Our sixth orchid to bloom (actually 7th, but I didn’t find the Ragged Fringed until too late, plus they were off-trail) is Club-spur Orchid, Platanthera clavellata! This small greenish woodland orchid is so hard to find until it blooms. Well, even then it is a bit of a challenge! This is another of what I call the “stick-your-face-in-them” orchids. It’s really a very attractive flower with a slight twist to it, but you really need to look closely at it. 

As usual, just ask one of us naturalists to point you in the right direction if you would like to take a look at this neat plant.

Now that summer is in full swing, I wanted to post a list of what was in bloom. There are lots of bigger, showier flowers growing in the sunny, open areas of the preserve and smaller, yet just as beautiful flowers thriving in the cool and dark woods. Wildlife watching opportunities abound around these flowering buffets. And not just of the insect kind! Hummingbirds and other avians are frequent visitors. Amphibians and reptiles can be a surprise find too, whether it is a small spring peeper or gray tree frog hiding on a leaf or a quick leopard frog darting through the grass. Enjoy this photo montage of flora and fauna and check out the “in bloom” list at the bottom of the post!

Queen Ann’s Lace

 Heal-all

 Swamp Milkweed

 Here is a small spring peeper resting on a Monarda leaf.

 Check out this beautiful baby Milk Snake we found! We gave him his “close up”, then let him go.

 A small native bee working hard at collecting pollen and nectar on the Monarda. If you look closely at the picture you may notice the white glob of pollen on the last leg.

 Here is a Slender Spreadwing Damselfly, Lestes rectangularis. Note the incredibly blue eyes.

Flowers currently in bloom… 
Sweet-scented Joy-pye Weed
Lizard’s Tail
Monarda
Orange Milkweed
Sweet-scented Water Lily
Fleabane
White and Blue Vervain
Swamp Milkweed
False Sunflower
Obedient Plant
Heal-all
Horse Balm
Enchanter’s Nightshade
Lopseed
Hog Peanut
Naked-flowered Tick Trefoil
Common Milkweed
White Sweet Clover
Trumpet Creeper
Queen Ann’s Lace
Purple Coneflower

Today’s post is going to focus on our butterfly nectar garden out in front of the Nature Center.

This space was created back in 2003 and planted with native prairie species of wildflowers. Over time, the composition has changed a bit and other species of plants have made their home here as well. Currently, there are at least (but probably more) 30 different species of plants growing within this space. The garden only measures about 8 feet by 22 feet. Not a huge space. Also, it is not isolated. As you can see in the above picture, it connects to historic plantings near the Nature Center.

Here are a couple of pictures during its construction:

One of the plants included in the seed mix was Thin-leaved Coneflower, Rudbeckia triloba. For the first few years, this plant became one of the dominant plants in the garden.

As other plants came into their own, a more balanced composition emerged.  There are wonderful flowers in the garden including Monarda sp., Purple Coneflower, False Sunflower, Orange Butterflyweed, Wild Petunia, Ironweed, and several Silphium sp. such as Whorled Rosinweed. The star of the the garden may be the Royal Cathcfly.

Does all of this bloom in profusion every year? Well, no. It depends on what the deer choose to eat each year. One year, they ate most of the Monarda. The past couple of years they’ve eaten much of the purple coneflowers and the cup plants. But, there are still plenty of things that boom and attract a wide variety of animal life….besides the deer.

All this diversity equals a diverse animal component. Let’s take a look at some of the really cool stuff we can find just in this 175 square feet of space.

A Daddy Long-legs delicately perches on top of the Bee Balm. While related to spiders this creature is not a spider himself. He only has one body part, is incapable of making silk, and does not possess venom.

Beetles can be pollinators too. This beetle is very small, only a few millimeters. I was not able to figure out what family this beetle belongs to. There were several out there. Beetles have chewing mouthparts and some feed on pollen and nectar. Not sure if this is the case with this particular beetle.

Flies can be effective pollinators. Many kinds of flies are bee and wasp mimics. This fly is in the family Sarcophagidae. This family has many different kinds of niches, but adults commonly feed on nectar and other sweet sources of food.

Other animals take advantage of the rich food supply for others and lay in wait to catch and eat them! This true bug is hiding well. He may get a good meal today.

This habitat also provides resting places for animals. There were several lightening bugs (actually beetles) just hanging out in the foliage.

