Flowering 2012

A belated look at the many wonderful flowers this relatively rainy spring.

violets

buttercups

purple vetch

above; bull thistle foliage

wildflowers in our front yard are below

mullein; below is 1st year rosette

the early less shady flowering time of spring

Flowering post at Raleigh Nature

Garden Spider Goes Quadruple!

A garden spider, Argiope aurantia, set up shop in our kitchen window and had a wonderful summer and fall. Still productive (with some feeding help from us) in late November, it amazed us by laying its 4th egg sac.

egg sacs

weaving number four

count 'em - one, two, three four!

Raleigh Nature post on this garden spider

Downed Tree Highlights Snowy Greenway Walk

When the lovely, harmless 3 inch fluff ended on a Saturday morning, I took off for my favorite sight-seeing greenway, Buckeye Trail from Milburnie Road. At the edge of Rollingwood, Crabtree has carved out a tall bluff (at least for this part of Raleigh), and at the end of this picture post you will see a snowy tree which has fallen off this bluff on to the greenway.

Longview Branch at Mulburnie after snow February 12-13, 2010.

Longview Branch upstream from Milburnie greenway bridge.

Landfill meadow at Milburnie Road greenway.

Snowy slope on Buckeye Trail.

Deer and coon tracks after February snows at lanfill meadow on Buckeye Trail.

Pine and beech off Buckeye Trail.

Brook from Rollingwood slope enters Long Branch off Buckeye Trail.

Oak stump on Buckeye Trail

This tree had a monstrously huge box elder beetle gall on its side before being cut down.

(return to) Raleigh Nature snow post

March Snow on Buckeye Trail

Edge of landfill meadow at east end of Buckeye Trail.

baby beeches under pines

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Back home in Oakwood!