GREEN SPRING GARDENS 7-10-26 - GREGG'S PHOTOS

We had a lovely walk on the 10th at the garden. It got a bit hot and humid the longer we were there though, and we knew when it was time to go home. In the meantime, we took lots of photos of our surroundings. I thought I would share what Gregg took today. When I got home and downloaded his photos, I saw a small bug on one of the flowers. I tried to identify it but didn't see any that had its exact pattern of markings. Maybe someone might recognize it. I cropped it for a closer look, a bit fuzzy.

These are supposed to be False Sunflowers, maybe these?  I have added links for more information. Below there is a milkweed plant at the bottom.

We found another bench nearer the greenhouse area and sat for a while. This was the pattern on the back. I will have the whole bench in one of my other posts. A shady area that was very welcome.

More White Coneflowers. It is called White Swan Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan'), native to North America, a cultivated variety of the common purple coneflower, a species naturally found throughout the central to southeastern United States.

Here is another skipper. I didn't see a lot of butterflies again, maybe one cabbage butterfly. Hopefully there will be more as the summer progresses.  I asked Google about this one and it said it is a Sachem (Atalopedes campestris), a type of grass skipper commonly found in North America. Another interesting bit of information was that I read it appears to be a female as it is darker with lighter markings in the center of the wing, lacking the prominent stigma found in males. I was also given the information on the flower it was feeding on - a Globe Amaranth, which is commonly planted to attract pollinators like butterflies.

Next is the house we both love and always take photos of and share. It's not a cottage but this would definitely be imaginary home. I have always loved this place.

Purple Coneflowers

There will be more from this garden sometime.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

FLOWERS AT LEWIS GINTNER BOTANICAL GARDEN - THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH, 2026

Thank you for all my Happy Birthday wishes yesterday my dear friends. You are the dearest people and I am so very happy you are part of my blogging family. I feel truly blessed! 

My special birthday meal didn’t go quite as planned. No worries, it all worked out okay but ye gads! I will tell all tomorrow. I have to write it all down first  

In the time being, here are some pretty flowers!

🌺 🌺🌺

 I will ID the photos as best I can. I expect many will recognize them. The first one shows a little honeybee on a Stokes' Aster (Stokesia laevis) and native to America. Specifically, this herbaceous perennial is a wildflower indigenous to the southeastern United States, ranging naturally from North Carolina down to Florida and west to Louisiana.

Next we have the Common Daylily (Hemerocallis fulvia). It is native to Asia (including China and Japan) and was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant in the late 19th century.

According to what I could find, this is the White Swan Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan'). (If you think I am incorrect on any of these flowers, please let me know.) It is native to North America, a cultivated variety of the common purple coneflower, a species naturally found throughout the central to southeastern United States.

Below you can see the Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), also a native to the United States. Its native range spans the central, eastern and southeastern regions of the country (from Ohio to Michigan south to Louisiana and Georgia). I have some of these in our garden at home. They thrive quite well.

This shows you the start of the that flower.

Only one decent Skipper photo as outside the Butterfly House, the regular butterflies seemed a bit scarce. My best guess for this one is a Field skipper  (Atalopedes campestris).

This is the Royal Lily (Lilium regale), also known as the Regal Lily or King's Lily. A native exclusively to the western Sichuan Province in southwestern China.

This yellow-petaled flower below is called "Irish Eyes' Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta 'Irish Eyes'). It is a distinct award-winning cultivar of the classic North American native wildflower. Instead of having the traditional dark chocolate or black center cone, it has a clear emerald or lime green eye.

My last but one photo for today is the Peruvian Lily (Alstroemeria) It is also called Lily of the Incas), a long-lasting flowering plant native to South America. It's trumpet-shaped blooms come in bright colors. I only ever saw the pink ones before this. 

Despite its common name, the plant is actually part of the Alstroemiaceae family and is entirely separate from true lilies.

I have more flowers but will save them for another day. I hope you have enjoyed these. 

Thanks for looking at these and 

I hope you have a great day.

SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER, WILD BERGAMOT AND CRIMSON BERGAMOT

An area we often go to has a garden bed in front of the old house full of flowers for pollinators. I was hoping to see butterflies and I did (sort of), but not the kind I was hoping for. The lady closing up the visitor center saw me looking and started chatting to me. I asked her if she had seen any butterflies. She mentioned a couple of swallowtails earlier in the day but there were none to be found. I instead found Skippers and I was delighted that they appeared for a little while. I am hoping once it gets warmer, I will be there to see other flutter-byes. 

