A Tribute #WordlessWednesday

A friend's sister, N, passed away Friday, after a years long battle with various medical issues.  

I had only seen her in person a few times (the last time, I think, was 2020), but years before that, she had become my go-to for wildflower ID and she shared my love of history.  We emailed each other on and off when I traveled.  

Years ago, I did a Wildflower Wednesday feature on my blog, and N was a great help to me.  I will miss her knowledge.

I know N wouldn't want any fuss over her due to her passing, so, instead, I will post some pictures of wildflowers in and around my yard.   Unfortunately, I have to depend on my iPhone camera app for wildflower ID and it doesn't always get it right.  Unlike N, who was so knowledgeable.

Several years I bought some plants from a wildflower nursery and they gave me a wild aster as a thank you gift.  This may be a calico aster but it isn't in the place where I planted that gift aster.  I apologize for the blur.

White snakeroot.  I definitely did not plant this, which I found the other day on the side of my house, and I'm thinking of removing it as I understand it is an aggressive grower.  I don't need anymore aggressive growers in my small yards.

Last year I had one of these woodland sunflowers pop up in my back yard.  This year there's a bunch of them.  I hate to get rid of native plants, but...aggressive. They spread via underground rhizomes.

Finally, a mystery I know N would have solved easily.  We planted a lilac bush several years ago. It didn't bloom until this spring.  What we thought was a lilac had small flowers this year that died after only a couple of days.  These berries have now appeared.  Lilac berries?  Didn't know they made berries but the iPhone camera plant ID says this is a lilac.  I'd love to know more.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
 

Cuddly Corn #WordlessWednesday

 At this time of year, I eat corn on the cob several times a week.  I can't get enough of it.  That sweet goodness is so fleeting.  I am fortunate that I live in an area where I can get fresh sweet corn at farm markets or even in a local supermarket chain that buys local when they can.

So, the other day, I peeled the husk off a corn.  Seemed like the corn was a bit thicker than normal.

Before cooking.

After cooking.

Cuddly corn.  

I don't know if this was one corn that split in two while developing, or two separate corns. 

Either way, it was delicious.

If you enjoy sweet corn on the cob, have you ever run into this?

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

Monarch Time #WordlessWednesday

One of our local libraries has an aquarium set up with monarch butterfly larvae developing. They’ve had several become butterflies.

Here are some pictures of their set up. The larvae are the striped caterpillars, and I hope you can make them out in these pictures.

If you are interested, here is more on the life cycle of a monarch butterfly. 

You can see one towards the right middle of the picture.  I apologize for the glare. 

These are milkweed plants, which the caterpillars feast on until their next stage of development.  I see at least three in this picture.

The enclosure itself. 

This is the Vestal Library's certificate of recognition from the Monarch Waystation program.  The program states, in part:

"Monarch Waystations are intentionally managed gardens that provide critical breeding resources and food sources to support monarch butterflies throughout their multi-generational, 3,000-mile migration.....As of 11 August 2026, there have been 57,969 Monarch Waystation habitats registered with Monarch Watch."

The very first monarch waystation was established in 2004 at the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas. 

 

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
 

A Cake Mix Tribute to Dolly Parton #WordlessWednesday

I was going to blog about monarch butterflies today, but I find myself blogging about a different monarch.  So this will be a fairly wordy Wordless Wednesday.

Dolly Parton used to joke that she was the Queen of Tabloids.  She certainly was a queen: a talented singer who rose from poverty to enrich the world, the fourth of 14 children of an east Tennessee family.  She was also an actor, a songwriter, a philanthropist,a humanitarian, a re-creator of a Tennessee theme park to enrich and pay tribute to her local community, an entrepreneur, and the bringer of a free reading program called Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to the parents of thousands and thousands of babies and toddlers.  (That program is available in the United States, Ireland, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia.)

You can read more about Dolly Parton here.

Dolly Parton died yesterday at the age of 80, just four days after she reassured fans about her health.  The cause of death was cancer.

I am not a country music fan, but I love every song I ever heard her sing.  I will feature her induction into Rock and Roll Heaven on my blog this coming Monday.

In the meantime, there is the matter of this cake mix. Yes, Dolly had a line of baking mixes.  I had two in the house yesterday, a cornbread mix and this coconut cake mix. I had never tried the coconut mix and now it was time.

Why not bake a cake as a tribute to her?   So I baked the coconut cake.  It was delicious.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

And a duet with Kenny Rogers...

Goodbye, Dolly.
 

Tiny Toad #WordlessWednesday

I was in my back yard yesterday when I heard a rustle.

I saw some movement.  

 

Look above the leaf.

I believe it's a tiny toad, actually (possibly-I am not a toad expert) an American toad toadlet (Anaxyrus americanus). I would love it if any of my readers can make a positive ID.

 

Joining up with Sandee at Comedy Plus's #WordlessWednesday 

Almost Mid August Wildflowers #WordlessWednesday

Come take another wildflower walk with me.  I took these pictures this past weekend. 

Globe thistle (left) and goldenrod (right).

Goldenrod and barely visible bee.

Purple loosestrife and Queen Anne's Lace.

Lessor burdock.

Japanese knotweed getting ready to flower.

