After skipping a month, we headed off to visit the Rocky Mountain Junipers I'm
following this year. There were big changes. The grass is mostly straw-colored now, as it would have been several months ago if we hadn't had so much rain. Seed heads were dense, showing how productive the season has been.
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| Needle-and-Thread, Hesperostipa comata. Needles and threads (seeds and seed tails) are mostly gone now. |
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| Blue grama, Bouteloua gracilis, has my favorite dried inflorescence. It curls so elegantly. |
When we reached the junipers, I wasn't expecting much based on July's visit. But I was wrong. On the east (lee) side of the larger tree were plenty of dark blue berries. Wow, how did this happen?! The yellow ones in July looked so sickly. Now I wish I didn't skip August.
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| Healthy-looking canopy. |
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| Technically these are fleshy cones. Being gymnosperms junipers have neither flowers nor fruit. |
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| Yellow are immature, dark blue are mature. |
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| It was a warm day, good to have a tree and a bit of shade. |
But not everything was good. Recently one of the neighbors fell.
When it fell, it revealed a large woody root leading into a crevice in the limestone—the tree's anchor and source of water. I will always be amazed that something this large can grow on such a harsh site and in a semi-arid climate!
Both H. comata and B. gracilis were prominent fixtures when I was in Colorado, and I was there long enough to see the transition from green to light brown. Now that I'm back in FL, I miss them, as well as the dry humidity lol
ReplyDeleteHello Banyan Wanderer ... yes, you picked a great year to visit!
DeleteImagens lindas.
ReplyDeletePrazer em conhecer seu blog.
janice.
Beautiful Pictures.
Nice to discover your blog.
janice.
Thank you, janice
DeleteAn enjoyable read and good photos. xx
ReplyDeleteI would love to know, how long that big root holds on and keep that fallen one alive.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, especially the close up of the blue grama. Sad to see the tree fallen over, but interesting to see its roots and wonder how long it had survived in what looks like a very precarious place
ReplyDeleteHello Mike, jozien and CGP. Belated thanks for visiting and commenting. Seems possible the fallen juniper will survive for awhile with the root in place. I'm curious so will check. When I do I will think of you jozien :)
ReplyDeleteWell worth the journey and some fascinating observations as always.
ReplyDeleteThat blue grama is of course new to me as I don't live over there, but I love the way the heads look like commas or quote marks from some angles.
All the best :)