Another landscaping plant seen in many species and locations.
Wild grape vine is abundant all through the woods around here. This will be a big year for all components of mast. Grapes, apples, walnuts, hickory, and many species of acorns all seem abundant.
Apple trees are an invasive species to North America But unlike Ailanthus, Japanese stilt grass, and Rosa multiflora; the invasive plants that I work to remove, I can love the apple. I usually do not harvest, letting the crows, deer, and occasional bear help themselves. This year the apples are abundant so I have helped myself as well. There are commercial apple orchards lower down on the mountain.
The late fall meadow is heavily dotted with the yellow of golden rod, replacing the predominant white of boneset seen in July. This year seems to be a heavier bloom than in the recent past.
Probably an escapee from landscaping; I do not plant non native species. What constitutes an invasive species is getting harder to define.
Raccoons are common, eating the corn in my neighbor's garden, and being general opportunists. I use a trail camera to watch their activities. This raccoon resides in a bramble near the apple tree.
This fuzzy yellow larva with 3 distinct pairs of long black spikes is I believe the American dagger moth. What is unusual is that the caterpillar is feeding on Rosa multiflora, an invasive species here that does not usually have insect predation. I have saved the specimen and will observe if it continues to truly feed on those leaves.
This American Chestnut grows behind my house. It sets seeds every year, but they appear to be sterile. The tree is about 20 feet tall and has a circumference of 9 inches at chest height and is not yet blighted.
In Mt Philo State Park, near Burlington Vermont, nice dense forest mixed hardwood and these cedars.
