

Small Surprises in Late August
So the heat is not a surprise in fact this WRAL headline says it all: Above average RDU counts 44th day over 90 degrees. It not all bad though. Ian's Moon flowers have performed beautifully this year. We've already had over forty blossoms. The highest count in an evening so far, has been eleven blossoms. August 13th in the a.m. brought two small, but beautiful surprises. An Eastern boxwood turtle- We rarely have a turtle in our yard. Ian sees plenty at Beaver Marsh, but


Late Summer Begins
The "lovely" rain that we anticipated on July 26th didn't happen until twelve days later. On Aug. 7th, we had much needed rainfall. This photo was taken on Aug 2nd. The gorgeous pink hue is likely caused by particulate matter from the forest fires in the West. 'Southern Charm' verbascum has attracted an Eastern bumblebee. Ian had a special sighting of a Green Heron at the Northgate Park retention pond. These herons are also visitors at the wetlands park at the nearby Muse