milkweed pods, strange black-eyed susans, spider eyes…

My dearest readers, have I really neglected you since Thursday? ‘Tis true. Where are my manners? What have I been doing? Ummmmmm….I’ve been enjoying life! I seem to be doing OK with the plantar fasciitis so far, via a ton of stretching/strengthening exercises and a teensy six mile run yesterday. And I’ve added to the blueberry stash: we’re up to 30 pounds of blueberries in the freezer. That was my original goal, but now I think we might…just…need…more.
Onwards to the flower report. The milkweed pods are growing by leaps and bounds.

Let’s review: just three days ago, this pod was the same size as my nail.
That one milkweed on our neighbor’s property is also taking off, pod-wise.

I was asked by a fellow blogger who does amazing macro shots of wildflowers whether I knew if that crazy tubular-petaled black-eyed susan is a cultivar, or a different species altogether. I have no idea, but here’s some more data to feed into the hopper:
Crazy tubular – this is over at my dad’s house:

Let’s compare this to a lone hybrid mutant out in back of the pole barn

Some of its petals are that tubular, and some are regular.
Another thing I’ve been noticing about black-eyed susans: they are commonly hosts to tiny white spiders, perhaps more than one kind. Some seem to have markings, while others are straight-up white:

Others seem yellow, or maybe it’s just because this one is lurking at the base of the yellow petals:

Yellow or white, check out her fierce little eyes!
Nothing says “back off!” quite like a thistle:



Goldenrod: distilled sunshine.

Congress of aliens? Or merely Queen Anne’s Lace?

Incipient Deliciousness: the first of the purple-flowering raspberries has ripened.

While others are still doing the “fertilize me, fertilize me!” dance.
An unexpected invasion of hostas on the hillside bordering the driveway. I guess they’re not content being confined right up next to the front of the house.

Somebody’s been eating the ripe berries of the wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis, and previously erroneously identified as ginseng or as red baneberry.)



Speaking of blue berries, the blue cohosh leaves are beginning to fade, but the berries…

…are not yet blue.
Some lovely peach lilies along the side of the driveway are taking over from the long-gone siberian irises and spiderwort: