Home Plant Saga~~Brown/Green Thumbs

Another growing season! After not having Black-eyed Susans for a few years, we were blessed to have a patch of wild ones grow next to the garage last summer!! A couple identical plants started by themselves in some pots on the deck. They were too small to bloom, so in the late fall, I planted them with great care in front of the house where there was a space between the azaleas. Their leaves stayed green all winter and they grew toward the sky~~~~

This spring another plant with the same leaves started growing in an empty deck flowerpot. Surprise!!~~~

A few days ago, I noticed small clusters of buds on the top of this potted plant. Black-eyed Susans don't do that! They have one flower on top of the stem and much later in the summer!

Today they started to bloom :>(   ~~~

 Close up~~~

It's a dreaded weed called fleabane!!!!!!

 



Field Trip I, 5-5-15

These Wild Azaleas, or Pinksters were blooming on the tall Patuxent river bank near our office. It was time to search for other wildflowers!...

 At the side of a dirt path, the Bluebells looked like they were almost done blooming....

 The Trillium are emerging, too!....

 

 Down on the Nature Study Loop which goes through a swampy area, we always see the Skunk Cabbage and Fiddlehead Ferns.... 

 Would you believe this is a pinkster, or Wild Azalea "Tree"? It's probably trying to reach for some sun!...

 Pinkster flowers up close.  They are larger than regular azaleas and seem to resemble honeysuckle somewhat....

 Jack-in-the-Pulpit loves the swamp!...

 Just had to stop the car to catch this on the way home!...



Special Trip II 5-8-15

Happy Mother's Day!!!

 

 This field trip took us on the Driving Tour which crosses Mataponi Creek right here and into the State Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary.  Mr. Osprey is guarding Mrs. who is incubating their eggs...

 A dogwood, still in bloom, grows at a path entrance into the woods at this special spot!...

 How lucky we are to find the Pink Lady Slippers blooming in their usual spot next to the path. There were a few similar clusters in the area.   They are only out for one or two weeks!...

 

 One in the sun...

 Twins!...

Hope to see you next year!

Park Eagle Nest Going Green 4-28-15

Last Tuesday, a little more than a week ago, the nest looked like this. MT....

 Looking very green this week with perhaps a dark blob or trunk in the center....

Surprise, surprise!!! An adult, probably Mom, and a dark blob. Creative crawling through the jungle found some better views....

 Two heads!....

A BIG baby beak.  In two weeks, this eaglet has mushroomed. It must be a single chick....

 Mom alone.  Must be naptime for Junior....



A Special Visitor, 4-17-15

At the Chelsea Farmhouse Office on Friday, we saw this lovely fox in the backyard grass.  During the afternoon we heard off and on some sounds that seemed like a large bird or duck....

We kept checking nearby trees and then saw through the back porch door, a furry critter under a holly bush next to the building.  A fox kit!!!!... 

 

Some baby "chirps"!.....

 



Xtra Eagle Photos

Here's Mom on this Tuesday PM....

 On the same day, here's Dad on guard duty from high above....

 And the dot at top shows how high he really is!!!...

 Difficult to see, but one? of the blob(s) is being fed.  Mom was in this same position at breakfast time!....

A Little Surprise

I took a picture last Tuesday PM of the Park eagle nest.  It was starting to sprinkle after work and I thought Mom may have been laying down on chicks!? Who knows? If she was gone, they maybe huddled down themselves. Guess the adult there was not going to be a "Dadbrella"!

SURPRISE!!  My good friend, Doris, who works weekends at the Park sent me this picture Sunday!!!.....