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Trumpetvine, drought
Jun. 10th, 2011 02:49 pmThe trumpetvine is back and blossoming with gusto. There are big, knobby orange trumpets hanging over the cars in the parking lot, vines and flowers covering utility poles and trees... while many plants (including trees) are already wilting in this early-season heat wave, the trumpet vine seems to be quite happy.
The heat and lack of rain seems like just what we wanted after the rains and floods in April and May. But it's more like insult to injury, unfortunately; we entered the year with drought conditions, and the rains alleviated that a little but not completely. Now we have some farmers whose fields are still under water and others who got their seeds in late and now the seedlings are dying in the ground. Any young trees and plants without deep roots are suffering too. We usually see this in July and August. What a year!
The heat and lack of rain seems like just what we wanted after the rains and floods in April and May. But it's more like insult to injury, unfortunately; we entered the year with drought conditions, and the rains alleviated that a little but not completely. Now we have some farmers whose fields are still under water and others who got their seeds in late and now the seedlings are dying in the ground. Any young trees and plants without deep roots are suffering too. We usually see this in July and August. What a year!
December 3: Brave little peppervine
Dec. 4th, 2010 09:10 amIn the lot where I park, just off campus, there's a tiny peppervine peeking up through a crack between the asphalt and a concrete pylon that supports an enormous light pole. It's the unlikeliest of places for plant life, but if anything can hack it, I'd guess a peppervine can! I predict that it will be covering half the pylon before maintenance crews notice and "do something about it." Be brave, little peppervine!
It's actually bigger than this now.
It's actually bigger than this now.
October 13: Trumpetvine seeds
Oct. 13th, 2010 08:23 pmThe trumpetvine seed pods are opening now, after being on the vine from mid summer on. Here they are in August, behind the blossoms:
Now those green pods are cracking lengthwise to reveal thin sheets of seeds pressed in like layers of filo dough.
Now those green pods are cracking lengthwise to reveal thin sheets of seeds pressed in like layers of filo dough.
July 30: Thriving peppervine
Jul. 30th, 2010 11:22 pmThe landscaping in the square by my teaching building is lovely, but it doesn't require much care because it's meant, I think, to evoke a forest. The tall upper story trees are already there, and the understory trees (mainly dogwoods) are well established. After that it's just ferns, which need nothing but mulch, and a few azaleas around the edges. I think that's why the plant beds right next to the building are completely neglected. Nobody even remembers that they're there. As a result, one of the beds is overgrown with pokeweed, poison ivy, and peppervine, which is climbing up the wall to the stairs of the second-story patio. I took a picture of it ten days ago.
Since then, the vines have gone completely over the wall, grown over the handrail, and are now drooping down all the way to the steps themselves. Pretty impressive! And speaking of peppervine, some of the berries have already ripened to black.
Since then, the vines have gone completely over the wall, grown over the handrail, and are now drooping down all the way to the steps themselves. Pretty impressive! And speaking of peppervine, some of the berries have already ripened to black.
July 29: Trumpetvine pods
Jul. 29th, 2010 08:53 pmThe trumpetvines have starting putting on their fat seed pods. The pods, like every other part of the trumpetvine, are covered in ants.
The blossoms aren't showing any sign of slacking off, either. There are still plenty of buds for new flowers; like the crepe myrtle, they go strong all summer.
The blossoms aren't showing any sign of slacking off, either. There are still plenty of buds for new flowers; like the crepe myrtle, they go strong all summer.
July 18: Pepper vine
Jul. 19th, 2010 06:56 pmI've seen these vines around the city for years, in lots of places. I know they have clusters of tiny, waxy white flowers in the summer, beloved of bees and wasps, then they start to grow green berries, and by late summer to fall, the berries have turned shiny black. The leaves are arranged in threes and are distinctively toothed. I've never been able to identify the vines, though. They don't grow wild in the hills where I grew up, so I never learned their name.
But recently I splurged and bought a field guide to local trees, vines, and shrubs which I've had my eye on for years. It has a lot of specimens listed, but the photography isn't great -- a lot of the photos were taken in bright sunlight from too far away, so the colors are washed out and it's hard to see characteristic small features. Still, field guides of shrubs and vines aren't easy to come by. Well, after three times browsing the photos in the book, I found my vine: pepper vine. Doesn't seem like it should have been hard!
