Persimmons and More

This post, and the three that follow, describe the September 15  Rushmore Wildflowers Walk, which started with at Persimmon Grove and ended at the Pawpaw Patch.  In between we looked at the Sandy Run Ditch, which has volunteer wildflowers, and then Ro's garden, which has planted wildflowers.  Jane Bourquin and Ro Wilson led the walk and identified the plants.

Dick Webster, Ro Wilson, Karen Sannwald (with Taco her Chijuajua),  BJ Tetlow, and Peg Scott pose for photographer Maggie Heineman.  Jane Bourquin, wildflower and mushroom expert,  arrived a few moments later and the walk began.

Dick Webster with persimmons. The ones that had fallen to the ground were ripe and sweet.

Boneset

Goldenrod was in bloom.   Ragweed is bad. Goldenrod is good , but has a bad reputation because it blooms at the same time as Ragweed.

 

Wild Primrose has yellow flowers

 

Sandy Run Ditch

 A small swampy area near the Persimmon Grove provides the headwaters for Sandy Run.  First the water goes into a ditch that runs  parallel to the Rushmore road. The ditch then disappears where the water is channeled down to a culvert that runs under Medford Leas Way and then emerges as as a small creek, Sandy Run, which flows through the woods and eventually empties into the Rancocas Creek (between the Tulip Poplar Grove and Yellow Trail #7).   As the map shows, Sandy Run goes through two culverts and under three bridges between the Rushmore ditch and the Rancocas Creek. 

To some the ditch is full of weeds.  Others see it as an excellent habitat for wildflowers, birds, butterflies and insects.  

Mostly boneset and goldenrod

Jane's cane becomes a seat.

Ro and Jane with tricycle, car, and seat-cane. Wild cherry in the foreground.. 

Grasshopper

Mystery bush with pretty flowers and invaded by grape vine.
BJ and Herry Tetlow have since removed the vine from this lovely bush. 

Knotweed

Where the mower won't go
There the trees will grow

Wild Cherry

Lots of Ageratum

The bees don't have far to fly to reach a ditch of full of wildflowers. 

After filling one bag with ragweed, Maggie gave up.  About 80% of the ragweed is still there.

Ro's Garden

Ro doesn't like lawn.  
Ro doesn't approve of lawn. 
Ro doesn't have lawn.  
Ro has a wildflower garden that attracts bird, butterflies, visitors and rubber snakes. 

Ro's lawnless garden is wild and  full of good things.    It is a  wildflower garden for birds, butterflies and hummingbirds  in a postage stamp.   To be added: photos of the goldenrod and black coshoh-cincomfuga. (spelling? -- circumfuga?)

Fennel - a host plant for black swallowtail butterflies

(non-native) Lemongrass - with rubber snake

Night-blooming Jasmine
non-native, with a wonderful fragrance

A monarch chrysalis dangling from a leaf.

When caterpillars hatch, Ro saves them from predators by placing them in a terrariam with this screen top.  

She feeds them and eventually each one attaches to the screen and forms a chrysallis.  

Next to Ro's thumb is a catepillar (green and black) which has not yet formed its chrysallis. 

Paw Paw Patch

At Ro's instigation there will be a paw paw patch between Kriebel Trail and Ro's house.   There are several plants with this name, but undoubtedly the one Ro had planted is Asimina triloba, which is native to this area.  That Wikipedia page tells all about paw-paws, including this rhyme 

Pickin' up pawpaws, puttin' 'em in your pocketPickin' up pawpaws, puttin' 'em in your pocketPickin' up pawpaws, puttin' 'em in your pocketWay down yonder in the pawpaw patch

Wikipedia explains that  "picking up pawpaws" refers to gathering the ripe, fallen fruit from beneath the trees, and that the "pocket" in the song is that of an apron or similar tie-on pocket, not a modern pants or blue jeans pocket, into which pawpaws would hardly fit.A "pawpaw patch" refers to the plant's characteristic patch-forming clonal growth habit.

The six trees that Ro had planted are a few feet apart, but hey seem healthy and with the clonal growth habit, we can look forward to a real patch in the future. 

Ro with one of the paw paw trees

Large Canna grow along the back of Ro's home