My morning ditties are not nearly as amazing as the song of a curved bill thrasher, but they help me begin the day. If I start thinking about the groundwater pumping in the the Sulphur Springs Valley of Cochise County, Arizona, I’ll want to sing dirges, so singing to the flora and fauna around our little homestead is a good thing.
In the foothills and mountains around you and me, white flowering honeysuckle (Lonicera albiflora) can be found from 3,500 ft to 6,000 ft. I find it along streams or very nearby. The plant in our yard, where I sometimes wander by singing, is a large shrub (6’ X 6”), but on occasion in the wild I’ve seen it as a vine and twining up into oaks. Make up your mind Lonicera albiflora!
The photos are mine. The flowers and the fruit are beautiful!
Bush muhly is the species Muhlenbergia porteri. There are over 40 species of muhlys found in Arizona and the southwest. It would be hard...
I grew up in Kentucky where the state flower is goldenrod. The particular species that has that honor is Solidago gigantea. I wonder how...
I originally wrote and recorded the song Road Across the Grassland in 2005…well, maybe a little before, but listen, there really is a dirt...