END DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!!!

Purpurea witch hazel with incredibly fantastic fall colors- early winter flowers on a native tree/shrub. Discovered this attribute yesterday against a flawless sky.

I just woke up- it’s Sunday morning and the sun looks like it’s been up for HOURS. What a total waste because this afternoon around four thirty it’s going to be DARK. DEPRESSING. SAD! Why do they waste sunlight before people get out of bed? This time of year, I slither into bed a few hours after dark which seems like a pretty pitiful lifestyle for we who live north of the Mason Dixon.

I’m continually impressed with our sod quality. I’ve just gotta say that you just can't find sod grown under better conditions than our Yankee Stadium supplier. After it’s delivered to us we take pretty good care of it. The sod is two years old, 90%bluegrass, 10% fescue. It’s unrolled within a few hours of delivery and after that treated with love and respect. At box stores you better get it immediately after it’s delivered or don’t buy it. It generates its own heat and starts to decompose immediately. 

This nest is small because I moved the tree it was in to keep people from getting attacked. The bees outside the nest at that moment in Time never knew where I moved their home. The nest was never really a viable community again.

I carefully tapped the tree to see if anyone was home over a period of weeks and didn’t cut it out of the tree until I was sure I wasn’t going to “bee” attacked.

Did you ever get to inspect a white face hornets nest? Bet not. They are a nasty insect to encounter in a dark alley yet they are an incredibly complex and important insect. Their life cycle ends with the first few freezes and then (and ONLY then) can one inspect the pure genius of their construction industry. They chew trees and make paper out of the cellulose from which their basketball-sized nests are made of. There are air conditioning vents throughout, with nurseries for raising offspring, living quarters, maintenance shops, etc.

They eat a broad array of insects for which they never get any credit. When threatened, they act as one- fearlessly attacking aggressors hundreds of thousands times bigger than they are. I know this for a fact. I would always destroy these nests every time I found them. It was FUN. Then I grew up and saw them for what they really are, and my transition from a stupid ignorant human was complete.

See junior? He is either dead or in a suspended state. You can inspect the genius of the construction techniques used by these industrious insects. Different bees, different mouthfuls, different colors, teentsy breathing holes for air conditioning.

Not fun facts:

American native insect populations have plummeted to 25% of what they were in 1970 (ramifications of this? If you do not know, shame on you).

German insect populations are down 90% (home to Bayer chemical company). Boycott Bayer chemical company-Satan of the planet’s environments.!

North American bird populations have been ERADICATED to the tune of three BILLION birds. Who cares?

Its like we live in this fantastic parallel universe right next to the universe where our own destruction is playing out one invisible extinction at a time. We are placated by the nonsensical in our lives, as the truly important drama is playing out right there for all to see and be ignored. We have no time left to do anything at all- it’s now or never. These organisms are the tip of the iceberg- indicator species. When their numbers reach the tipping point, it’s over for us too.​

Global warming-induced erosion in RI. 

Columnar ginkgo trees expressing their glee at the arrival of cooler weather.

Three inches of rain this week toppled this amsonia over two days ago but it still shines.

The plant in the photo is a thirty year old “amsonia hubrectii” that Junebug planted there to show people what it does during the year. It’s common name is blue star but it should be named after it’s golden school bus yellow fall color instead.

This plant never gets water, food, or any sort of love ever- never has. It endures stress, drought, neglect with no complaints, and performs like clockwork each and every year.

The gentlest breezes makes this plant look like it’s on the bottom of the seabed, waving gently back and forth moving as if with the tides.

Deer proof, colorful, looks pruned when never pruned, soft like moss to the touch- a more trouble-free perennial you will never meet. Nobody owns these, which makes them a unique addition to your yard.