Loggers on a neighboring property worked all day today. Suitable weather for logging is not as reliable as it once was, so holidays take a back seat.

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The first cut of hay is coming down. Farmers around here are leaving 4″ instead of the traditional 2″ because it’s been so dry.

Starflower (Trientalis borealis) is a 4-inch high plant that doesn’t last very long and has small flowers, typically just one or two. The leaves are in a whorl, commonly of seven leaves and the small white flowers usually have seven petals. I don’t know of any other plants that grow in sevens, but maybe there are some. Another feature of starflower that is unusual is the flower stalks: at about an inch long, they are as slender as a fine thread. You can barely see them.

Toads in the garden and in the lawn. It’s time to do some mowing, but toads come first.

Every green thing is fully leafed out now and so far very little has been eaten by insects or has been food for fungi. A short-lived lushness that’s almost tropical.

The leaves of sugar maple seedlings don’t look at all like maple leaves. They have no lobes or very small lobes at best. You can see the seed leaves, the cotyledons, below. Last year’s seedlings are very small but they have maple shaped leaves – and no cotyledons. Plenty of both this year.

A Year of Winter Finches Ahead

Turtles are crossing roads. If conditions permit, a helping hand might keep one of them from being hit by a careless vehicle.

Most Christmas tree growers sold all their trees a while back. Has Covid somehow brought out a longing for the sweet smell of balsam?