Tag: rare and exciting

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07/16/2022 red letter day!!!!!!

I flushed a really big moth as I walked on to the patio after dinner. It landed on the window and turned out to be a Black Witch!!!!! I have always wanted to see one and this is my first.
With flash, so you can see the intricate patterns of brown and black and gray.
Without flash, for a more natural color closer to what I saw. This is the biggest moth species in North America.
A side view. The underwings are not nearly so patterned. By dusk it was gone. Good luck, big friend!
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05/12/2022 dramatic surprise

I realized today that these funny friends near the dining room window were blooming.
It turns out they are a native Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum)!!! Thanks to Abby for confirming the identification.
Apparently they do grow in the wild in Cleveland county, so these could be volunteers or they could be planted. Apparently the native species (as well as some non native species in the same genus) used to be more popular as a shade plant. The Chef mentioned seeing them in older people’s gardens in his home town in northeastern Oklahoma. The linked website also says one of the non native species has a strong odor to the flower, and these had no particular smell for either of us.
There is also a clump of them near the compost bin, shaded by the house most of the day.
They do have fun leaves, and have never spread far, so I had never bothered to pull them up before. (Having never seen them in the wild before, I had assumed these leaves were something non native.)
Sure glad I didn’t!!
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Bad news, good news

The Penstemon cobea seedling appears to have damping off and so the seedling is falling over and collapsing. Dang it. I’m not sure why since it’s out in the sun and wind and the pot has drainage holes.

Very exciting good news though is that we have a Texas buckeye (Aesculus arguta) seedling!!!!!!!!! We put seeds out in September 2020, kindly provided by Jeanne. The understory forest begins.