But recently I splurged and bought a field guide to local trees, vines, and shrubs which I've had my eye on for years. It has a lot of specimens listed, but the photography isn't great -- a lot of the photos were taken in bright sunlight from too far away, so the colors are washed out and it's hard to see characteristic small features. Still, field guides of shrubs and vines aren't easy to come by. Well, after three times browsing the photos in the book, I found my vine: pepper vine. Doesn't seem like it should have been hard!
July 4: Passon vine
Jul. 5th, 2010 07:29 pmI was hunting elderberries to check their progress, and on one woody elderberry stem about my height, leaning out over the dirt road, I found something else growing. I actually walked past it first, then realized the leaves had looked familiar but I couldn't readily identify them like I would have with almost any other wild climbing plant: virginia creeper, poison ivy, greenbriar, wild grapes, and so on.
It was twining around the elderberry stem, growing among the long, smooth, regular and opposite elderberry leaves. But this vine had cute, curly tendrils and roundish, three-lobed leaves. I still couldn't identify it until I looked closer and, under a few leaves, found two little blossoms. They were still very young and hadn't developed their color yet -- just white, with petals radiating out like thin, wavy wires. Passionflowers. When they grow up, they'll be partly purple, and very exotic looking. There were also some tiny pods along the vine, which I assume will be more flowers. When the flowers fall, the small green fruits form.
It was twining around the elderberry stem, growing among the long, smooth, regular and opposite elderberry leaves. But this vine had cute, curly tendrils and roundish, three-lobed leaves. I still couldn't identify it until I looked closer and, under a few leaves, found two little blossoms. They were still very young and hadn't developed their color yet -- just white, with petals radiating out like thin, wavy wires. Passionflowers. When they grow up, they'll be partly purple, and very exotic looking. There were also some tiny pods along the vine, which I assume will be more flowers. When the flowers fall, the small green fruits form.
June 16: Hedgeworld
Jun. 16th, 2010 06:46 pmAt work, I park in a parking lot that's bordered by a tall hedge. I say hedge... it's more of a giant, overgrown wall of plantiness. There's a hedge in there somewhere, but it's barely visible, grown through and over and around with trumpet vine and and another one that's very familiar but I can't identify.
I park the nose of my car as close to this leafy wall as I can, hoping it will provide some shade for part of the day, but it probably doesn't matter; by the time I return in the afternoon, even with a windshield shade and the windows down half an inch, it's 130 degrees in the car. So I open all the doors and stand next to the car for a few minutes, admiring the hedge.
Trumpetvine is also very popular with hummingbirds.
It's a very popular hangout for insects. I have never seen trumpet vine that didn't have little ants all over it, so there are the crawlies, but mostly what I see are the pollen seekers: honeybees venturing down the long tunnel of the trumpet blossom into the delicious depths; wasps and hornets and flies exploring. There's also the odd dragonfly. Today I saw the prettiest one I think I've ever seen. It was bright green with black stripes, and its wings were only visible because of their faint rainbow shimmer. I'm pretty sure it was an Eastern Pondhawk. The males are dusty blue, but the females and juveniles are green.
Photo by Mary Hollinger, NOAA (Wikimedia Commons)
I park the nose of my car as close to this leafy wall as I can, hoping it will provide some shade for part of the day, but it probably doesn't matter; by the time I return in the afternoon, even with a windshield shade and the windows down half an inch, it's 130 degrees in the car. So I open all the doors and stand next to the car for a few minutes, admiring the hedge.
Trumpetvine is also very popular with hummingbirds.
It's a very popular hangout for insects. I have never seen trumpet vine that didn't have little ants all over it, so there are the crawlies, but mostly what I see are the pollen seekers: honeybees venturing down the long tunnel of the trumpet blossom into the delicious depths; wasps and hornets and flies exploring. There's also the odd dragonfly. Today I saw the prettiest one I think I've ever seen. It was bright green with black stripes, and its wings were only visible because of their faint rainbow shimmer. I'm pretty sure it was an Eastern Pondhawk. The males are dusty blue, but the females and juveniles are green.
Photo by Mary Hollinger, NOAA (Wikimedia Commons)
