“Cornell Botanic Gardens is a living museum with a mature botanic garden and arboretum—part of what makes Cornell one of the most beautiful campuses anywhere. We steward over 3,600 acres of biologically diverse landscapes that represent the full range of ecological communities found in the Finger Lakes region.” — from their web site
Pam and I need venture no farther than across the valley, from West to East Hill, for an experience of autumn in all its glory. These IPhone 7 photographs and videos are from a recent visit.
We took in the artistry of the railing, the stone steps, gentle curves.
De Courcey Stairs
Buena Vistas
Granite boulders harvested for a Holocaust Memorial by Andy GoldsworthySculpture GardenArt Work
I marveled at the absence of Gypsy Moth egg masses on the Oak trunks, in spite of evident though modest leaf damage.
Labeled Diversity, specimens from the Oak Collection
Respite BenchEncircledGrand OakStriking GroupAncient Red Oak Silhouette
Houston Pond is visible in several of the “Buena Vista” images…..
Houston Pond
Houston Pond reflections from the pavilion
Another version of reflections from Houston Pond taken from pavilion
Johnson Trail
“No Place Like Home” — Back on West Hill, our Japanese Maple was waiting for us.
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly Cucurbita and Lagenaria. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BCE. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food. ~Wikipedia A wildly popular flower, Chrysanthemums are presented here during a “Pumpkin Farm” autumn festival. Honeycrisp (Malus pumila) is an apple cultivar (cultivated variety) developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station’s Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Designated in 1974 with the MN 1711 test designation, patented in 1988, and released in 1991, the Honeycrisp, once slated to be discarded, has rapidly become a prized commercial commodity, as its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw. “…The apple wasn’t bred to grow, store or ship well. It was bred for taste: crisp, with balanced sweetness and acidity.” It has larger cells than most apple cultivars, a trait which is correlated with juiciness, as theoretically a higher number of cells rupture when bitten, releasing more juice in the mouth. The Honeycrisp also retains its pigment well and has a relatively long shelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions. Pepin Heights Orchards delivered the first Honeycrisp apples to grocery stores in 1997. The name Honeycrisp was trademarked by the University of Minnesota, but university officials were unsure of its protection status in 2007. It is now the official state fruit of Minnesota. A large-sized honeycrisp will contain about 113 calories. ~Wikipedia Stoughton Farm, Newark Valley, Tioga County, New York
Family
A family pulls together before the Pumpkin Farm Autumn Festival.
Fun
Nerf Gun BattleCow Wagon
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Gentle Waterfall SeriesLife Clings to Gorge WallsRoots Hold All In PlaceAncient Rockfall RememberedWelcoming Steps
Ephemeral Waterfall
Metal Intrusion
Spring thaw washed away the gorge wall, this functional metal bridge will outlast all but the most catastrophic gorge wall disruptions.
Turn Around Here for the Following ViewI call these Hermit FallsCan you ss “The Hermitage”?View Back to BridgeNew Path
Graceful Waterfall Overview
Flora
White Baneberry, aka “Dolls Eyes,” a fascinating plant, entirely poisonous.
All parts of all Baneberry varieties (red and white) are highly poisonous, the bane of Baneberry. The berries are deadly. Ingestion of as few as two berries by children will cause death from cardiac arrest. Six for an adult.
Landscape Features
Erratic Granite BoulderSpillwayDam Pond
Overview, Spillway and Pond
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Once a year when Pam’s gardens are at a summer peak I venture out to capture her work in early morning light. For this third image of the begonia series I used the same handheld Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III SLR but with the Canon lens EF 100 mm f 2.8L IS USM variable lens. Click me for the first post, “Begonia Grandis.”
Click photograph for a larger view.
Sweat Bee!!
The bee on the right, in sharp focus, was a puzzle to me. I am familiar with it, they are very common around here, and striking with a bright green shiny thorax. For this post I decided to identify it.
After thirty minutes of poking around I found a list of New York Wild bees on the Cornell CALS (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) site. It is in the form of an excel spreadsheet and very helpful. There are over 400 species listed. Using the “filter” feature I found the six families and, for each, did a web search. I am 98% sure this bee is in the family Halictidae, known as “sweat bees,” being attracted to the salt of perspiration they use for nutrition.
