Monday, September 14, 2020

Summer days drag their feet towards fall ~



Hunting the wild persimmons







Native persimmons ~ ripe when they fall from tree  
Dustin raves about their tastiness  
No persimmon on the ground escapes his teeth




One of a kind


Who knows?
A neat looking small wildflower

Youth has a way of perceiving life as forever.  It isn't, of course, but that optimism is a great feeling while it lasts.  Cervical degenerative discs, pinched nerve flare-ups, shoulder muscle spasms; there are days when being optimistic is like climbing a rock wall up the face of a mountain.

I recline outside today on my plush chaise lounge; a first this year.  Actually, it's a first ever.  There's a saying... better late than never... I know, there's also another saying... a day late and a dollar short.  I'm a model example of why these sayings are still in use in these modern times.

I'm having a little skirmish with a pint-sized spider who thinks it's his chaise lounge also.  I move him, he comes back to spin another web.  It's never ending.  Of course, I could just squish him, but that's not my style, so we co-exist with some trepidation.



Southern Bee Blossom with a fly, tree cricket, 
and what appears to be another 
type of crane fly




Second bloom on clematis after rains in late summer


Beautyberry ripening


Coralberry
Sends runners out on top of ground
that root to ground at stem segments
creating nice trip hazards




Black Stink Bug (Proxys punctulatus) on spicebush


Winterthur viburnum berries 
turning from white to pink to blue




Crane fly (I think)


Natures artwork on a violet leaf


Porch plant
Maidenhair fern in 20" planter

The name of this blog has no rhyme or reason.  It was pulled out of thin air as I realized from the form being filled out, nameless blogs don't exist.  My bad.  It was the best I could cough up in ten seconds flat.  I've made fun of it more than once in my posts.

It's a play on words.  It doesn't make any sense, but you know how we humans love to give a word fifty shades of meanings.  Imperfection would fit me best today.  Oh, poo.....  Just checked the front bird bath, and six English sparrows are a dancing in the water while many others are pigging out at the feeder. 

It all began in spring with the next door neighbor hanging a large feeder overflowing with low quality seeds that drew in the English sparrows and starlings.  Upon discovering my feeder, they all made me the main attraction and my neighbor a backup.  Thanks, good neighbor.  We love you.



Spicebush swallowtail caterpillar
in its rolled leaf for protection. 






Liatris aspera 






Group of Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillars traveling across oak leaves 
at base of red oak tree.






Wasp mud nest on swamp hibiscus stem 


Purple leaf hopper - 1/4" long


Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar munching on swamp hibiscus leaf



It's been near on five months of cicada songs with several different batches emerging out of the underground from late spring to now.  The last batch sings for mates until dusk has fallen into darkness.  I'm becoming quite adept at ignoring that eternal chatter of love to preserve what's left of my inner peace.

My vegetable beds are minus one cucumber plant that grew old and died with all the cucumbers still on it.  All desire seems lost this year to care for or about them.  Kaput!  I'm still eating cherry tomatoes off the vine, but the seed packets for the rest of the veggie patch are still on the kitchen table.  Oh, well.....

The almanac predicts winter will be warmer at this years end and on into the next.  I want nothing of it.  I wish ice and snow and thirty degrees below... well, maybe not quite that chilled, but those persevering little blood loving suckers called ticks embrace warmer winters to increase their brood ten-fold.  I will be living with the devil come next spring.



Chaos 
Brown-Eyed Susan
 Rudbeckia triloba


Tiny Golden Green Sweat Bee
(Augochlora pura)
on Marjoram flowers






Blue Lobelia




Spiny Assassin Bug
Brown-Eyed Susan flower is 1" in diameter.
Waited 2 hours for this little insect to come into full view.
When I could see only its head peeking over the flower center,
it looked like something from outer space.


Sideoats grama grass seed head flowers





'Sparkleberry' Winterberry


Miniature Robber Fly on grass seed head
(Holcocephala fusca)
Fierce hunters of other insects.




Orchard Orb-Weaver Spider
(Leucauge venusta)
A small spider with a complex web


While autumn teases with a bit of her colors, summer is still in the air.  The broomsedge bluestem, a tall grass that stands beautifully throughout the winter, is coming into its own.  Artistically snaking its way throughout the sunnier parts of the gardens, it is usually left where it decides to reside.

