The butterfly garden is near the National Gallery of Art and next to the Natural History Museum; both are on the National Mall.

Despite all the butterfly-attracting flowers such as butterfly bushes, we didn’t see any butterflies. Perhaps the many people and cars and big, concrete buildings of Washington, DC scared them away?

I am guessing this lovely red bloom is a cardinal flower.

On the last day of our vacation we visited Mount Vernon, Virginia, home of President George Washington. There I spotted – a butterfly!

There is a lovely butterfly park in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

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This star-like lavender flower (spotted knapweed – thanks to EG Wow) was also growing next to the lake. There is a nature center at the village, but we didn’t get a chance to visit.

This cattail is situated in a man-made pond created by 19th century businessman Joseph Wharton.

For more nature notes (and this week’s post about lawns) visit:

 
My daughter had the opportunity to milk a cow at the farm. On the left is that cow’s calf, whose birth helped the cow be a plentiful nurser.

In local sad news, the mama of the guinea pigs we adopted for the summer has died. We buried her in our backyard. In the words of my veterinarian friend, she was “geriatric” (over four years old). The guinea pigs’ original owner comforted me over the phone, saying, I was afraid this might happen. I think I was more upset than my daughter. My daughter noticed that I’ve been checking on the remaining two a lot, and she said I’m glad you don’t fret over me like that.

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In memory of Bobbie (click to read Michelle’s memorable post about her dear friend):

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For more photos with red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

We started our canoe trip down this skinny, windy river.

On the way we saw swamp azalea and mountain laurel, lots of pale pink mountain laurel flowers that looked a bit like rhododendron. We also saw what was probably a small eastern painted turtle, resting on a log. A few twists and turns later we saw a great big turtle, a similar one with the bits of red, also resting on a log. We saw hawks flying over head, and there were many different bird sounds in the trees.

We saw two types of lily pads. I only took my oldest camera on the trip, which was a good thing because at one point after banging into a bank we tipped over into the water! My husband lost his hat, but my old camera seemed to be OK (it was in its case inside a backpack). I was afraid to take my camera out – there was too much concentration needed in traversing the river. So I didn’t get photos of the lily pads, but this was how they looked (not my photos):

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Red radish grown in my garden, May 2010

Prepare your soil. Dig it up a few times and mix in some organic matter such as compost or an organic mix-in available at a plant nursery or Home Depot. Either plant your seeds 3 inches apart or be sure to pull out seedlings that are too close together when they germinate. Put some compost on top of the germinated seedling about a week or two after germinating. Watch until a red ball appears in the ground, and then pull out your pretty red radish. Photograph the radish for Mary’s Ruby Tuesday meme.

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Learn how to make delicious pickled radishes (made with umeboshi paste).

Stonecrop in my garden April 2010

and next week is FOOD (Meals, Restaurants, Eating, Vegetables, Unusual Foods, Cooking, BBQs,…)

Fallen Branches from Storm Behind Blooming Crocuses

Sadly, the storm this past weekend in New Jersey and in New York ended in tragedy. The winds were ferocious, and some areas were harder hit than others. Numerous people died from being hit by falling trees, including two men (who leave behind mourning families) who were walking home from synagogue late Saturday afternoon in Teaneck, New Jersey.

In Highland Park we were fortunate to suffer only property damage: below is the remains tree that fell on a house near my own. Others had car windows smashed by trees or a fence downed by the wind. Compared to losing one’s life, it is mostly a discussion of who has insurance coverage.

And here you can see where it cut into the house it fell upon:

I decided to do a little research and discovered that one can study nearby trees to detect if they are unhealthy. Last year friend had noted that a tree overhanging our backyard had leaves on one side but not on the other; this is a sign of the tree’s ill health. My husband and I are happy that we informed our neighbors who own the tree, and they took care of the situation.

Some links for more information on hazardous trees:

• Underlying Causes the Can Lead to Down or Damaged Trees
• How to Spot a Dangerous Tree
• What is a Hazard Tree?
• Homeowner’s Tree Checkup Guide

Again the cut tree trunk, photo taken in the early evening when I showed it to two of my kids:

For more Nature Notes, visit Rambling Woods:

Photo of my compost, taken in March 2009

Do you have a garden? What is your favorite and your least favorite part of gardening?

For more nature notes, visit Rambling Woods: