By Ken Moore An unassuming little wildflower that always surprises and delights me whenever and wherever I spot it is Ruellia caroliniensis. I generally call it simply ruellia [roo-ELL-e-ah]. It’s named for Jean de la Ruelle, the herbalist for Francois I of France in the early 16th century. One common name is Carolina wild-petunia, though…
Category: Flora
Admiring bigleaf
By Ken Moore Gardening friends Sally Heiney and Bill Bracey live on opposite sides of Carrboro and both have bigleaf magnolias planted where they can enjoy them from above – Sally from her deck and Bill from his hillside patio. I have been unable to shake the dramatic image of bigleaf’s summer foliage since sitting…
Immersion in the nature of our communities
By Ken Moore Carrboro’s own Frances Shetley is always smiling about special features of our community. Recently, she was immersed in the Queen Anne’s lace flowering at the entrance to the bikeway, named in her honor, through the woods behind Carrboro Elementary School. A decade ago, Frances envisioned a corridor of wildflowers and native grasses…
Celebrating and helping pollinators
It’s National Pollinator Week and the third annual National Pollinator Week Celebration at Chatham Market Place in Pittsboro is this Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This family-friendly celebration with special activities for children includes a treasure hunt, story telling, beekeeping demonstrations and guided tours of the onsite pollinator garden (for more information, ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/workshops.html).
Step softly among the water-dragons
By Ken Moore Though I’ve never heard it used locally, the common name, water-dragon, appeals to me more than the commoner name, lizard’s-tail. Every time I see this plant of swamps, pond edges and boggy stream sides, my imagination propels me back to a long-ago world of giant ferns and dinosaurs. If you find yourself…
Out standing in the fields
By Ken Moore Even at speeds of 50 or more miles per hour, you may spot some distinctive plants standing out in roadside fields. During the past week, I’ve been catching glimpses of little white flowers hovering just above the tops of grasses in rural areas outside Carrboro. These white flowers also hover midair-like along…
Yard-weed of the week
Every week, some little weedy wildflower will appear in an unmowed lawn, sounding the alarm for sentinels of homeowner associations. Watchdogs of Carrboro’s Homeowners’ Association (fictitious organization, I hope) must be out of town. I’ve enjoyed seeing numerous yards blooming vigorously during the past several weeks. The lawns of many front yards are refreshingly covered…
There’s still time for winter botany
I tagged along with a friend last weekend in his search to rediscover a favorite very early spring wildflower. Along the way, he came to an abrupt halt, admiring a single long, smooth bud, appearing like a spear tip. He immediately recognized it as the deciduous umbrella magnolia, Magnolia tripetela. You may spot it down…
Winter green, but not evergreen
By Ken Moore Winter in the woods is the best time to appreciate land contours, the striking differences of tree bark, the stature of individual specimens and the leaves of evergreen wildflowers. It’s also the best opportunity to locate two obscure native orchids. Of the two, cranefly orchid, Tipularia discolor, is the more common. Most…
Four Easy-to Spot Evergreen Wildflowers
By Ken Moore I was not alone on the Adams Tract trails this past Saturday; numerous other folks, including moms and dads shepherding their lucky youngsters. I was out trying to photo-capture four common evergreen wildflowers, specifically: liverwort, Anenome americana (formerly Hepatica americana); wild gingers, Hexastylis arifolia, or H. virginica or H. minor; spotted wintergreen,…
A tale of two cedars
It was the driest of years and the wettest of years. North Carolina’s two red cedars stood strong and green during the year of drought and rains. The eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, surrounds us in the Piedmont. Except for the outer coastal regions and the high mountain elevations, the eastern cedar tree is common…
Get outdoors on New Years’s Day
Get outdoors on New Year’s Day The annual Eno River Association’s New Year’s Day walk is a decades-old tradition. This year, hundreds of folks, young and old, will enjoy another well-organized walk along the river, welcoming the New Year and celebrating that long corridor of preserved wild lands.
Flora: Christmas Ferns
Bringing holly indoors for more than beauty
By Ken Moore Staff Writer When I was a youngster, bringing holly branches indoors for its seasonal beauty just seemed like the thing to do. Now, because of protective land owners and deer hunters, it is difficult, if not downright dangerous, to attempt, like in the old days, to collect a few holly branches from…