Stepping into September Haze Ironweed Holds Center Stage

August gave us cool days dressed in flannel and comforter nights . . . the coolest August I can recall since my transplanting to New England just thirty-eight years ago. Mostly busy days filled the weeks that passed in tones of green, with worldly guests and migrations stirring motes of dust, pollen and memories . . . both lived and dreamed. 

The last hours of Augustus suddenly lead into September's first dawn . . . breaking through a thick haze of clouded air with bolts of zagged light only Zeus could throw around this old farmhouse. I was sure the power would go out or worse, but we were spared, this time, and when the new, once seventh, month took hold in a fresh day . . .  the air was less heavy with only empty threats of lightning and downpours. Frightening storms floating off to the east . . . the air refreshed, and heaviness lifted, a page on the calendar is turned . . . and the small purple florets of Ironweed takes center stage in the middle meadow garden.

At last a Monarch settled long enough for me to catch its portrait whilst sipping from the teeny petals of Ironweed . . . this being only my second glimpse of a Monarch Butterfly in the garden, this year, so far.

Ironweed stately stands reaching nearly the eight-foot height of Joe-pye weed, adding a bright brush stroke of regal purple to the landscape painting. Touches of yellow come into play with Rudbeckia and Solidago.

Greater Spangled Fritilaries join in the feast of Ironweed. 

One worn out from weeks of flight throughout August with a fresh Fritillary September emergence.

Autumn, but three weeks away, will paint the apples in deeper red hues. 

By now, many of the bouncy snowballs of Annabelle's Hydrangea are carpeting the garden floor revealing the Tree Hydrangea beginning to blush in the background.

Viburnum seeds, nearly gone, have filled the bellies of Cedar Waxwings, Catbirds, Robins, Flickers and more resident Aves.

Though we miss the many songs and calls of birds, now gone or silent, Katydids and grasshoppers create such a cacophony between every blade of grass falling like a mysterious, musical mantle over the inky nights.

Not quite a violin, but there are actions within these wings striking together in atonal harmony.

Grasses cut a soft and feathery feel amongst green striking stalks . . . catching light while slicing through the canopy of sky, enveloping Flower Hill Farm, and tickling the muse of darkness.

September will summon silky tassels from within these taller Miscanthus greens. 

This tiny, iridescent juvenile's parents have long begun their migration southward bound. I continue to delight in the antics and jewel-like presence of the young Ruby-throated Hummingbirds . . . though knowing they too will be parting soon. Enjoying the days with all the many treasures without clinging . . . knowing ephemeral joys are for moments only . . .  we move with gratitude into September's ways.

Peace blossoms with justice . . . would that it could be alive in the hearts of all humankind. Our voices, pens and keyboards must be loud like the Katydids wing-songs filling congress and our president's mind with woe for what they may be about to sanction. Life is precious and fragile.

Whites Continuing to Shimmer Throughout A Sweltering July

Bid farewell to July with a stroll through the gardens still shimmering in white . . . more mature blooms . . . some nearly fading . . . the buzz, broods, trills and furls relaxing into August along the fringe of summer. July passed with days of torrid, sultry heat. Amazingly I withstood it all and each day went about the gardens and fields, during the hottest hours, in search of butterflies, discovering new species to add to my list.

As the Bluebird couple's second brood continues to grow within the nestbox, hydrangeas swell into soft, full panicles attracting bees and butterflies alike. In the background the flowers of Japanese Tree Lilac are fading. Yucca filamentosa L. is beginning to ring its waxy bells with the other shimmering whites.

Gooseneck loosestrife Lysimachia clethroides, in the middle garden is a favorite white of many butterflies.

Aphrodite Fritillary . . .  a frequent visitor to the white patch of tapered starry panicles. 

Very unusual here to see a Little Wood Satyr sipping nectar in the gardens. They are mostly sighted skipping around low to the ground. 

Numerous sorts of Skippers are seen flying and nectaring within the gooseneck raceme. In the eight by ten feet, or so, swath of flowers, just in front of the Bluebird nestbox, there might be up to 40 or 50 tiny butterflies darting about. Comical interplay abounds.

Here a Pearl Crescent, also in some numbers, approaches a content Skipper . . . a chase follows. Butterflies can be very territorial or could this little butterfly be thinking the Skipper is one of her/his own.

Days become weeks with the stifling heat blowing open silky petals of snowy white. 

The Hydrangea paniculata 'Swan' graces the middle garden just behind the nestbox.

Large heavy snowballs fall within this old fashion favorite. 

A Cimicifuga 'Candelabra' catches the light in the upper garden.

Earlier July

End of July

'The Swan'

Among the globulous buds of Cimcifuga, a Summer Azure comes in for a landing.

Birds are going for the Viburnum berries which are spilling over into the white pom-pom-like blossoms of Hydrangea.

Tree Hydrangea inflorescence begins with a chartreuse hue. 

Looking down towards the lower garden another Hydrangea paniculata is still offering a show . . . now in full white display. 

A Greater Spangled Fritillary harvesting Hydrangea nectar.

Milkweed's bouncy, bountiful and beautifully fragrant orbs have come and gone with not one sighting of a Monarch butterfly.

A Common Whitetail dragonfly rests on the birdbath. 

Meadowsweet offers tall, white, flame-like plumes up nearer the farmhouse and studios. 

My first ever Baltimore Checkerspot! Gorgeous crescent moons and other patterns on its wings. After a champagne lunch, my dear friend and bubbly cohort, Eva, and I took a walk about the gardens and there it was, a good twenty feet away from us, just resting in an overgrown section of the north field! I will be writing about this butterfly and other unusual guests in a later piece.

For now, Happy August! The days cannot get any hotter (I hope!) but the garden colors can.

A Play of Light and Whites in A Late June Garden Walkabout

I am offering a rather long, mostly silent, walkabout but one that promises a flora and fauna feast for the senses. Plenty of textures to tickle the imagination along with delicious fragrances and bright refractions within butterfly wings.  

Walking though the gardens here at Flower Hill Farm in mid to late June can be intoxicating and enchanting. While strolling and scrolling down, be sure to imagine a gentle breeze blowing through leaves and fronds . . . the greenery in continual movement . . . a verdure river of vegetation. The air gently caressing your skin and hair, while delivering or wafting nature's exclusive perfume . . .  no artificial chemicals here . . .  to your alert olfactory organs. Clouds, slowly forming, hang in the vast canopy of azure sky above.  No nagging mosquitoes or flies . . . for the Tree Swallows, you will note, are gently sweeping the sky, while dragonflies zigzag by. 

Also, put your mind to music and conjure up a chorus of songs. Indigo Bunting singing out from atop a Black Cherry, Bluebird murmurs and trebles of Cedar Waxwings in unison, along with countless other calls floating through the boughs of trees and shrubberies as birds dash about from nest to blueberry field. Add to these sounds the humming of bees and cheeps of nestlings from within tall grasses or plantings, as well as, above in the arms of trees. 

For color . . .  there is a focus . . . a play of mostly whites within and above the greens. Kousa Dogwood, Sweet Fern, Goat's Beard, Budding Bugbane or Cimicifuga, another native I have forgotten - rather like a fringe tree only a perennial, Tree Lilac, Hydrangeas, Mock orange, Climbing Hydrangea, Viburnum and more add texture and delight along this walkabout. 

One cannot miss the many butterflies that flit about and at this time, thirty or more larger, Tiger Swallowtails may flutter into view and light upon a favored delicious white bloom. Numerous others are about . . . too many to name for now, but I have added an Admiral, a Fritillary and a Sulphur for those who share my thrill for Lepidoptera. As you stand near the large Hydrangeas, you will no doubt notice the bustle of native bees . . . the whir of the busy pollinators seems to make the bushes vibrate.

Enough of the introduction . . . you are entering fragments of a living landscape painting. My apologies for too many words to read and far too many images to see. You are now in control of the tour and your preferred speed to scroll. Enjoy the stroll. 

After walking along the grassy paths up and down hillocks and through fields and shrubberies, I should love to offer you a cup of tea and perhaps we could chat about your experience or I could do my best to answer any questions . . . perhaps someday you may step out of the virtual into the real world of Flower Hill Farm. I should love to welcome you. 

A play of white continues into the July garden next week. Thank you for visiting!