Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Steve and Muffin’s Wildflowers #3.
Good morning! Welcome back to our wildflower series and today our flower is the “spreading dogbane”. Apparently the name dogbane comes from the fact this plant is toxic to both humans and animals. It is a native wildflower but many people consider it a nuisance weed. It grows mainly from rhizomes underground, but does produce seeds as well. It will grow in most any soil but prefers a sunny location. It grows about 2 feet (60cm) tall and can have many branches. The flowers are small, but beautifully scented. The wildflower can be found in most US states and right across Canada and bloom most of the summer. It is an important source of nectar for many insects including bees and butterflies such as the Monarch butterfly. Dogbane and milkweed (necessary for Monarch butterflies) are closely related. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Monday’s Musings #2.
Good morning everyone on this cool Monday! It is early this morning, it is barely starting to get light. But yet there are birds singing joyfully all around. The robins always seem to be the first birds awake each morning and start their singing well before daybreak. But now as light is just beginning to show other birds are joining in, the white-throated sparrows, juncos, a white-crowned sparrow, a couple of chickadees, all singing their own beautiful songs. It’s nice to be awake this early some mornings and listen to the day waking up like this, I find it a very enjoyable experience.
And as I look out on the ground, do I actually see some movement? Yes I do. Little juncos are already moving about looking for their breakfast. I can barely see them, their gray coats blending in so well with that weak daylight. Amazing that they would be up already, but I guess the early bird gets the best bird seed. I spread a little extra seeds out in the evening to make sure they have some nice and early, since I don’t plan on going outside this time of the morning. I’m crazy, but not quite that crazy. Last year I would have done it, and I often was outside early like this.
However, there were no bear problems last year. Makes a big difference. Oh well. A white-crowned sparrow showed up last evening, but it was getting later and since it was cloudy anyway, I decided not to try for a picture. I do need a better pic of one though, so I sure hope I can get one today while the sun shines. They are one of our 4 biggest sparrows with such bold stripes on their heads. There was also a fox sparrow around last evening which was a real surprise, I haven’t seen one this late in the spring before, they are usually gone north before May even begins. Shows how cold it has been this spring, throws everything off balance.
I’m up early because this is my shopping day and I like to be at the store early before it gets crowded. I don’t like crowds at the store. To be honest, I don’t really like shopping, so fewer people makes it a little better at least. Now, normally I wouldn’t get up quite this early, but I woke up, so I figured there was no point trying to go back to sleep, may as well get up and greet the day. Though I must admit it would be nicer to be sitting out on the deck greeting the day, but this is still nice. So I will continue to enjoy it and wish you a very wonderful Monday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 