Driveway finds

Seriously, all of these photos were taken in or next to my driveway.

I’m always amazed that even plants this delicate can stand in snow. I guess the light and airy quality of most of what falls here is so gentle that these tiny grasses stay upright. And I’m so glad they do since I really liked how nearly invisible they are. Looks like most of the seeds have been consumed, leaving just the hulls behind. If not, some lucky critter will get a little snack.

This little tuft of grass is what stopped me in the first place. I loved this arrangement of lines – almost like a hashtag or maybe some stitching in burlap. Whatever it is, I looked straight down –

I was out to either get the mail or maybe the trash can and saw these little scenes all around. Of course I went in for the camera and it was a good thing since after it melted, we wouldn’t have snow again for weeks.

Check out these next two. I was so excited to have them both present. To look at the trees themselves, at least casually, you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart. The leaves, bark and general shape are nearly identical, but they aren’t even closely related. The seeds show that pretty well – so different.

The first, Hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), looks similar to Ironwood, but nope, not related. On the tree, hornbeam seeds resemble hops and the tree has sometimes been called Hop hornbeam.

And now the nut and bract of Carpinus caroliniana in newish snow. Too good to pass up. The trees produce these bracts in tight clusters and they change to golden yellows and oranges in the fall as do the leaves. I’ve shot the bracts in spring and fall over the years since they’re right next to the driveway and very striking. There’s some Beaked hazelnut in there, too, so the squirrels & chipmunks are well fed.

So that’s what I shot in January – almost for the whole month. Crazy. At least I didn’t have to go far.