#mywalks — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #mywalks, aggregated by home.social.
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New England aster is native to most of the central and N.E. US, and S.E. Canada
Important to songbirds, flies, ants, and pollinators.
It's been used to treat skin conditions, fever, gastrointestinal issues, and pain. -
Invasions of Common Buckthorn can harm the environment, as this invasive plant outcompetes native plants, reduces biodiversity, degrades the quality of wildlife habitat, and impacts a wide range of industries. Buckthorn is a woody plant that ranges in size from a shrub to a small tree, reaching heights of 6-7 m. When soil is moist, small plants up to 1 m tall can be pulled. Larger plants can be dug out or pulled out using a weed wrench tool.
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The abrupt and defining line between the farmer's crop and the wildflower meadow is what caught my eye.
And further back is a strip of land where the crop was harvested and the light colour of sunbleached dead vegetation adds to the contrast. -
All was quiet, except for the sound of ghe wind, crickets, birds, buzzing insects, and the crunch, crackle of the gravel as my feet moved on the dirt road.
No engines, no motors, no human noise.
Very peaceful. -
This is either a Highbush Cranberry or a Guelder Rose plant.
It is nearly impossible to know which is which unless one tastes and smells the fruit; the latter has an extremely bitter flavour and smells worse than a wet dog 🤢 and since I am a long distance from home, a shower, change of clothing, and mouthwash, sorry but I'm not interested in conducting an experiment to find out .😄It's pretty whatever the species.
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Common Jewelweed - waxy surface on leaves makes water bead up and roll off, creating the “jeweled” appearance.
Each flower is about 1 " long. The fruit is an explosive seed pod that, when ripe, bursts open at the slightest touch, shooting seeds several feet away;a adaptation that earned it another name,“Touch-me-not.”
The flowers attract hummingbirds and pollinators; seeds feed other birds; amphibians find shelter beneath foliage; mammals eat the leaves
(plantnative.org)
#MyWalks #Canada -
What country road is complete without an old rusted vehicle? The cab of the truck is rusted out, yet the windshield, air horn and exhaust stack remain pretty well intact.
Did the driver retire, or replace a worn and familiar friend with a modern, shining transport truck?
Does the driver miss the sagging seat that after many years, provided cushioning in the right places?
During the night's sleep, does the owner operator memory-dream of distant destinations together?
#MyWalks #Canada -
Common Ninebark
Five petaled flowers appear in spring, and give way to clusters of paperish capsules, turning brown and persist into the winter. Named for its unusual bark which peels in strips to reveal several layers of reddish to light brown inner bark..
Pollinators benefit from the flowers.The ability of P. opulifolius to grow in harsh conditions makes it especially suitable for erosion control on banks. But it is also grown for its ornamental foliage ( wiki)
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🏍️Happy Biker
Man on a Harley hog
rides by ,
sitting self assured
amidst
a shower
of blinding sparkles
bouncing off
carefully cared for chrome
in the brilliant late
summer sunshine,
his small black helmet
and dark sunglasses,
framed in a ever moving
long and fluffy
salt and pepper beard
carefully parted
by the wind
and blowing jauntily
around his face
and head.I can't help
thinking
I hope
he brushes out the bugs
before offering hugs
once arriving at
his destination.🤭 -
I often wonder what I might find if I change direction and follow along down an unknown to me dirt and gravel road.
Will it be a brightly painted 2 story farmhouse with children playing in a yard;
an old, weathered abandonded barn with walls leaning to one side;
a weed farm complete with security fencing; or perhaps a historic graveyard like the one I saw in a corn field. -
The cloud formation was what caught my eye, their appearance as I looked off into the distance, and the bright sunlight vs darker areas of the clouds.
And during this stressful time, with everything going on south of the border, there's something reassuring looking over the corn fields.
It makes me think, "Despite international events, our farmers are working to feed the world; together we are a strong people; Canada will come through this safe and secure."
🇨🇦 😊
#Cdnpoli -
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly . Other common names, depending on region, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown.It is among the most familiar of North American butterflies, and an iconic pollinator, although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cm (3.5–4.0 in). (wiki)
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Wild Chickory Flower. Introduced to Canada.
Chickory plant uses: Roots, coffee substitute. Leaves: Salads, and spinach substitute; cooking reduces bitterness.
An extract from chicory root, has been used in food manufacturing as a sweetener and source of dietary fiber.
Chicory is also grown as a forage crop for livestock; for example, it was once used as a substitute for oats and fed to horses.
#MyWalks #Canada -
Gray dogwood berries.During spring gray dogwood white flowers attract pollinators. Moths and butterflies use gray dogwood as a host plant for their eggs.
The dense thicket created by the rapidly spreading shrubs provides cover for wildlife and nesting spots; pollinating insects & caterpillars provide easy meals for nesting birds. In fall berries appear.These are consumed by local and migrating wildlife. Not toxic to people, the berries are bitter & not edible.
