Nature Notes: Mid Summer

This is the time of year when they start mowing around the trails at Shelley Lake. I like the smell of fresh mowed grass but I also like the way uncut tall grasses look. I'm never quite sure why they mow around the paved paths since they won't get covered up like the dirt ones would.The shot below is one I took a few months ago at the same general area although I turned to photograph the tall grasses and didn't get the path in the shot. That's the grass that was mowed. I think if it was up to me I would have let it be.
The shot below is the area below my deck which barely has a path left to walk through the blackberries and butterfly weed. That used to be one of the few parts of my garden that were mowed and left clear. I remember as more and more of the yard became a garden my daughter said, mom at least leave me enough room to toss a ball. That used to be the ball tossing area.
The berries below are growing pretty high in some trees along the path around Shelley Lake. I'm not sure what they are but they remind me more of fall berries than summer ones.One of the bushes in my front yard whose name escapes me looks like it is confused. The red leaves are usually a sign of fall but we are barely into mid summer.
As a matter of fact when I first saw the red in the bush above, I thought it was a male cardinal like the one in the tree below. Usually when a flash of red catches my eye in a tree or bush this time of year, it is a bird.The female cardinals tend to blend in more but the one below caught my eye. It's red beak was poking out for all to see.For other participants, please visit the home of Nature Notes.

Today's Flowers - at the Park and at Home

I've noticed that more and more of my coreopsis are blooming at home and then I spotted another variety of the same flower at the park.
The coreopsis above is from my garden and the ones in the shots below are from the park.
I like the dark centers on the ones at the park a lot. I have a tiny variety with darker centers but my larger ones all have yellow centers.The next two shots are my old fashioned climbing roses which are a mixture of colors both on individual roses as well as each being different from the one beside it.I like the way one plant can provide such a rich mixture of flowers. For other participants, please visit the home of today's flowers.

Photohunt: Pink and Happy U.S. Independence Day

Update - I was relieved to read that TN Chick's husband is home now and recovering. When I went to the home of photohunters to put the link in my blog I saw some sad news. TN Chick the host of Photohunters has requested prayers for her husband who has been hospitalized. My thoughts and prayers are with her husband as well as with her and their children. I hope they will get good news soon. What a relief to go to her site today and see that he is home.
The photohunt theme this week is pink. When I saw the sky Wednesday night at sunset, I grabbed my camera and knew that would be one of my PH shots this week. The next shot is one I took this spring. Although the azalea is a dark pink, in that light it almost looks red. When I took the shot I thought it might be good for the Fourth of July since it looks like my front yard is red, white, and blue.
Since red is a mixture of white and pink, to stretch a point the U.S. flag could be said to have separated pink (the red and white aren't mixed on the flag but they equal pink).
I took both of the flag shots when we were in Wilmington, NC on memorial day. I took them from the car so the composition leaves something to be desired but I thought they worked for the U.S. Independence Day which is July 4. Also, to stretch a point they are separated pink.
I hope that everyone who celebrates it has a Happy Independence Day and I hope that TN Chick's husband is on the road to recovery. I am as usual early since Saturday is the Photohunters post day.

Nature Notes: Hot summer days

The cardinal below trying to beat the heat with a dip in the bird bath cracked me up. Looks like she's having a bad hair day but considering what my hair looks like after a swim I'm not one to speak.I always like to see signs of the next season far in advance of its arrival. The pecans below won't be ready until fall (autumn) but they are already beginning to show up in the tree.Another signal of the next season are the green dogwood berries. I think they usually turn red around October and I never paid that much attention to them at their green stage before.
More and more blackberries are ripening and ending up both in my mouth as well as in the birds hungry beaks.I never tire of the purple cone flowers (echinacea). They are at so many stages throughout my garden.
I have taken echinacea supplements to fend off colds but I've never tried to harvest my plants.
I've read that the root extracts are the part that have the most medicinal benefit although something certainly seemed to enjoy the petals on the flower above.
Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and even american goldfinch like to feast on the coneflower center.
I think I like the newly forming coneflowers about as much as I like the more colorful stages.
I've enjoyed photographing the grass seeds and plumes and there are often visitors like the one below.
If you look through the grass plumes there is a rose lurking in the middle of the shot below. That rose bush over time is in an increasingly shady part of the garden but the roses haven't gotten the memo that they aren't supposed to thrive in shade. So far they are doing just fine.The grass below is a weed and I guess I should pull it up before the seeds are viable but I thought it looked pretty interesting in a macro shot. Also, the birds will probably enjoy the seeds so I may let it be like everything else.I was pleased to see some cleome is coming up this year. I used to have it all over the place and it sets its seeds, returning in the spring and summer. However, one of our droughts seemed to eliminate all the cleome so I was please to see that some of the seeds must have stayed viable for a couple of years returning after all the rain we had this year. I'm pretty sure I didn't have any last year so that's the only explanation I can come up with.I don't know the name of the yellow wildflower below but I think it's pretty.
Please visit the home of Nature Notes if you have some nature notes to share and to find other participants.

Today's Flowers: Crepe Myrtles

I thought I'd feature the Crepe Myrtle trees that are blooming around town.
I shot the crepe myrtle above when I was at a doctor's appointment this week and the one below when I was at the grocery store. My crepe myrtle trees are like the watched pot that takes forever to boil. I took the shot below, this morning, of the one blossom so far on the one in my back garden. The one in front of my house hasn't started blooming at all yet. Interesting how far behind they are from the ones around town.For more participants, please visit the home of today's flowers.