March Photo Submission Request: The Sky and the Moon

March 15, 2023 ~ melaniereynolds ~ 18 Comments

^{Moon Balance By Melanie Reynolds Washington State, USA}

Hello Nature-led friends!

Yes, a late request for photo submissions! I have faith some of our regular people can pull it off and perhaps a few new people are ready to join in the fun too.

Kerfe, our friend in New York, USA had recommended the “sky” as a worthy nature topic for photo submissions and Ms Scarlet from Devon, UK agreed. That’s really all the motivation I needed because taking pictures of the moon during “daylight” hours is one of my favorite things. So, for the month of March please pull out your cameras (or find a previous picture) of the Sky and/or the moon. Any time of day or night. What does the sunrise or sunset look like from your corner of the world? Or maybe you’ve captured some really cool cloud formation or the aurora borealis or stars. When you think about it, there is a lot going on in the sky above us.

^{Morning Rise Moon By Melanie Reynolds Washington State, USA (Taken this morning of Mar 15, 2023)}

It makes me unreasonably happy to see the moon during the day, which is probably weird, right? I consider the moon a friend of the earth and the creatures upon it, like me. We both hang out in the same little slice of the universe and the moon influences life in both subtle and not so subtle ways just like the people, plants, and animals in our lives.

It has inspired song, words, and behaviors way before the existence of human civilizations. In the presence of the moon, I don’t feel alone. Does that make me a lunatic? In these modern societies in which we live we’re all crazy here, but the moon is not to blame. The moon is a companion who asks nothing of me. It doesn’t sell my personal information or tell me to trade my soul to the devil for cheese. Oh, how I do so love cheese though!

The moon hangs out in that big scary place we simply call “sky.” I find it frightening to think about it too much, all the space beyond the sun and moon, beyond the stratosphere and the clouds. I’ve written about it before in this previous post: https://nature-led.org/2021/01/27/too-much-sky/

Here’s a previous poem that Patricia shared and translated from a friend in Colombia about the moon: https://nature-led.org/2021/05/02/es-luna-llena-it-is-full-moon/

Finally, two more pictures of the sky to share with you.

^{Storm Clouds By Melanie Reynolds Washington State, USA}

I took this picture last week, Monday, March 5th, 2023, when we had heavy clouds and strong winds. I think it was a glancing blow from that first atmospheric river that hit California recently.

and this…

A fun picture I took a few summers ago. I texted it to Patricia with the comment: “How pilots double date.” Ha,ha,ha.

^{Planes Flying Side by Side By Melanie Reynolds Washington State, USA}

In the meantime, I’ll figure out the next few months of photo submission requests. Suggestions are always welcome and appreciated!

Submission Guidelines

The Sky and/or the Moon:

Due: March 31st

To be posted on: April 1st (No fooling!)

The Fine Print: Photo Submissions Guidelines

Email to: natureledlife@gmail.com, Subject line: Photo Submission for [month] (Multiple months of photos in one email is fine.) Image: Attached as a .JPEG or .PNG file preferred. Captions each picture: Subject in the photo (if known), State/Providence & Country, Date (optional). Your name as you want it to appear, Your blog link (if you have one.)

Feel free to add any interesting notes about a picture. I love interesting stories behind things! Let me know if it’s just for ‘my eyes only’ or if I can share any part of it with your photo. Pictures must be your own or you have permission from the Photographer to share it. All copyrights belong to their respective owners. This is a free, fun, community site about nature. Non-commercial and ad free.

Photo Submissions: Ferns & Unexpected Blooms

March 1, 2023 ~ melaniereynolds ~ 20 Comments

One of the things I remember the most about textbooks and displays about dinosaurs is that if they often showed the dinosaurs in their natural environment, which included big Jurassic era fern. It was then that I understood that ferns were very old plants. Next time you’re going for a prehistoric look in the garden don’t forget the ferns and maybe some palms!

_{Fishtail Fern (Nephrolepis falcata) By Lisa Troute Jan 2023 South Florida, USA.}

It just so happens I got to see this lovely fern and the Staghorn Fern (below) in person! On my annual trip to see my mother-in-law, Mary Reynolds, who follows this blog. These ferns are in Lisa’s yard which means, yes, yes, I got to meet Lisa herself! It was a genuine pleasure to meet you Lisa and I hope we can catch each other again next year!

Lisa has contributed a photo every month since the start of the photo submission requests back in August of last year and she’s usually the very first person to email them to me!

_{Staghorn Fern (Platycerium spp.) By Lisa Troute Jan 2023 South Florida, USA.}

The Staghorn fern is one of my favorite plants! I tried to take care of one for years. I thought my bathroom with a skylight could offer the perfect habitat, but alas, no matter what I did, the poor thing died a long and slow death. That was about the third or fourth fern I’d tried to keep as an indoor plant that died. I’ve decided to abstain from being a fern killer and now I only appreciate my native ferns outside.

_{Asparagus Fern with berries (Asparagus densiflorus spp.) By Lisa Troute Jan 2023 South Florida, USA.}

This fern is an imposter! It’s a warm weather perennial that only looks like a fern. The telltale is that the berries contain the seeds instead of naked spores on the undersides of the leaves. It’s still a lovely plant though and I’m happy to add it. We could call it an “unexpected bloom” because while it does get small white flowers, they’re often hard to see without close inspection.

I’d also like to thank Kerfe for taking her camera with her on her walks in Central Park in New York.

I’m pretty sure this is a variety of Hellebores. They’re a popular plant where I live because they grow well in damp lowlight areas. They are often one of the first things to bloom which is why they have common names like Lenten Rose, Winter Rose and Christmas Rose, even though they are not true roses.