Here is another cool fly. This is a flower fly belonging to the family Syrphidea. I believe this one is the common oblique syrphid, Allograpta obliqua. These flies feed on pollen and nectar as adults and are one of the most common kinds of flies that can be found on flowers.

Composite flowers such as this False Sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides make for excellent sources of pollen and nectar. Here we see the aforementioned unidentified beetle along with a native solitary bee.

Another common visitor to summer wildflowers is this silvery spotted skipper. One of the larger skippers this one is pretty easy to identify due to the large white or silvery spot on the hind wing. Look for caterpillars of this butterfly on locust and other legumes.

I hope you enjoyed this little foray in our nectar garden. I want you all to know that all the pictures of creatures were taken over just two days. I spent about an hour and a half total to find all these amazing creatures. Also, each and every one of the animals showcased here were actually in the confines of the nectar garden. So much diversity! As the garden continues to produce more flowers as the season progresses, there will be even more cool stuff to find in just 175 square feet of nature.

The beautiful native rhododendron is finally in bloom. Big, white blossoms with just a tinge of pink before they open make these flowers particularly appealing. Although there are not a huge amount of blooms this year, there are enough to make your day. Come on out and see them before they wilt away!

Our next orchid in bloom is not one I have been able to share with you before. There are a couple of reasons. One, the place where is grows has been too far off the trail to have visitors take a look at it. Also, it is so small that until this year I was unable to photograph it. Now, we have the wonderful 100mm macro lens for our camera and the part of the Casa Burro trail that was moved got us closer to the orchids. Yea! So, what orchid are we talking about?

Adder’s Mouth Orchid, Malaxis unifolia. This orchid is very small, very green, and very hard to see. And, like many of our native orchids, if you’re not really into them, you may find it hard to appreciate this one!

They have just started to bloom, so you should have some time to see them. Just ask one of us Naturalists for directions on where to find them. 

Happy first full day of Summer! Let’s celebrate by taking a closer look at some amazing creatures….Odonates! Odo-what? Odonata is the order of dragonflies and damselflies. These incredible insects are colorful, interesting, and fascinating. They have amazing adaptations for catching their food, securing mates, and avoiding predators. Let’s start by looking at the differences between dragonflies and damselflies.

With our spring wildflowers fading into the cool darkness of the forest, we can focus on some interesting shrubs that are in bloom now. All of the new shrubs in bloom have white flowers making this period in early summer the “green and white” time. Don’t worry there are still several different kinds of wildflowers in bloom including the very cool Green Dragon. 

If you’ve been following along with the orchid blooming schedule, then you know that the next orchid to bloom is Tway Blade, Liparis lilifolia. Another small orchid, but interesting nonetheless. The lower lip on this one is extreamly flattend. The color is (to my eye) a pale, translucent lavender. 

It’s Azalea blooming time. I’m a touch late on getting this posted, but you should still have time to see these guys. Don’t wait much past this week though!

So, let’s get right to it. There are several Azaleas is bloom ranging from an almost white to dark pink color. Also in the pink color are the cultivated Rhododendrons. They are looking quite spectacular right now. Most notably however are the Flame Azaleas. These beautiful shrubs have a bloom color that ranges from light orange to a deep reddish-orange. Very striking. Let’s take a look at a couple of pics!

 The ever beautiful Flame Azalea

and again!

one more time!

 An almost white Azalea

The magenta colored cultivated Rhododendron. (Reminder: the native ones won’t bloom until the last part of June/first part of July)

Other new flowers in bloom include:

Honewort

Yellow Iris

Fleabane

Canada Mayflower

*Edit 5/23/14
Hawkweed sp.
Shasta Daisy
Speedwell sp.

And remember, you can still see Showy Orchis, Pink Lady’s Slipper, and Puttyroot Orchids in bloom this week!

Flowers are blooming, the bugs are zooming, and the birds are singing. I’d say it’s been a pretty nice spring! Last week’s flower list was a bit on the incomplete side, so here is another one which includes a new orchid update!

Orchid update:

As of right now you can see all three of our first native orchids in bloom! Showy Orchis, Pink Lady’s Slipper, and Puttyroot will all be in bloom throughout this week. Yea! 

Other new flowers in bloom:

Mountain Azalea

Aniseroot

Sweet Cicely

Doll’s Eye

Fire Pink

Star-of-Bethlehem

Dwarf Crested Iris

Indian Cucumber Root

Cleavers

Squawroot

Canada Violet

 Aniseroot

 Dwarf Crested Iris