Red clover

Trifolium pratense
Now where are those rabbits?

Dental reaction

Is this boy happy because he gets to go to the dentist? Or is he escaping therefrom? Perhaps they react to these things differently in Northport. (I know I'm happy to have all my dental procedures and projects now completed.)

Such a beautiful name

Liriodendron tulipifera

Tulip tree

Lana, we really are two weeks behind you. Your May 11th post inspired me to go looking for a northern cousin to your tulip tree blossoms.

Please identify this!

Opposite leaves, decussate, never blooms, just keeps growing, spreads on jointed runners with unrooted knees. Looks like basil but crushed leaf smells like grass. Took a sample at the beach the year before last and it grew readily in a shady place here. Can't find it online. What is it?

My Iris have changed color!

Today (5/14/11)

Last year (5/27/10)

"If your iris are blooming a different color than originally purchased, it is because of letting your iris go to seed: the bloom stalk was not removed shortly after blooming. Bees do a wonderful job of pollinating different colors for the following year. The dominant color of iris is purple and will take over if the bloom stalk is not removed shortly after the bloom dries up. Chemical damage, overcrowding, and heat stress can be a factor in some color changes."

So says one website. Yet I think none of this applies to my small bunch of iris. It's a mystery!

They're baaaaack!

The mallard/domestic duck hybrid family that I saw and posted on April 19th was there again today in the same spot along with some Canada Goose friends. So they're locals, not migrating birds. Stay tuned.