Nature Post!

[rubyelf]

Finished enough of my class work to take a nice well-deserved break and go walking in the beautiful, breezy sunshine today! It was a lovely day and the wind kept the bugs away, and I did all my class work and I mowed the lawn, so I felt like I could properly enjoy my relaxation time

Comments

[vjezkova]

Ha! Mushrooms! Due to extreme drought we have had for almost three weeks, all is withered and mushrooms won´t grow. So I liked your examples. Boletes are called "kings of mushrooms" here.:-)
I hope we will never have dodder like that here - it must be very aggressive!!!
Thank you also for your clever demonstration of the Joe-Pye weed. This is a considerable hight!
Of course I am in love with bee-balm! What a colour, shape - it must attract all kinds of insect with a right proboscis.
And sassafras! So many curious things in one plant!
Swinging from the grape wine would not be silly as far as you enjoyed it, well, this is what I think:-).And your hat is the right hat for an explorer!
That "acorn ecosystem" is fascinating! I have never seen a place like that here, simply because wild pigs always turn such places with acorns upside-down, like a bulldozer. Pigs!
Thank you, I walked with you eagerly!

[rubyelf]

Wild pigs are a problem in many parts of the USA but we don't have them here. I imagine they make a terrible mess. The deer and turkeys scrape and stir up the leaves, but they don't have tusks or hooves to dig like a pig.

Bee balm attracts lots of bees and butterflies. It doesn't seem to have much of a scent, but many insects are attracted to color and that bright red can't be missed. They have made garden varieties in other colors but I think the natural red is prettiest.

[bluegerl]

OOOh that was a lovely post! You ALWAYS find something new to tell us. (and be cheeky to Matty about... tho really it IS so him! teehee

[rubyelf]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! And yes, the flowers on boneset will get a little more fluffy, but they're never spectacular like some wildflowers. I just like them.

Dodder doesn't really do much in the way of good that I know of... it grows all summer and then just dies back like the other plants in fall. Most members of the group are tropical and can keep growing all year.

Resin takes a very, very, very long time to become amber, and I'm sure there are places in the USA where it's mined, but they're not around here. And I do find insects stuck in blobs of resin occasionally...

I am very fond of my walking hat.

[tigtogiba34]

What is it that you like about Mushrooms so much?

[rubyelf]

I guess it's that they're beautiful and misunderstood... they're an important part of the natural world but so easy to overlook because so much of what they do goes unseen.

[tigtogiba34]

Ah interesting reason. Has anyone ever asked you before?

[rubyelf]

People ask me that all the time. They think I'm nuts.

[rubyelf]

None of it is actually USEFUL knowledge... but it does make me happy.

[nimnod]

I saw this and thought of you, my nature-walk-loving friend <3

How walking in nature changes the brain

=)

[rubyelf]

My counselor insisted that my nature walks be considered a required part of my treatment. :)

Thank you for the article! It's nice to have neuroscience to go along with my experiences.