Have you witnessed the beautiful Buttonbush blooms these last few weeks? They embody the wild bounty of mid-summer.
These uniquely geometric globes of bright white seem to explode from lush ribbons of green along the shoreline of a dazzling blue lake.
Cephalanthus occidentalis is a vastly underappreciated native shrub…
The land is awash with sprays of amber, lemon, and yellow from the wild goldenrods that proliferate in meadows, roadsides, forest edges, and vacant lots this time of year. These misunderstood, underappreciated, and spectacularly diverse plants have been lumped into the common category of "goldenrod" and unfairly blamed for hay fever.
Despite my education, and the ecological role that I know they play, I have been pretty wary of wasps throughout my lifetime. It's a visceral thing. I respected their place in the food web, but I didn't lean in to study them. That is until I laid eyes on the star of this Phenology Note: the Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus). They have won me over!
