Not dead yet

Our next-door neighbors have a dogwood tree on their property, so I'll guess that this volunteer in our yard came from there.  It picked a good location, too, just inside the landscaping without interfering with any of the other greenery.  Something happened about five years ago that was a shock to its system, but it survived and each spring the blossoms appear as shown above.  

Lucky timing

We've lived here for decades, and I can count on one hand the times I've seen a snake.  Here's the one I saw today while appreciating the wildflowers and tree blossoms in the back yard.  

New appearance

Yesterday, this wasn't in our back yard.  Today, a few clumps of verbena appeared near the stump of a red maple.  I found images of the same kind of flower in the same area and dated July 2025, so if it's not a perennial, it self-seeded.

 

Only one

The back yard has a growing number of dandelions, to go with the speedwell and the violets.  Today, this yellow flower appeared for the first time, and was the only one of its kind in the yard.  A quick search reveals it to be mock strawberry, and likely more of its kind will follow throughout the spring and summer.

First the speedwell, then the violets

These are growing along the sidewalk and slightly over the property line, so not ours, but still the first wood violets I've seen this spring. 

Along the front sidewalk

Always glad to see the creeping speedwell emerge in our yard.  It's a sign of spring.

 

Waiting with faint hope

To begin with, I was pretty, pretty, pretty close to 40°33'56.9"N 75°35'07.2"W in the map screen shot immediately below.  

The next image gives you an idea of what I saw looking west from nearby Grange Road, April 21, 2024.  One white flower was visible in the middle of an open field, and I walked over for a closer look.   

Soon the flowers were gone and the field was planted in soybeans.  But next spring, April 29, 2025 to be exact, the same kind of white flowers reappeared, shown in the third image.  They're called ornithogalum nutans, or drooping star-of-Bethlehem, and evidently their bulbs are pretty hardy, if not always welcome.

Finally, a view of the same field looking south, January 6, 2026.  The area shown in the prior pictures hasn't yet been dug up or graded, but in my experience, there's not much reason to be optimistic.

Until the early part of the decade, the roadside was seldom tended, and wildflowers grew all along it, including chicory, hawkweed, red clover, and Queen Anne's lace.  A short distance away, purple asters thrived near the bypass.  All that has changed, and I'm glad I took pictures while I had the chance.

March 13:  Township appears to have scraped off all remaining topsoil and piled it up for transfer somewhere else.  And that's that.

May 3:  A recent township public meeting announced that a new police station will be built on the site. Late last year, the township bought the property from the estate of its former owner.  The house on the property would be razed, and several tall trees have already been cut down. That includes the biggest one in the center of the above photo, lined up roughly between the 2nd and 3rd orange cone.  

Not dead yet

Taken this morning.  Cold weather, even light frost has had no effect on the wild radish that showed up in our bird garden this year.  

Also today:  I went outside to refill the bird feeders in the bird garden and spooked a cottontail, which hurried under the shed.  

(Post No. 1,000)

Fall color

 A couple of hours at Tabby's Place this afternoon.  After signing out, I walked around the building to see if anything interesting was going on out there.  There were still flowering catnip plants, and pollinators flying above them.  I saw this growing in a landscaped area, and since it was the only one of its kind in there, I'm going to guess it's a volunteer.  Plant identifying app says it's tropical milkweed.

Poisonous, and in our back yard

Lobelia inflata is an "acrid poisonous annual is found in a variety of sites, often in poor soil. The American Indians were said to have smoked and chewed its leaves; hence the common name. Though once used as an emetic, the root should not be eaten, for if taken in quantity it can be fatal."

A lone slender stalk of Indian tobacco, growing on the east side of the shed in our back yard.  What bird was responsible for bringing that seed onto that ground?

Unexpected, but in a good way

I just checked, and found pictures of wood violets in my collection that date back to April 2008.  Spring is when they traditionally bloom, then they die back and only the leaves remain as low ground cover for the rest of the summer.  

What I didn't expect was to find photos that I took that are dated November 7, 2010 and October 27, 2012.  Here's one from today, October 16, 2025.  A useful reminder that there can be a small second batch in autumn.  

A walk in the park

Clematis terniflora (sweet autumn clematis)

40°35'39.7"N 75°30'03.2"W

Still growing

 Nasturtium has literally blossomed since being transplanted from the planter box to the soil of the small flower garden.  Three in full bloom, with one more at left about ready to join them.

Pretty in purple

This is from September 2023, the last time I took a bunch of images of a patch of purple asters near home.  In 2024, I took a few, and this year, the township buzzcut the entire area along the road, so I'm not hopeful I'll have the opportunity again.  

Another volunteer

There are several of these flowers in our small unlandscaped area out back.  Google Lens AI says, "The image displays an Ivyleaf Morning Glory, scientifically known as Ipomoea hederacea. This flowering plant belongs to the bindweed family and is characterized by its distinctive ivy-shaped leaves and funnel-shaped flowers, typically appearing in shades of blue, purple, or white."

But is it welcome wherever it grows?  "Ipomoea hederacea ... is considered an invasive plant, particularly due to its ability to spread rapidly, compete with native species, and form extensive runners along the soil that can quickly establish new plants. It is listed on the Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States as a problematic morning-glory species that can cause significant ecological issues, and its vigorous growth can suffocate other plants."

Out in the back yard

"The image displays Velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti), also known by common names like Indian Mallow, Butterprint, or Buttonweed."  But also:  "Since being introduced to North America in the 18th century, velvetleaf has become an invasive species in agricultural regions of the eastern and midwestern United States."

Also on the unlandscaped part of our yard, there were a pair of cabbage whites and a brown skipper on pink sedum.

Along the Roadside

 

On the way home today, I took a route along a side road where Queen Anne's Lace, chicory, and hawkweed are plentiful.  But there were also large pinkish-purplish flowers, so I stopped for a closer look.     

    

 

While strolling in the park

   Spotted Jewelweed, considered a class-C noxious weed in Washington State.  The park where I was today had great swaths of it.  (Fortunately, I wasn't in Washington State.)  

Kind of stands out, doesn't it?

If we are to believe Google Lens, this is a solitary Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus), "a large conifer native to eastern North America."

Also seen in the park:  Swamp Rose Mallow, White Vervain, Prunella vulgaris (aka Common Self-Heal), and a lot of purple loosestrife.  They're the reason for the wiggles in the path on the lower right below.

It used to be landscaped

Now it's loaded with volunteer greenery and insects that accompany it.  I like this way better.