Are you excited to see the spring flowers? The flowers have been a little slow to bloom this year because of the unusually cold temperatures. It will be interesting to observe the plant behavior as the weather warms up. Did the February bloomers die during the cold? Will they come out later, only to have… Continue reading What Flowers Will Bloom Next Month? March 2025
Category: Plants
What Flowers Will Bloom Next Month? May 2025
Here are some of the highlights of the flowers that will bloom in May: There are so many flowers that start to bloom in May, so be sure to check the May flower page for a more complete list.
What’s That? August 6, 2025
What’s that orange vine growing on top of everything? That is common dodder (Cuscuta gronovii), a leafless, parasitic vine that is native to this area. This vine has white flowers in the late summer. I will try to get a picture of them when they bloom. Have you found any common dodder?
What’s That? December 15, 2024
What’s that? Are they tomatoes? These tiny green fruits are growing on a stem with prickles. They are the fruits of Carolina horse-nettle (Solanum carolinense). You may remember seeing the star-shaped flower this summer. This plant is part of the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes and eggplants. But horse-nettle is very toxic! Don’t eat it!
What’s That? January 26, 2025
Today, I noticed these seed pods wrapped around a tree branch. What plant are they from? They are the fruit from wild yam (Dioscorea villosa). Here is a closer look. I’ll go back in the spring to see if I can get a picture of the leaves and flowers. Have you seen wild yam?
What’s That? June 20, 2025
What are these orange spikes on the serviceberry fruit? It is a fungus called cedar-quince rust (Gymnosporangium clavipes). This fungus actually has an interesting life cycle. It starts with an infection of a plant in the juniper (Juniperus) family. In the late spring after a good rain, the fungus produces a large orange clump on… Continue reading What’s That? June 20, 2025
What’s That? May 28, 2024
What’s going on with this hairy cat’s-ear? The stem is really thick and bent. The flower head is flattened and it looks like there’s more than one flower. I’ve never seen anything like that before, so I decided to look it up. This is called plant fasciation. It is a rare condition of abnormal growth… Continue reading What’s That? May 28, 2024
What’s That? May 6, 2024
What’s that? It looks like someone sprayed the blackberry plants with bright orange spray paint. Unfortunately, it isn’t paint. This is a fungal infection known as orange rust. It is two fungal species, Arthuriomyces peckianus and Gymnoconia nitens. Orange rust fungus infects the entire plant: the roots, crown and shoots. This fungus doesn’t usually kill… Continue reading What’s That? May 6, 2024
What’s That? September 23, 2024
We went for a walk this weekend and came across these colorful berries. They look like Easter eggs! What is that? These are the fruit of porcelain-berry (Ampelopsis glandulosa). Before it had fruit, it looked like a frost grape vine with its forked tendrils. Porcelain-berry is in the grape family, but its berries are poisonous.… Continue reading What’s That? September 23, 2024
Winter Beauty
It’s January and things seem rather dead out there. But take a closer look. There’s still beauty all around. New York ironweed has long lost its showy purple flowers. Here’s what is underneath. The fuzzy seed heads of the goldenrod make interesting texture in the dull brown fields. And these feather-like wands are the seeds… Continue reading Winter Beauty