My friend Jayne and I took a pleasant late-summer drive along part of Spearfish Canyon yesterday. We checked out the loop trail at Spearfish Falls, so that she could finally see that falls for the first time, as I had done w/ the huzb two weeks earlier. We also looked around at the park area above Roughlock Falls...
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We were pretty excited to find this lone columbine growing along the trail to Spearfish Falls, but it turns out it's not the hard-to-find wild columbine, which is a buttery pale yellow and pink. This is a garden-variety columbine that somehow found its way into the woods.
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Common burdock is a funky-looking plant...looks like clusters of small stunted thistles. From the aster family. It was growing along the trail to Spearfish Falls.
Jayne pointed out this red squirrel as it scurried up a tree. She found a little cache of tender little pinecones in a freshly-dug hole in the ground, where the squirrel had first been when we came along. Another sign of the changing seasons.
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The fairybell fruit is either yellow (see Aug. 16 post) or red, like this one. Fairybell wildflowers are of the lily family. We saw the red ones along the trail to Spearfish Falls.
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The chokecherries are ripening...this red will become a deep purple as the berries reach maturity. Chokecherries grow all over the Black Hills. Did you know they're from the rose family?!
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These leaves are another testament to the onset of autumn...along the trail to Spearfish Falls.
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I'd been hoping to get photos of the fireweed before it was gone, and was happy to find it still in bloom along the roadside in the canyon yesterday.
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We were pretty excited to find this lone columbine growing along the trail to Spearfish Falls, but it turns out it's not the hard-to-find wild columbine, which is a buttery pale yellow and pink. This is a garden-variety columbine that somehow found its way into the woods..JPG)
Common burdock is a funky-looking plant...looks like clusters of small stunted thistles. From the aster family. It was growing along the trail to Spearfish Falls.
Jayne pointed out this red squirrel as it scurried up a tree. She found a little cache of tender little pinecones in a freshly-dug hole in the ground, where the squirrel had first been when we came along. Another sign of the changing seasons..JPG)
The fairybell fruit is either yellow (see Aug. 16 post) or red, like this one. Fairybell wildflowers are of the lily family. We saw the red ones along the trail to Spearfish Falls..JPG)
The chokecherries are ripening...this red will become a deep purple as the berries reach maturity. Chokecherries grow all over the Black Hills. Did you know they're from the rose family?!.JPG)
These leaves are another testament to the onset of autumn...along the trail to Spearfish Falls..JPG)
I'd been hoping to get photos of the fireweed before it was gone, and was happy to find it still in bloom along the roadside in the canyon yesterday. 
For some reason, I'm having trouble posting this. Hope this try works.
ReplyDeleteI like the columbine, even if it's a hybrid. Lovely muted colors. The burdock is a problem for farmers and for me with collie dogs;)
The fairy bell is unusual. I've never seen it.
Marnie
We gathered chokecherries last week and juiced them to make syrup and jelly out of them. We love them as do the birds. We have about a dozen bushes in our back yard.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm more than familiar with red squirrels...have more than my share in the woods...and burdock appears down by the creek, but the fairybell fruit is something new for me! Ther's a few hints of Autumn here too!
ReplyDeleteIt's always so interesting to see what wild flowers grow where you live.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of the fairybell fruit and will have to look that one up...
Nice photos and with the music playing I think I could just nod off here...as all is finally quiet in my neighborhood once all the mowers cease!!
The Columbine was still a delightful surprise!! Love the new header photo! Good job!!
ReplyDelete