_{Hellebores spp. By Kerfe Feb 2023 Central Park New York USA. https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/ & https://kblog.blog/}

I like the way the light through the leaves almost makes this look like a painting. Also found in Central Park:

_{Snowdrops ((Galanthus nivalis) background & Forsythia (Forsythia spp) foreground By Kerfe Feb 2023 Central Park New York USA https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/ & https://kblog.blog/}

and this nice droopy fern:

_{Fern (Unknown) By Kerfe Feb 2023 Central Park New York USA https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/ & https://kblog.blog/}

Our last picture comes from a new Nature-led friend, Amy Law! Thank you for offering a photo for this month, Amy!

_{Henbit Deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule) By Amy Law Feb 2023 Foothills west of Denver CO USA https://amylawscigeek.com/2023/02/22/another-storm/}

Amy’s link goes to a specific blog post where you can see an even closer picture of these lovely purple flowers and some birds! While I’m currently battling some Lamium ‘Archangel’ on my property, it’s hard to begrudge a spot of color in the winter.

Lisa, Kerfe, and Amy, Thank you again for your submissions! If I’ve somehow missed anyone’s submissions, please let me know! I’ve been really busy and a bit brain fogged lately.

What about next months photo submissions?

Good question!

If we want to continue doing monthly photo submissions, I’m going to need your help with some suggestions! We haven’t done grasses or water plants. Maybe a month of “Your Favorite plant” or “Your Best Shot Nature shot?” I’ve tried to pick fairly broad nature-inspired themes because it’s difficult when half of the planet is in winter while the other half is in summer. Not to mention the variety of different biome regions! At the same time, that very diversity that provides a challenge also provides more interesting variety to the submissions overall.

Here’s what we’ve currently done so far:

January: Moss & Lichen

February: Ferns & Unexpected Blooms

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August: Unknown Paths (First submission request, 2022)

September: A Tree

October: Leaves

November: Mushrooms/Fungi

December: Nature at Rest

Should we continue with the monthly photo submissions? Is there other content you would like to see here on the Nature-led site?

Please be aware that I’m currently looking for a job in Environmental Sustainability, Disaster Mangement or related fields. I’ve submitted a few applications and have already had a couple of interviews. I also have a family member who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Between these two things and life in general I’ll need to balance my time efficiently. This Nature-led website is my passion project though and I don’t have any plans to abandon it. Doing the photo submissions once a month is really not much of a time commitment and I’m happy to continue doing it if enough people want to keep submitting photos.

I’m also interested in expanding our number of contributing authors here. My friend Mary King has agreed to write a few posts so keep a look out for those! Also, if you have a post in mind that fits the Nature-led theme, send me an email to be a guest author or a link to a post you’ve written to re-blog that you feel is a great fit. I’m sorry I can’t visit everyone’s blogs as often as I would like too. I know it’s a common problem for all of us. Take care my Nature-led friends and remember to get outside!

Thank you for stopping by!

Links:

Tang, Carol Marie. “Jurassic Period”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Dec. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/science/Jurassic-Period. Accessed 1 March 2023. (Scroll down near the bottom for the “Plants” section.)

American Fern Society: https://www.amerfernsoc.org/about-ferns/

Frost and Early Blooms

February 13, 2023 ~ melaniereynolds ~ 16 Comments

Pink Dawn Viburnum Flower cluster Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

Happy Valentine’s Day to you!

February has found me delighted to find and photograph some of my favorite things that occur this time of year. Two cheerful early bloomers and some hoar frost! What I can’t stop calling “Hoary Frost” with a “-y”, maybe because another name for it is “Hairy frost” because that is what it looks like.

Frost & Ice:

Hoar Frost 1 Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

I’ve been trying to get a good picture of this phenomenon for a while now. This type of frost occurs when you have a sudden freeze on a clear cold night. Because I live in Western Washington where we often have damp foggy air we only get the opportunity for this type of frost a few times of year. Once the sun rises the delicate structure of hair-like ice strands quickly melt.

I found this hoar frost on the leeward side of my giant mulch pile the morning after a clear cold night where temperatures reached nearly 20°F (-6°C).

More pictures of the Hoar/Hairy frost:

Hoar Frost2 Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

Hoar Frost3 Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

The birdbath turned into a frozen explosion of water.

Frozen Birdbath Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

This Begonia leaf is feeling frosty.

Frost on a Begonia Leaf Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

My two favorite early bloomers:

Pink Dawn Viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Pink Dawn’)

This beauty doesn’t just look amazing, it also smells amazing! When I was at the garden nursery a few years back I smelled it before I saw it. Once I saw it, I had to take it home. I dragged the 20lb pot across half the length of the nursery in the rain before I finally found a cart to put it on!

Pink Dawn Viburnum Early Bloom Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

Pink Dawn Early Bloom2 Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

and the unscented…

Common Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginica var. macrophylla)

Common Witch-hazel Wide View Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

These two witch-hazel trees are outside the Woodinville, Washington library on the west side of the building.

Snowdrop failure?

I planted some Snowdrops this last Fall, but I haven’t seen any of them yet. I’m starting to wonder if the area I put them in is too dry or if the squirrels had a very Merry Christmas buffet of the bulbs.

Have a good rest of your week!

Reminder: Next Photo Submission

Ferns and/or Unexpected Blooms

Due: February 28th

To be posted on: March 1st

The Fine Print: Photo Submissions Guidelines

Email to: natureledlife@gmail.com Subject line: Photo Submission for [month] (Multiple months of photos in one email is fine.) Image: Attached as a .JPEG or .PNG file preferred. Captions each picture: Subject in the photo (if known), State/Providence & Country, Date (optional). Your name as you want it to appear, Your blog link (if you have one.)