The turtlehead flowers are slowly loosing blossoms from the bottom upward, and leaving those beautiful stately seed heads, while the drying flowers of the Joe pye weed remind one of the ghosts of all the yesterdays.  Their neighbors, the swamp sunflowers are just beginning to see flower buds peeking out of their centers.

I saw a blue aster flower today, and many more will come as the days and weeks pass by.  While these native gardens are not drama queens, they create many delightful pops of color before the end of one winter and on past the beginning of the next winter.



Buildup of afternoon clouds




While it's easy to idealize nature standing on the outside looking in, the reality I see in my native gardens is that life encompasses both goodness and cruelty.  It is the nature of creation.  I always think of my gardens as my Eden and my Hell wrapped up in pretty trimmings.





27 comments:

  1. I wish that more people would learn to live with spiders - and other creatures too.

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  2. so beautyful
    I love your photos
    all the flowers
    all the insects
    and I love your words ;)
    greetings

    Rosi

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  3. I enjoyed your post and the photos of both flowers and insects. Hope you have a great day!

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  4. ...the natural world in your neck of the woods looks mighty nice to me!

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  5. Tasty fruits harvest .It would be my pleasure if you join my link u party related to Gardening here at http://jaipurgardening.blogspot.com/2020/09/peacock-flower-beauty.html

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  6. Gorgeous and wonderful the swallowtail caterpillar.
    Greetings to Dustin.
    Thanks for your comment.
    Greetings Eva

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  7. I remember watching my grandmother eating overripe persimmons with a spoon. She really loved them. - Margy

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  8. WOW!! I really enjoyed the fabulous captures!

    Happy Thursday!

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  9. These are so impressive, beautiful photos of flora and fauna!
    I am excited about it
    If you like, you can also link this post with me.
    The link party goes on until Friday night
    The party reopens every week.
    I would be very happy
    Der-Natur-Thursday

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  10. I am fascinated by the many interesting insects that I have never seen before in my life, just fantastic!

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  11. How many beautiful insects you are showing. It's great that you still keep the spider alive. Unfortunately, the weather doesn't always bring out the good due to climate change. Nice that you have rested and your posting was again very interesting and sensitive and with beautiful photos, thank you and have a good time and take care of yourself, hug Elke

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  12. What a colorful post! I'm loving the flowers and critters and your word speak for many of us. The berries are really gorgeous :)

    Your link at 'My Corner of the World' is greatly appreciated!! I'm glad to see you this week!

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  13. Wonderful close-ups! I like the doggy too!

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  14. All immages are so beautiful,

    Thx for sharing

    Best regards
    Bernhard

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  15. I love ripe persimmons when they are soft and not hard. They look good hanging from the branch. Nice looking berries. Are they edible? Great shots of beautiful critters and flowers.

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    Replies
    1. Berries grown are mostly for birds and wildlife. I've found native fruit (that people like to eat) like grapes, plums, Papaws, etc. are too aggressive for my small yard. Winterberry is very poisonous to humans, coralberry in large amounts is poisonous, beautyberry when cooked taste good in jams, and the Winterthur viburnum, although edible, is a big seed with little pulp around it and not tasty to me. Robins, cardinals, mockingbirds, blue jays, bluebirds and cedar waxwings are all attracted to the berries.

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  16. Hello,
    I love the doggies Dustin, looking for persimmons, very cute furbaby photos. Beautiful captures of the flowers and insects, great selfie too. A wonderful nature post. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, enjoy your day! Have a happy weekend! PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

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  17. Hello. Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos.

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  18. Wonderful photos! The flowers are very beautiful. I love to see the clematis. It's so nice when they flower for the second time.

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  19. I love seeing that caterpillar wrapped up in the leaf! You've taken some amazing photos and it's nice to see what YOU look like too! It's nice to 'meet' you! Hugs!

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  20. Very nice bug photos! You capture so much detail.

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  21. Wow, so many gorgeous photos! I love it that you coexist with the spider, that's adorable :)

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  22. Incredible photos, lovely close-ups. What a nice post with some excellent narration. Thanks for sharing and have a great day/weekend.

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  23. What a delightful array of nature's critters ~ beautiful photography ~ love your doggie and kitties ~
    Live each moment with love,

    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  24. So pleased I visited your blog from Viewing Nature With Eileen.
    Amazing photographs you've shared.
    I have enjoyed my visit.

    Stay safe and well.

    All the best Jan

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  25. interesting post with many different species. Great to know. :)

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