Plant Story -- Smooth Sumac, Rhus glabra

Sumacs are common shrubs in North America, and inconspicuous except in the fall, when the leaves turn a brilliant red. 

 

Travel Story--More of Wales

When I wrote a blog post about my visit to Wales a couple weeks ago (link), it got long before I had shared the full trip. Here are more pictures from Wales, starting at about Cardigan and continuing southward.

the countryside in Wales

Plant Story--New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

The New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae aster family, Asteraceae) is very widespread; in North America it is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific, missing only very dry states like Nevada. Distribution maps show it as native across all that range, but it is an attractive plant that was brought into gardens long ago and may have escaped and naturalized. 

New England aster 

Travel Story--Wales

I took a tour in Wales, mainly along the coast. Wales, the southwest corner of Britain, is about 170 miles long and 60 miles wide, but hills, mountains, and rivers make it a lot more complex.  My tour, with Road Scholar, began just north of Wales in Manchester, and circled south along the coast, finally turning east to Cardiff and then London. 

We saw lots of green pastures, with cows or sheep

American Squashes

zucchini and yellow summer squash

Sorting out the squashes is a job for experts, which I am not. They are wonderfully confused.

“True squashes” are plants in the genus Cucurbita (Cucurbitaceae, cucumber family). About 15 species make up Cucurbita, all of them native to the Americas. 

Melons, such as cantalope genus Cucumis, watermelon, genus Citrullus (blog about watermelon) and others--all the melons--are from Asia, Africa or Europe. 

Chrysanthemums: Fall Greetings!

red chrysanthemums 

As summer fades into fall, a different set of plants dominate the landscape.  In my garden, the chrysanthemums that were an unassuming cluster of leaves all summer are now covered in blossoms.  My fruit trees are dropping apples and peaches. Burning bush (Euonymous) and maples start to turn color.  

Pollinators and Flower Visitors

All sorts of small animals can be found on flowers. All of them can safely be called flower visitors. Of the flower visitors, some are pollinators. What is the difference?