Summer is in full swing and the hummingbirds are frequent guests here on Fawn Hill. ❦
Image #301 – Summer Hummer
Image #300 – In Its Prime
Everything has a prime…that time in the life cycle when all things “click.” For humans the “prime” is elusive. Counter-intuitively, it seems there can be multiple “primes” when a life cycle spans more than six decades. But for the mushroom on my hillside in North Carolina time is short and I believe I captured a Prime moment.
I snapped this picture yesterday. The ‘shroom almost yelled out to me. It was poised, center-stage, in a brilliantly lit patch of decay. By the time I fetched my camera the key-light had moved on but the mushroom was still an incredibly powerful presence. Strong and vibrant, reaching for the sky. It is, I think, some form of Amanita. When I returned today it seemed shriveled. It had flattened out and something had nibbled on it. My forest friends eat hearty in the summer, with all manner of mushrooms available along with berries and new buds. Most mornings I awake to find deer munching on the apples from my trees. I don’t mind. There are plenty of apples and the only inconvenience is that the deer take all the low-hanging fruit so I must work harder to get the fruit that is left. Working harder makes me realize I have passed my prime…at least my 6th decade prime…or so I think today.
I have been here for a week and have an almost visceral feeling of decompression. This small patch of land on Fawn Hill is a haven, a place to relax and enjoy just the being of life…however long that may be. ❧
Image #289 – Trillium
Trillium are part of the lily order but have their own family. And that is no surprise because, as it happens, there are many different varieties that grow across the globe. I was unfamiliar with it until we acquired the Fawn Hill property. On our little strand of land we have dozens of pink trillium which, officially speaking, are Trillium catesbaei, or Catesby trillium. There are quite a few more this year than I remember from the past two seasons that we have enjoyed this place. Whether that is due to our clearing of overgrowth or perfect growing conditions I don’t know.
As a member of the lily order they grow from rhizomes. This is great news since propagation will take care of itself. In the picture below you can count at least seven in a relatively small patch of land. Most of ours are pink although there are some white and one or two purple varities.
They are cheery beings and welcome on Fawn Hill. ✦
Images #288-289 – Lady Slippers
When I was a child growing up in Massachusetts, there
seemed no shortage of Lady Slippers; that delicate wild orchid that is at once beautifully dainty and profoundly evocative. They are of the subfamily Cypripedioideae and grace most of the continents. According to Wikipedia:
The subfamily Cypripedioideae is monophyletic and consists of five genera. The Cypripedium genus is found across much of North America, as well as in parts of Europe and Asia. The state flower of Minnesota is the showy lady’s slipper (Cypripedium reginae). The pink lady’s slipper is also the official provincial flower of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.
My sister and I recall them differently. She recalls them being in the woods behind her friend’s house and I recall them being in the woods behind our house, the distinction being that we moved to a big house that had acres of woods behind it just before my sister went off to boarding school. I remember ripping them from the ground and bringing them home to my mother. She rarely scolded us but she did suggest, in that way she had, that I simply leave them be. After we moved to Florida, when I was 12-years old I rarely saw a Lady Slipper again. I had heard (incorrectly) that they were endangered. So, you can imagine my delight when I discovered two(!) Lady Slippers on the hillside at Fawn Hill in North Carolina.
This will be our third summer at Fawn Hill and every year brings more surprises. In a few days we are having some trees removed, weed trees mainly, opportunists that have grabbed at a chance to thrive, ironically in the absence of care. As we clear away more and more of this over-growth we uncover a plan. The woman who first owned this land and lived here for more than a decade was a gardener and she installed some beautiful plantings. Daffodils and tulips have popped up, peonies seem abundant, and azalea bushes are emerging from what tried, very hard, to become forest. What will surprise us when the weed trees are gone and more light reaches the bank of land behind the house? Stay tuned. ✦
Image #275 – Black Crow
This young crow was giving me the eye recently… and a handsome eye it is. There is a family of crows that lives nearby and visits the yard frequently. They have really been enjoying my apples. I find half-devoured apples all over the lawn, clearly picked at by large birds and I have witnessed them pecking away with great gusto. Why not? It’s apple season for sure. ❧
Image #272 – Persistence, The Little Mushroom that Could
The next time you find yourself whining about a bad day consider this little guy. No more than two inches high, I found him pushing his way through the gravel on our driveway. Let’s give it up for this Little Mushroom that Could. I don’t know which is more impressive…the mushroom or the iPhone that took the picture. It is quite a time we live in. Our pockets bulge with technology that was unimaginable just a few short years ago. The best part is we have it there, at our finger-tips, to capture and share these incredible moments. ❧
Image #271 – Wood Asters with raindrops
Asters are so plentiful and so sturdy. Little blasts of color as the days start to change from summer to fall. The name Aster comes from the Ancient Greek word ἀστήρ (astér), meaning “star”, referring to the shape of the flower head. These wood asters are a gift from friends. We planted them along the side of the house last October and I feared they would not survive the winter but they have returned and are quite robust. We are barreling toward the autumnal equinox and change is already in the air. ❧
Image #270 – Fawn Hill’s Wildflowers
This is my second summer at Fawn Hill. It’s an abbreviated one because of my Western travels last Spring and the Florida election this Fall. I will head back to Florida on September 5 and begin campaigning for Amendment 2, the medical marijuana initiative.
But even with an abbreviated stay of about 12 weeks it has been a lovely time. The house has moved beyond the phase of everything seeming critical. There are still plenty of fixer-upper things to do but last year’s sense of urgency is gone. More importantly, the hard work of last year has begun to pay. The front side hill is a perfect example. When we first arrived it was terribly overgrown with brambles and no small amount of poison ivy. It required most of last summer to eradicate both of those scourges. But having cleaned out the mess I was then confronted with what to do with the space. There were still plenty of things to do and so I let it slide. When I arrived back in June of this year the wildflowers had begun to take over and I decided to let things go. It was the wait-and-see approach and it has been fun.
The center of the collage is an overall picture of what I currently have, a swatch of wildflowers. The always reliable Queen Anne’s Lace is a dominant player but there are others. In the upper right is a close-up of what I now know is Punctureweed. I have lots of it and have learned it is a scourge to grass eating creatures such as cows. But the bees absolutely adore it and can’t seem to move fast enough to get every last bloom. Below that is a Butterfly Pea, a sweet little thing. The red Coreopsis, I confess, was bought and planted by me. I hope it lives long and prospers. I love the color. The last is Purple Milkwort and, as you can see, the bees like it also.
Next year I will help the area with some wildflower seed and perhaps some Cosmos seeds. The area is so steep it is impossible to maintain anything too demanding. Wildflowers only demand the space to grow. ❧
Image #269 – Beefsteak Fungi! Who knew?
This spectacular fungus emerged at the base of an oak tree on Fawn Hill and one of my reference books tells me this fungi is responsible “for making old oaks hollow.” Its color was absolutely stunning and it is quite large, about 6 inches across. ❧
Image #268 – Chanterelle
Chanterelle mushrooms on Fawn Hill. ❧
Alice's WanderLand 