Notes from a plant nerd: Going to seed
Want to hear a corny joke about an oak tree? That was it.
This must be the place: ‘And I thought that I’d found a light to guide me through’
A soothing mid-fall breeze floats across my front porch, through the screen door and into the apartment, ultimately swirling around the writing desk facing a bustling Russ Avenue within sight.
It’s time to grab your hardhat
To the Editor:
As yellow falling leaves and cool, dry air are floating into the mountains, it signals to knowledgeable residents that it’s time to look up.
Panther Top Tower open for fall leaf views
The Panther Top Tower in the Nantahala National Forest near Murphy will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 28-29 and Nov. 4-5, offering spectacular views of fall colors in the surrounding mountains.
Sponsored: Fall foods
As we move from fall into winter and cooler temperatures it’s always fun to start adding more seasonal foods and dishes to our meals.
Color season expected to be earlier, less intense
Western Carolina University’s resident fall color expert is predicting that the start of leaf season will come earlier than usual but that peak will lack the intensity it had last year, primarily because leaves won’t be changing color at the same time.
Notes from a plant nerd: Pushing Leaves
Every year, the fallen leaves blanket the forest floor in the fall. And every spring the wildflowers have no trouble pushing up through them to bloom.
Notes from a plant nerd: The leaves don’t just fall, y’all. They’re pushed
We have a tendency in our modern culture of celebrating only the young, youthful and new parts of our world, and not enjoying the old, aging and dying parts. We tend to fear death and growing old. Throughout the world, indigenous traditional cultures celebrate and venerate older members of their people as the carriers and imparters of wisdom, knowledge and how to live well on the earth.
The Naturalist's Corner: And then it happened
My wife, daughter Maddie, a friend of hers and I took a short hike out to Pickens Nose last Monday, Oct. 21. Pickens Nose is a rocky ridge in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness and while it is not exceedingly high, its 4,880 feet of elevation towers over some of the steepest terrain in the wilderness, providing outstanding views and a touch-the-sky quality of other higher peaks. There are several promontories along the ridge and one could certainly be considered schnoz-like. The peak is named after Revolutionary War General Andrew Pickens, the proud owner of a rather substantial proboscis.
Oil Nut, that most curious fruit
For Elizabeth and me, the fall season is one of the most invigorating times to get out in the woods and prowl around. Many of the most beautiful wildflowers found in the Blue Ridge, especially the lobelias and gentians, are then coming into their own. And most of the others are in their fruiting stages. The transition from flower to fruit (or seed) is both logical and enjoyable. The varied fruiting forms — which run the gamut from drupes, berries, and pomes to follicles, utricles, loments, and legumes to capsules, achenes, samaras, and nuts — are as attractive and intricate in their own way as any wildflower. And they are, after all, the grand finales of the germination-flowering-pollination cycle.