Every year as the brilliant colors of the summer flowers fade, I like to plant a few pansies. And I am not alone, along with mums pansies are among the most popular cool season blooms. Not only are they are easy to grow, but they provide beautiful color throughout late fall and into winter. Pansies are part of the viola family, which contains 500 species - including pansies and violets. Pansies … [Read more...]
Maple Tree {InstaScience}
Fall is here! Pumpkin-Spiced Lattes abound as the green landscape fades into reds, yellows, and oranges. I love the crisp beauty of fall, but my favorite thing to watch is the change in the local maple trees. Maple leaves display gorgeous colors that are the hallmarks of fall. There are approximately 128 different kinds of maple trees, but the most common are the sugar maple, the red maple, … [Read more...]
Lamb’s Ear {InstaScience}
Have you seen those soft, velvety and silvery grey-green plants in your next-door neighbor’s garden? Those low-growing, soft textured leaves belong to the ornamental plant, known as the Lamb’s ear. The scientific name of lamb's ears plant is Stachys byzantina and is a native to Turkey, Iran and Armenia in Europe. The plant can best be described as "fuzzy" or "velvety" and the leaves are shaped … [Read more...]
Blue Crab {InstaScience}
I grew up right off the Chesapeake Bay. I can remember spending lazy summer days swimming in the tributaries of the bay and catching our dinner of blue crabs off the docks. I learned how to tie up a chicken neck like a champ before I learned how to drive. And I used to be able to pick one of these crustaceans clean in a flat minute. Blue crabs are easily spotted because of their bright blue … [Read more...]
Daisies {InstaScience}
Around this time of year we start to see Pumpkin Spiced Lattes and fall colored floral arrangements. Most of these flower bunches include a few daisies thanks to their variety of fall-ish colors. These flowers can be red, pink, purple, yellow, or orange. But their most iconic look is white with a yellow center. With daisies, what we see as one flower is actually a composite flower. Each daisy … [Read more...]
Milkweed Tussock Caterpillar {InstaScience}
As I sat with my cup of coffee in hand looking out at nature the other morning, I spotted a hairy little caterpillar making its way up a milkweed stalk. The furry orange and black creature was a milkweed tussock caterpillar, which are pretty common around this time of year. The milkweed plant is the most common host plant for this type of tussock caterpillar. The female tussock moth lays eggs … [Read more...]
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