Closing Up.

8-30-21 VERMONT: We go back to NJ tomorrow until leaf season here in October. Today looked like rain, but now the sun is out and it’s hot again. I have continued doing close-up chores, and I think everything is done. About an hour or so into the trip tomorrow, I’ll remember some forgotten something.

We had decent rain from Henri. The new hurricane will probably exit the US without reaching New England at all. Once it’s September, there’s usually plenty of rain and heavy dew every morning to keep all the plants well watered. 

The hummingbirds have been draining the feeders. I refilled one of them three times in a week—that’s an quart and a half of sugar water. They will probably be gone by the time we’re back for the leaves. We’ve had heron visits and kingfisher visits in the last few days, but no pix. The size difference between and hummingbird and a blue heron  is amazing.

There are lots of Monarch caterpillars, some large and almost ready to pupate and some tiny ones. Also a number of new, flashy butterflies. By October, I expect a lot of butterflies. 

New blooms: toad lily.    

Monarch caterpillars on a single stalk of Aesclepias incarnata, swamp milkweed. Three is a crowd.

Another caterpillar. the black stuff is caterpillar poop. This one is almost big enough to form a chrysalis.

Toad lily, Tricyrtis, is a complex little flower. Another view below.

I guess the toad lily name comes from the spots.

I love the look of the pond bank, a mix of planted perennials, wild flowers, water plants and ferns.