Winter trees: Beautiful nakedness!

Love this bark!! How gorgeous is that?

I can't get enough of this texture.  I love all the textures of nature, especially contrasting against each other. 

This is older bark of a black gum tree, I believe.  LOVE IT!

Nature Quiz! What seed lies here?

Clue: They spin as they fall to the ground. 

Clue: They're from a tree.  The tree trunk is very tall and straight. 

Clue: The flowers are beautiful orange and yellow.  The tree is in the magnolia family.

Clue: This picture and the next shows the way the seeds are grouped in the tree tops.

Figure it out yet?? Tuliptree! 

Lots to see and learn, even on walks in winter! 

Happy Winter! 

Go forth and explore! 

Beautiful Skunk Cabbage

Leaves are starting to appear. 

Moss

Peaceful

Harsh Survival

Cold Insulation

Icy Music

Crisp Songs

Pretty Seeds

Leave your dead flowers and dried seeds all winter long!  They're beautiful, they provide shelter for wildlife, and they feed the birds!

Coneflower

Phlox

Riding on the York Rail Trail

November 23

22 mile bike ride starting at Hanover Junction Train Station, York County, PA.

Hanover Junction Train Station has a museum, restrooms, parking lot, picnic tables and Penn State Extension Master Gardener's garden. 

Trail runs next to the train tracks heading south towards Maryland.  The trail winds past streams; wetlands; a wildlife sanctuary; houses; an ice cream shop and antique store; farms with horses, sheep and chickens; and forest.  Some areas are overrun with Japanese Honeysuckle, Norway Maples, and Mile-a-Minute.  Some areas have beautiful rock cliffs with ferns and Virginia pines.  

Maryland line complete with a map of the trail going both directions and picnic tables. 

At the Mason Dixon Line! 

From Hanover Junction it's 11 miles to the Mason Dixon Line and 11 miles back to the truck!

Bird sightings:

Bald Eagle, Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures, Red-tailed Hawk, Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Cardinals, Great Blue Heron, Carolina Wren, Dark-eyed Juncos, Eastern Bluebirds, and Bluejays. 

November Morning

One of the first frosts.  (Nov 20)

Sweetgum still holding its leaves.

Can you ID those frosty leaves?

Guess that milkweed!

Can you tell which species of milkweed this is just by the seedpods?  

A. Butterflyweed, Asclepias tuberosa

B. Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca

C. Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata

Coral Honeysuckle

Last remaining flowers dangling from the native Coral Honeysuckle vine.

Larval host plant for Snowberry Clearwing and Spring Azure.

Nectar source for hummingbirds and bumble bees.

Leaves fused at the base and evergreen.

The fruits have developed, but not yet been snatched up by birds.

Lonicera sempervirens Factsheet

Oriental Bittersweet in Fall

Red berries commonly used to make beautiful wreaths in fall.  Not recommended.  Instead, if you see these berries on your property, remove them, bag them, and put them in the trash.  Cut the vines anywhere you can reach it and consider a poison application on cuts with Roundup.  Making wreaths or other outdoor decorations allows them to be eaten and spread by birds. 

Oriental Bittersweet vine wrapping around a native tree.  The weight of the whitish-grey vines can cause trees to fall over during storm events.  Here, some of the green leaves are still lingering in November, and will likely be one of the first buds to grow new leaves in the early spring.

Least Wanted Fact Sheet

Japanese Barberry

Least Wanted Fact Sheet

Japanese Barberry is an invasive plant that looks like this in fall.  Its red berries dangle from this medium sized, spiny bush as its simple leaves turn yellow and fall off.  Don't accidentally grab ahold of its branches or walk through an invaded understory in shorts, or you'll be sorry! 

This plant alters natural habitats by changing soil pH, nitrogen levels, and biological activity in soil.  It replaces beneficial native plants and reduces wildlife habitat and forage.  Japanese Barberry is still propagated and sold in nurseries for landscaping, but should be avoided.  It is considered invasive in 20 states throughout the northeast and midwest US! 

Introduced to the US in 1875 and still planted in new garden landscapes today.  Can the damage be undone?

Seed Elegance

Goldenrod, Solidago

Native perennial with clusters of yellow flowers in late summer.
State flower of Alabama, Kentucky and Nebraska.
Scientific name, Solidago, means to make whole or heal.
Goldenrod has many medicinal uses as a tea including soothing a sore throat, treating urinary tract infections, and reducing allergies.
Contrary to popular belief, goldenrod does not trigger hay fever.  Its heavy pollen is carried by insect pollinators, not blown in the wind, like the real culprits, ragweed and many tree flowers.  

Lichen

Cladonia Bellidiflora?

Flavoparmelia caperata?

What is a lichen?  From experts, the Sharnoffs, at www.lichen.com:

Lichens are composite, symbiotic organisms made up from members of as many as three kingdoms.

The dominant partner is a fungus. Fungi are incapable of making their own food. They usually provide for themselves as parasites or decomposers.

"Lichens are fungi that have discovered agriculture"-- lichenologist Trevor Goward.

The lichen fungi (kingdom Fungi) cultivate partners that manufacture food by photosynthesis. Sometimes the partners are algae (kingdom Protista), other times cyanobacteria (kingdom Monera), formerly called blue-green algae. Some enterprising fungi exploit both at once.

Tuliptree

Liriodendron tulipifera

Magnolia Family. 

Tulip-like flowers high in the treetops. 

Straight tall trunks.

Sassafras

One tree, three different leaf shapes. 

Aromatic when stems, bark, roots, or leaves are broken.

Dark blue drupes. 

Chestnut Oak

Quercus prinus

One of my favorites!

Gorgeous deep mountain ridge bark

Chestnut-like leaves

Acorns

Mile-a-Minute Berries

Mile-a-Minute is a non-native invasive plant in PA originating from India, China, Japan and other parts of Asia.  Mile-a-Minute was introduced from a York County, PA nursery when a seed accidentally shipped with holly seeds from Japan in the 1930's.  Since then, the vine has spread over 300 miles.  

The stems and leaves of Mile-a-Minute vine are covered in recurved barbs, making them physically harmful to humans and wildlife.  As the vine quickly grows, it easily covers understory plant life stealing sunlight and other resources from native plants (environmentally harmful).  The blue berries are eaten and dispersed by birds, ants, chipmunks, squirrels and deer.  

The light green triangular shaped leaves, bright blue berries, and recurved barbs make it easy to identify.  Remove Mile-a-Minute when you see it in your community!  

Read more about Mile-a-Minute: Here

Virginia Creeper Fall Colors

Virginia Creeper has five palmate leaflets which turn beautiful colors and fall off in autumn.  Beautiful blue berries grow in clusters where flowers once bloomed.  Berries are a winter food source for wildlife like overwintering birds.  

Monarch Update!

This year we tagged 100 Monarchs as they passed through Lancaster, PA!

On our top day we tagged 81 monarchs in 2 hours!  They came through an abandoned lot so fast we had to put them in a holding container because we couldn't work fast enough! 

Holding the butterfly gently near the body.  When it's wings are closed it calms down.  The tag (sticker) is placed precisely where recommended by Monarch Watch (monarchwatch.org).  Then the butterfly is released to continue on its way!