Tuesday, January 31, 2023

May flowers and Einstein

From last year in May!

Our apartment office is in an old house...with wrap around porches and rocking chairs which attract a group of residents almost daily. The porches have hanging planters, so everyone can enjoy seeing some colorful flowers.

Today's quote:

"Time and space are not conditions in which we live, but modes by which we think. 
Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, determined by the external world." 
Thanks Albert Einstein

Monday, January 30, 2023

Since we were in the mood to look at all things plants, and the weather was warm and sunny here last Saturday, we stopped in Black Mountain's own nursery to see about more things we needed (to have, to know.)

Thought for the day:

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.

George Washington Carver

Sunday, January 29, 2023

The flora on Mt. Mitchell

...from 2019

We had noticed white flowers that we couldn't recognize while driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mt. Mitchell. When we saw several of them on the walk up to the top, we took their photos, and then asked a Park Ranger what they were. Yay, he knew!

Snakeroot has no real petals to speak of.

Little white blobs in a cluster with fernlike leaves is Yarrow.

Clusters of blobs on reddish stems are Hairy Angelica

Another trail that comes off the one going to the top of the mountain, Balsam Nature Trail, goes down through the woods.

I have taken this trail several years ago, but we elected to skip it this trip. Another side trail along it goes to Balsam Spring, which is probably completely covered with vegetation this time of year.

It does say in one sentence that the twisted dead trunks of Frasier Fir have fallen prey to an aphid infestation. I think they sure are downplaying the infestation which is killing so many trees.

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

White woolly egg masses
Photo: Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station,
Bugwood.org

HWA adults at the base of needles
Photo: Mark Whitmore, Cornell University

"Native to Asia, the hemlock woolly adelgid, or HWA, is an invasive, aphid-like insect that attacks North American hemlocks. HWA are very small (1.5 mm) and often hard to see, but they can be easily identified by the white woolly masses they form on the underside of branches at the base of the needles.

How HWA Damage Hemlock Trees

Juvenile HWA, known as crawlers, search for suitable sites on the host tree, usually at the base of the needles. They insert their long mouthparts and begin feeding on the tree's stored starches. HWA remain in the same spot for the rest of their lives, continually feeding and developing into adults. Their feeding severely damages the canopy of the host tree by disrupting the flow of nutrients to its twigs and needles. Tree health declines, and mortality usually occurs within 4 to 10 years.

Close-up view of HWA ovisacs and a juvenile HWA
on a hemlock branch
Photo: Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation
and Natural Resources - Forestry, Bugwood.org

All species of hemlock are vulnerable to attack, but severe damage and death typically occurs in eastern (Tsuga canadensis) and Carolina (Tsuga caroliniana) hemlocks only..." within 4-10 years of infestation. Source: .dec.ny.gov/animals

Saturday, January 28, 2023

Tall ships

Sepia Saturday's suggestion this week is...something about boats.

I found I'd saved an interesting chart describing parts of a ship.

I've been interested in the ships that used to move all the products around the world in commerce...I had several generations of Captains of these ships in my ancestry. There were ship builders who lived along the coasts of New England, and ship captains who sailed regularly to China and even a wood carver who carved an Eagle design for a wall hanging.

(BELOW) STS Pogoria is a Polish barquentine launched in 1980. She was designed by the naval architect Zygmunt Choreń as the first in a series of (18 total) middle and large-size contemporary sailing vessels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogoria_(ship)

Today's quote:

When we hide and try to be invisible and unseen by all, we are only really hiding from ourselves.

Friday, January 27, 2023

At the Arboretum

From August 2019 - Sharing with Floral Friday Fotos in 2023

Wonderful plants, trees, flowers, moss, and some real learning that Helen and I experienced last Wednesday (on the original trip.) I think I'll just do a little at a time here.

The steps lead up to a platform from which to view the flower quilt. (more later on)

There were many little houses for the insects who lay eggs in the pipes, keeping on adding more until it's full.

These pitcher plants were near the water feature, which had koi fish of course.

A red version of a pitcher plant.

Mt. Pisgah probably in the distance across the flower quilt.

Helen looking at the view. Below is the botanical quilt. The bright sun kind of fades everything to grey.

It's much more colorful in person, the sun kind of fades the colors. Or maybe you just blur your vision when you see it.

These dark orange petunias were everywhere.

Who knows what the purple ones are?

We were looking at a botanical quilt, so there were information plaques to read.

Helen said, "quilting has been around for 3000 years...I wonder what kinds of materials they used for thread and cloth." I don't know why I didn't stop to read the panel, must have been in a hurry to take more pictures. I only took around 150 this trip!

Today's quote:

March is the month of expectation —Emily Dickinson

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Rainy daylillies and a recent book

From an older post...

These earliest day lilies are Stella d'Oro. A smaller flower without the pointed edges, which usually has a curl to their edges. Maybe when they dry out again.

From June 2019

I have loved Sally's acting, in movies. I never watched her Giget or Flying Nun TV shows. But I had some trouble reading this.

This audio book also was read by Sally. It was a long book, details of many difficult times in her life, then finally Sally made it in her goals in life, in spite of how many mistakes she made and a crappy childhood.

All in all, it's a nicely crafted book. I think I would have preferred reading the text, but you never know. Listening to it helped me stay in a really blue funk however...and I could have done without that.

Today's quote:

And I realize that no matter where I am, whether in a little room full of thought, or in this endless universe of stars and mountains, it’s all in my mind.

—Jack Kerouac

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Flowers blooming in -

- February 2019 (repost)

We all know this isn't real spring. Even with crazy climate changes, there's more freezing weather to come. It has always happened. (But there's a bit of hope that it won't...ha ha ha.)

I wish sometimes that I'd visited here at Blue Ridge Apartments before the new owners, and the renovations. If they hadn't torn everything apart to put in new things, I wouldn't have had a chance to move here unless an older tenant was so frustrated she moved elsewhere. I really love having new carpet, new appliances, new kitchen and bathroom cabinets!

But outside is a bit different. Put new siding on old buildings and you know what can happen. There's a lot of siding now that has green growing on it where the sun doesn't shine.

In the past the grounds may have had more flowers (almost certainly) as a result of many gardener type grands living here. The remains are a few bulbs which come up every spring. Some no longer come up though, because the grounds crew has spread mulch on all the beds to deter anything from growing there (a.k.a. Roundup.)

There used to be a bed of beautiful lilies of the valley.

Out in lawn areas, which are swept with huge machines weekly during the growing season, a few bulbs still live. Or next to a tree, where the new mowers can't cut them back.