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Close up of a Canadian Ticktrefoil wildflower found on a rewilded area.
These plants are nitrogen fixers and are inter-cropped in maize and sorghum fields to suppress witchweed, and to repel Chilo partellus, a stem-boring grass moth.Insects, pests, are likewise repelled.
These blossoms are only a few mm each.
Bobwhite, turkey, grouse, deer, cattle and goats use this plant as fodder.
A blue dye can be extracted. -
A beautiful late summer day in a rewilded wildflower-covered meadow near the edge of a forest.
Tall giant sunflowers, drying teasels, and purple blazing prairie star wildflowers are nestled among other native plants. -
Sunbleached shell of a brown lipped snail.
Introduced to Canada from Europe. This species feeds mainly on dead or senescent plants, so it helps regenerate and condition soil.
It prefers broad-leaved plants over grasses. Although mostly not a pest of crops, it can be a nuisance in vineyards because it is inadvertently picked with the grapes. -
These giant sunflowers are taller than 5 ft.
A section of land that was a golf course until rewilded. A tract of upland and ravine forest, with a meadow restoration, located on a floodplain. Tulip Tree, Sassafras, White Oak, Black Walnut, Ashs and Elm, Beech & Maples,and understory species;Spicebush, Witch Hazel, Prickly Ash, characteristic of these habitats. . There is an understory of spring ephemerals on the upland forest's hummock and swale microtopography.
#MyWalks #Canada -
A section of land that was a golf course until rewilded. A tract of upland and ravine forest, with a meadow restoration, located on a floodplain. Tulip Tree, Sassafras, White Oak, Black Walnut, Ashs and Elm, Beech & Maples,and understory species;Spicebush, Witch Hazel, Prickly Ash, characteristic of these habitats. . There is an understory of spring ephemerals on the upland forest's hummock and swale microtopography.
Listen to the birds and bugs
#MyWalks #Canada -
A closeup of a bud of the Brownray Knapweed
It almost looks like it's covered in little brown spiders -
Brownray Knapweed
This species is very valuable to bees. It is also a magnet for many species of butterfly. Among them is the marbled white.This is the only known food plant for caterpillars of the Coleophoridae case-bearer moth Coleophora didymella. Centaurea scabiosa has been used in traditional herbal healing as either a vulnerary or an emollient.
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🇨🇦 A Summer Day in a field of wildflowers leading to a forested area.
Species: 1400 plants, 50 mammal, 180 bird, 12 types of salamanders & 12 of frogs; 10 types of turtles, 16 snakes, one lizard
Canada has 230 species of fish, and over half can be found in this Carolinian Zone
Every one of the above species is dependent on its own niche in this environment, & why preservation of all species of plants and animals is such an important responsibility. -
Dry Teasels, another sign summer is ending
Since Roman times, teasels were used as a comb for cleaning, aligning and raising the nap on fabrics, namely wool. The dried flower heads were attached to spindles, wheels, or cylinders. By the 20th century, teasels were replaced by metal cards. some people who weave wool still prefer to use teasels ; if a teasel meets serious resistance in the fabric, it will break, whereas a metal tool will rip the cloth.
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Normally I pass by signs like these with very little notice,
No Hunting
Stop Private PropertyHowever, there's something errie about these signs, and others along the property line, add to that the dense and shadowy trees beyond the areas lit up with sunshine. Every time I pass by I feel uncomfortable and automatically I step up my pace..
I know it's irrational but I can't shake the feeling. check out the alt text.
#MyWalks -
Addendum to My Walks post about Goldenrod vs Ragweed
From Kingston Allergy Research
Goldenrod and Ragweed Differences and Allergies.
#MyWalks #Canada #Allergy #Health
https://kingstonallergyresearch.ca/distinguishing-ragweed-and-goldenrod/
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Goldenrod 😊 🎉 VS Ragweed 🤧 😖
Do you know the difference?Because of it's bright yellow flowers, & they bloom at the same time, can be found growing side by side, Goldenrod is often blamed for seasonal allergic reactions, but it's pollen is sticky and isn't carried on the wind like Ragweed.
🦋 Goldenrod is beneficial to pollinators. :woozy_bee:
Ragweed's tiny blooms are barely noticeable because they are the same dull green as stem & leaves.
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Signs that summer is beginning to say farwell, and autumn is approaching.
Sumac berry cluster drying out and turning a dark rusty red, and a few leaves turning red, orange, and golden. -
Each time I walk over these dirt-filled pawprints in the hardened cement, for some reason I think to myself,
" Fediversians would agree with you, Don't comply. Resist." : ) -
It looks as if insects damaged one tree
These trees caught my eye because of the contrast between the sunlight on the one stripped of bark and the other. -
Good Morning from Canada 👋 🇨🇦
Staghorn Sumac berries, some people use these to make tea
(The poisonous variety is not this bright red )