Next I looked as the first name in the species designation within the family Halictidae. Tjhis is the genus. There were not many, in a few minutes singling out Agapostemon, known as the “metallic green sweat bee.” I did not find it necessary to hone in on the exact species as members of the genus Agapostemon have defining characteristics.
There are four species listed on the Cornell CALS spreadsheet, all are ground nesting and solitary. Sweat bees are useful as crop pollinators. In Texas they can replace honeybees for pollination of cotton.
Agapostemon
sericeus
Agapostemon splendens
Agapostemon texanus
Agapostemon virescens
The lens is designed for macro work and is a fixed focus, it can capture small details without needed to be close to the subject. I decided to crop the image down to emphasize the bees. The sharper focus is on the sweat bee
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Once a year when Pam’s gardens are at a summer peak, I venture out to capture her work in early morning light. For this second image of the begonia, I used the same handheld Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III SLR but with the Canon lens EF 70-300 f 4-5.6L ISM variable lens.
Click photograph for a larger view.
Bumblebees numbers will tell you if local mouse populations are under control. Mice will invade bumblebee burrows to eat the eggs and young. If the bees are plentiful, it means more are escaping mouse predation and only because mouse numbers are low.
This morning, bees of all kinds filled the begonia flowers. Bumblebees were amusing to watch enthusiastically roll around the many stamen of the male flowers, gathering as much pollen as possible.
The lens focal length is set to 84 mm to capture the entire plant, on reviewing the proofs I decided to crop the image down to emphasize the bee.
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Once a year when Pam’s gardens are at a summer peak I venture out to capture her work in early morning light. For this image I used a handheld Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III SLR with the Canon lens EF 100 f 2.8L Macro. This is the first post of this series. Click me for “Water Lily Flower with hornet,” from my photography gallery.
Click photograph for a larger view.
Begonia is a large genus of flowering plants, sub-tropical and tropical natives, adapted her to a hanging basket put out after the last frost, the end of May, Memorial Day, in these parts. The flowers are monoecious, both male and female unisex flowers bloom on a single plant.
Pictured are double male flowers composed entirely of stamens. This plant has a sour flavor enjoyed in parts of its range. Over consumption will produce ill effects as the tissues are high in oxalic acid, a poison to humans.
Here, the leaves and flowers glow in the gentle light of early morning.
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Our Night Blooming Cereus produced to date fifteen (15) flowers this spring and summer. These opened July 26th after sunset.
Click pic for larger view in a new browser tab. If you are in WordPress Reader, open the post to use this feature.
From an extended set of multiple blooms, July 2022.
These were captured with the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr with a 50mm f/1.4 lens on a Manfrotto tripod. In the following closeup from the lower right is visible a flower bud and spent bloom among the flowers.
From an extended set of multiple blooms, July 2022.
The end of a day trekking to East Boulder Canyon at the foot of Weaver’s Needle, Superstition Wilderness. I had a light pack with the camera equipment and supplies packed in on horseback.
We spotted this stuff within minutes of arriving at McKee Gardens for an afternoon visit with the grandchildren. Festooned above our heads from thick Oak branches, I could not resist pulling out the camera for this photograph to capture the flavor of Southern Gothic. Fortunately, our group included neither deeply flawed nor disturbing characters, though we can confess to a touch of eccentricity.
Above the Cafe tables
Spanish Moss produces inconspicuous flowers with tiny seeds. Spanish Moss also propagates from fragments of the fine leaves.
Spanish Moss is neither moss nor Spanish. Scientific name Tillandsia usneoides, this flowering plant is in the family Bromeliaceae that includes pineapple. Here we have two epiphytic bromelias sharing the trunk of a palm.
Spanish Moss with other Bromeliads
A rootless epiphyte native to the tropical / semi-tropical Americas, Spanish Moss has a preference for southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) because of their high rates of foliar mineral leaching (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus) that provides an abundant supply of nutrients to the epiphytic plant.
Spanish Moss on PalmsSpanish Moss on Southern Live Oak
My two volume “go to” resource for plants and trees had sparse information about Spanish Moss and no wonder as it is a burden on trees, though not parasitic, and so more a pest than a decorative element to cherish. Surprisingly, Spanish Moss was purposely introduced to Hawaii where it is now known as “Pele’s Hair” after their fire goddess.
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 