Wild morningglory.

If you like more domestic flowers I invite you to stop by my blog Saturday for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

 

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

Portland Parking Apology #WordlessWednesday

Seen in Portland, Maine, July 2024. 

Refreshing honesty. 

 

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Note:  If my blog disappears, Blogger is having a massive problem with them (or their AI?) taking down hundreds of  blogs for malicious content that doesn't exist.  They are trying to fix this, but if my blog disappears, you will know why. 

Wildflower Variety Pack #WordlessWednesday

For today's Wordless Wednesday, I bring you assorted wildflowers near where I live in New York State.

Wildflower bouquet of Queen Anne's Lace (white) and what I assume is purple loosestrife (an invasive plant).

Taken July 26, my phone identifies this as Canada goldenrod.

Taken July 28, chicory.

Yellow jewelweed.  I wouldn't be surprised if poison ivy was growing nearby.

Finally, my phone identifies this as swamp milkweed.

 

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day July 2026 #WordlessWednesday

It's another two memes for the price of one day - Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and Wordless Wednesday.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day has been a years old meme. hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  On the 15th of each month, flower gardeners from all over the world take pictures of what is blooming in their yard and/or houses.  Carol is retiring from this meme the end of the year, so this is the last July installment.

In my zone 6a Southern Tier of New York, it's hot and dry.  Today, we are also enduring a bonus - wildfire smoke.  I feel for all those affected.  Fire is a terrible thing.  So most of these blooms are from yesterday.

My astilbe didn't make it until today, alas.  And, I also have a confession.  In the last two years, my flower gardens have been neglected (long personal story why) and are a bit out of control. I'm going to have to pay someone to help me get it into shape, but not this hot week.

Much of the blooming in my gardens is from the humble daylily, and I'll be sharing some of my daylily collection in a minute.  But first, some non-daylily blooms.

Bee balm, leaves wilted but the flowers still beckoning bees.

Yellow million bells.

Yellow loosestrife.  Lesson learned from this plant:  when buying a plant from the local extension service plant sale and they warn you, "this is aggressive", believe them, no matter how pretty the plant is.  I started from one plant.  I don't want to count what I have now.

Ditto for these perennial sweet peas, which we grew from seed, and now wish we hadn't.

One of several hosts.  

Now the daylilies 

This is my oldest daylily.

I bought this at the same time, I think.  It was from a mail order nursery.

Thankfully, these beauties don't mind heat or little water.

 

These are my tallest dallies, and good thing, as they are competing with other plants.

I'm going to call it quits now, because I'd like to visit some of you, so have a Happy Wednesday filled with joy.

Linking up with Carol at May Deam Gardens for her #GardenBloggersBloomDay

Linking up with Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

A New Mural #WordlessWednesday

A new mural was created next to a favorite Southern Tier ice cream shop this past month.

Closeup.

This mural was completed in June by a local art studio.  These pictures were taken on June 30.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Flowers of the First Day of Summer #WordlessWednesday

To my Canadian readers a few hours from me, Happy Canada Day.  On July 1, 1867, the Constitution Act of 1867 took effect, creating the Dominion of Canada.   

On July 4, my country celebrates its 250th birthday. 

 I can't believe it's already July!  It's hot, too. I want to go back to some cooler times.  How about the first day of summer June 21 (for us in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway).

What was blooming on the first day of summer?

 My earliest day lilies, that's what!

The names are long forgotten but day lily season has just begun. 

This is one of two fuchsia plants I purchased from Select Seeds.   It's a variety called Pink Galore and I am loving those pink blooms.

Honoring Canada Day.

 Honoring our Independence Day coming on Saturday.

Times are tough, but I hope the friendship between our two nations can endure.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Flowers of the First Day of Summer #WordlessWednesday

On the first day of summer, spouse and I walked in a neighborhood park and found these flowering plants Some I knew.  Others I used the built in plant ID application within my iPhone photo app.  Sadly, some of these wildflowers are actually invasive species, non natives that grow aggressively and crowd out native plants.  

Shall we explore?

A note first: I am far from a plant expert and depend a lot on my camera plant ID, which too many times, is not that accurate.  So if you know better, please don't hesitate to correct me.

Bedstraw.  Some plants called bedstraw are considered invasive; others are native.  I don't know which this is. 

Cinquefoil.  There is a native species and a non-native species. The latter is considered invasive.  I suspect this is the latter.  There are guides that give pointers for identification but this plant was partially hidden.

Common motherwort.  Yup, invasive.

Forget-Me-Not is not invasive.  But water-forget-me-not (which this is, according to my app) is. Sadness.

I know this one!  Crownvetch is a serious invasive.  When I first started gardening in the late 1970's, I remember these plants being sold in catalogs for erosion control on banks.  This is another example of good intentions gone way wrong.  It is also poisonous to horses and humans.

Creeping jenny is also considered invasive in our area. 

Finally, a native! Northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) trees are sometimes used in landscaping where I live.  They are native trees with showy flowers. After flowers, they develop long bean-like seed pods, which are not edible.  I had never seen one in this park before.

It's obvious that I need to sharpen my skills.  What a shame that so many of the "wildflowers" I saw are not welcome plants from other parts of the world.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.