This was a Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus). Skippers are a type of butterfly and belong to the butterfly family Hesperiidae, but there are a few generalities about skippers that set them apart from other butterflies. They are much smaller, usually with wingspans no more than 1-1/4 inches. They also have short, stocky bodies compared to butterflies and fly much faster, reaching speeds of over 30 mph while flying. (Butterflies clock in between 5 mph and 12 mph.) 

Skippers in general get their name because of their fast, darting flight pattern, which makes it look like they are skipping through the air. The Silver-spotted Skipper get its name because of the striking, metallic-silver patch on the underside of their hindwings. This particular type of Skipper is widely regarded as the most recognized and widespread skipper in North America, stretching from southern Canada down into northern Mexico. 

This one landed on a Wild Bergamot flower, also called Beebalm. It is native to North America and naturally widespread across the continent, covering most of the United States and southern Canada, ranging from the East Coast to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. These looked a little past their peak blooming time, but the little skipper was happy.  

I very much enjoyed finding information online about these flowers and learned that Wild bergamot has been a plant of cultural significance, particularly among Native American tribes. It was commonly used in ceremonies and believed to have protective and purifying properties. One remarkable legend speaks of wild bergamot being used by the Lakota people as a spiritual safeguard during the Sun Dance, one of the most important traditions for Plains Indians. 

Above is the Crimson Bee Balm, also native to North America. Its colors can be brilliant crimson, scarlet red or deep pink. It is also called Oswego Tea because early American colonists and Native Americans brewed its fragrant leaves for tea.

I hope you have enjoyed looking, thank you so much for visiting!  I wish you a very enjoyable continued week.

MORE OF THE WASP NEST AT WALNEY - 8-4-25

As I write this (8/6/25 at 3.52 p.m.) it is 77 degrees F. (25 degrees C). The cooler temperatures have been wonderful, with hardly any humidity. No doubt the temperatures will be rising again but we have been making the most of it.

 On the 4th we went to Walney Pond. Above you can see the wasp nest I added to my collage I shared here. Gregg spotted it first - I fondly call him 'eagle eyes' as he sees these things before I do. This nest was at least a foot in diameter and a foot-and-a-half long. Very active as we could see its residents going in and out of entrance holes. It is in a tricky area and is not even ten feet from where everyone walks and low, head-height. We worry about children playing in the area, and have envisioned someone running into it, perish the thought! We have already gotten in touch with the appropriate department at the local government center. Hopefully it will be taken care of soon and we will keep checking as we often pass by. I looked as we drove off. If you know where to look it can be seen quite clearly, but not immediately obvious when closer.

I took several photos using the zoom lens and found it fascinating to look at when on the larger screen of my laptop. Clever and amazing these nature's engineers. Not sure what kind of wasp or maybe a hornet? Any experts out there? I've looked online and seen similar, maybe the one at this link.

Last shot further along the pathway from the other side. It is also quite close to the edge of the pond.

A couple of more photos and that's it from this area.

Next we drove to the Visitor Center just up the road. 

Common milkweed were growing among all the Black-eyed susans, not only in the flower beds in front of the house...

but also in the separate round butterfly garden. 

First I wanted to share something else. I saw a flurry of movement on the steps of the house and if you look on the far right of that first step you will see...

a skink, possibly a five-lined skink which are the most common lizards in northern Virginia, according to what I found out at this website. Please let me know what you think if you check it out.

Another much smaller lizard crawled out of that larger crack on the right but wasn't as brave as its larger companion. It disappeared immediately.  

I saw a bug on this Black-eyed susan and couldn’t find a lot of information but identified it as an assassin bug. Once it forms full wings, its back will no longer be visible. Also found a clearer photo of it here.

Here's a closer look. I had a hard time focusing.

Onto the Black-eyed susans.

One last photo for today taken of the flower bed in front of the old house that is now the visitor center.

There will be more flowers soon.

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day.

A NICE WALK AT WALNEY

 

Hello Dear Friends!

A collage of photos from our latest walk at the visitor center and the pond today. I was hoping to see hummingbird moths. I didn’t see them but there were other things that kept our interest. 

It was a lovely day, in the low 80s and not too humid. I will have the larger photos and explain more when I can put a post together. Lots of lovely nature. I feel so good getting out in it. It's like a tonic and a breath of fresh air all rolled into one.

