now that’s a large sunflower leaf!

Dahlias sport many colors, ranging from light, lemony yellow to a salmon red and a variegated purple and white.

Lemony yellow dahlia.

Salmony red dahlia.

Deep purple and white variegated dahlia.

Lariope grass from North Carolina is about to bloom. The spike of light purple flowers will be opening soon. I hope the seeds will help to establish this plant as a border for this flower garden. In any case it seems that some of the plants have adapted to the conditions here in Pennsylvania.

Lariope blooms in a spike of light purple flowers.

Statice is an unusual plant. The stems are rather flattened and sort of strange looking and they arise from a rosette of deeply cleft leaves at its base. The variety of colors makes statice a sought-after bloom for dried flower arrangements. In our small sampling we have yellow, blue, white and purple hues represented.

Statice blooms in many colors which makes it a nice flower for dried arrangements.

Spikes of statice flowers atop a basal rosette of green leaves.

The pink oxalis from North Carolina is doing well. Here you can see the five-petaled flowers and the leaves that clasp the stem from opposite sides.

Pink flowering oxalis.

Gee, I was wondering why we don’t see any birds at the birdbath!

Greystokes taking a drink at the birdbath.

Tending to the garden this morning, I couldn’t help see the frenzied cabbage butterflies as they flit about the place. We saw two cabbage butterflies mating on a tomato leaf.

Butterflies mating on a tomato leaf.

Then we saw two more butterflies mating on the same tomato leaf!

Two others using the same leaf!

Sunflowers are composite flowers of many blooms. See the individual blossoms near the center in the close up.

Individual blooms in the composite sunflower.

Beautiful symmetry in this sunny flower.

Blue giant hyssop is growing in the garden from seeds planted a few weeks ago. It is not yet giant, nor blue. The flowers will appear next month and should attract butterflies and bees. The leaves of giant hyssop have an anise-like taste and can be used in salads.

Giant blue hyssop will flower in the late summer.

Peppers are maturing in the vegetable garden. Summer salads await! Baby cucumbers are hiding under their canopy of cucumber leaves.

Baby cucumbers still attached to their yellow blossoms.

The Stevia plant that was purchased at a local greenhouse is doing quite well in the garden and now is about two feet tall. No visible signs of bugs eating this Sweet Leaf plant. Not a single chew! This member of the mint family can be used as a natural bug repellant by rubbing the leaves on your skin. Certainly worth a try as the smell of DEET is very offensive.

Stevia, or Sweet Leaf, growing in the garden.

Close-up of sweet leaf.

The Japanese beetles would probably like my girl’s pesto judging by their appetite for the basil blossoms and leaves. For fun around here we go around knocking beetles off the plants into a vessel of soapy water so they never to return to their nasty habit!

Basil leaves and flowers are devoured by Japanese beetles.

Basil flowers and holey leaves.

The Roma tomatoes are green and looking very delicious.

Roma tomatoes will soon be at the top of the dinner menu.

The greenery of the Canna Lilies is about two feet tall and it’s not quite immune to the culinary tastes of the Japanese beetles. The canna lily bright red blossoms should attract a few hummingbirds later in the summertime.

Even though this blog concentrates on wildflowers, I can’t help but add some comments on the garden flowers and animals that we observe here in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

A small group of about a dozen turkeys were wandering around the edge of the woods around noontime today. The group appeared to be a couple mature females and some young ones. They were pecking at bugs and probably taking in a few stones from the gravel lane. At the slightest noise the turkeys scampered back into the woods.

The indoor plants are doing well in the warm conditions upstairs. The diffenbachia is blooming and showing off its pure white spathe.

Diffenbachia sporting a pure white blossom.

A mushroom appeared in the clay pot that holds a Norwegian pine. Never saw that before!

Norwegian pine pot with a yellow mushroom.

Driving along a country road we found a nice batch of Bee-Balm, Monarda didyma, growing near the edge of the road. The hummingbirds have to like this stuff — the blossoms are so red!

Bee balm by the roadside.

Monarda didyma flowers are brilliant red.

Identifying characters for Bee-Balm are that the blossoms are scarlet red and the bracts are red, too. Even some of the leaves have red coloration where they attach to the stems. Bee balm is a beautiful addition to any flower garden with the added benefit that it is a plant native to America.

Bee balm bracts are scarlet red.

Bee balm is also known as Oswego-Tea. A tea made from the leaves was used by Native Americans to treat colds, fevers, stomachaches, and colic, among other maladies.

Garden poppies have pretty much died out with the heat coming on in July, but they are being replaced by the zinnias, marigolds, dahlias and sunflowers.

A black bear was our latest visitor on the Mountain Top! At first I thought it was the neighbor’s Newfoundland dog as I saw it from the kitchen window just before dusk. He was right at our front door sniffing around the portulaca and dahlias. Then I saw his little round ears — not to mention the size of him. We pushed the dog into a different room so he would not cause a racket, but I don’t think the bear would have cared. He was ambling along at his own pace.

I ran for the camera and got this shot through a dusty garage window as he had rounded the side of the house to the back yard.

A black bear in the backyard walking over a small tree.

Did you notice that he is deliberating walking over this little maple tree, which is about 6 feet tall? There is plenty of grass on either side of the tree, so we think he was either marking his territory or maybe just scratching his butt!

From the back door we watched the black bear take down a few sunflowers to check them out – not ripe yet! Then he ambled back into the woods by the way of the compost heap. As he slowly walked into the woods you could hear the leaves go shuush-shuush-shuush!

Black bear shuffling back into the woods.

The berries have been ripening and that probably drew him here, along with the neighbor’s dumpster. Now that the corn is ripe, he is probably stuffing himself with corn. The farmer said that you can tell when a bear has been in the corn fields. The black bear is so lazy he justs sits in one spot and grabs all the corn he can from that spot, and so, will leave a circle of destruction where he sat in the field!