More photos either tomorrow or at least within the next few days.

I hope you all have a great day, wishing you peace and thanks for stopping by. 

MEADOWLARK GARDENS - PLANTS AND FLOWERS

 Continuing our walk, in today's post I concentrate more on the flora.  This is the Spider Flower (botanical name Tarenaya hassleriana).  It is also known as the Pink queen, Grandfather's whiskers and Spider plant.  It is a flowering plant native to South America and has other colors than the white one shown.  It can also be seen as pink or purple.

The following shows something I have seen in other gardens, and is called Cardoon (botanical name Cynara cardunculus).  It's other names are Artichoke thistle, Globe artichoke, Prickly artichoke and Cardy.

The Cardoon was first brought to the United States by Spanish and French settlers in the middle of the 19th century.

According to my plant app, it says that Sicily happens to be one of the few places where the stalks of certain types of thistles are consumed.  

In Sicily, the dish is called carduna, from the latin term carduus, which is the plant's principal genus.  The Italian word cardo is more generic and does not refer to a specific scientific family.  Therefore, it is called Cardoon.

Next is the Red amaranth (botanical name Amaranthus cruentus).  Its other names are Mexican grain amaranth and Purple amaranth.  Its leaves are often used for decorative purposes and are also used to make red dyes.

The plant is named for its bright gold, purple and red leaves that retain their beauty even after harvest and drying.  With the color of the leaves it is called the red amaranth.

Normally the first thing I notice are the blooms of the Crimsoneyed rose-mallow, but I found this stage interesting.  Its botanical name is Hibiscus moscheutos and is also known as Swamp rose mallow, Rose-mallow and Eastern rose-mallow.  It is a very hardy plant and can tolerate frozen temperatures up to -13 degrees.

It is providing a resting place for a Skipper in the next photo.  These little creatures were everywhere.

This plant is called Coleus (botanical name scutellarioides).  It's other names are Common coleus, Painted nettle, Coleus blumei and Trailing coleus.  It will grow in full sun to medium shade but the colors are most vivid in full sun.  

I always like to hear that a plant is super easy to take care of and this is one of them.  It is resistant to almost all pests and diseases.

This is also a Coleus plant with different colored leaves, as you can see.

In the following photo you will see the Rosehip of the Dog rose (botanical name Rosa canina).  It is also called Dog briar, Common briar, Briar rose and Dogberry.  

I read that all Rosehips are edible and has a high level of vitamin C.  It is used to make things like syrup, tea and marmalade, and more.  You can read about it here also.  The color is typically red to orange but ranges from dark purple to black in some species.  They form after pollination of the flowers in spring or early summer, and ripen in late summer through Autumn.

Here we have China pink (botanical name Dianthus chinensis).  It's other names are Chinese pink, Rainbow pink, Japanese pink and Indian pink.  The China Pink is also called the "mother's flower" in many countries.  Wearing this flower on Mother's Day implies wishing mothers happiness and good health.  China pinks have also become a flower of love for mothers.  

The next photo shows the Porcelain Berry (Botanical name Ampelopsis heterophylla var.vestita).  Other names are Porcelainberry, Porcelain-berry and Porcelain berry vine.

Next is the Common sassafras (botanical name Sassafras albidum).  Also known as White sassafras, Red sassafras and Silky sassafras.  The name "sassafras", given by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in 1569, comes from the French word, sassafras.  Some sources claim it originates from the latin word, saxifraga or saxifragus meaning "stone-breaking", saxum meaning "rock" and frangere meaning "to break".  As it is also the most common species in the genus, it is called common sassafras.

This is Sulfur cosmos (botanical name Cosmos sulphureus).  Other names are Klondike cosmos, Yellow cosmos and Orange cosmos.  It is an annual flower and is native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America.  It attracts bees and butterflies, including the Monarch butterfly.

I am very grateful to my plant app called 'Picture This', where I get most of my information from. 

And that's about all for the plants and flowers.  I thought I would end my post sharing some of the scenery from our walk.  

We sometimes sit down inside the gazebo but we left others to enjoy it today.  Instead we made use of one of the benches along the path nearby.

There are several benches along our walk and it is a very welcome feature of the garden.  

We chose another shady spot where we like to sit and talk and take in our surroundings.

And that's about it for today's walk around Meadowlark Gardens. We are very happy to be visiting again.  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is a great one.