A Romp in the Park

Winter can't keep Nik down.  She loves the snow and loves to hike, so off to Balmer Park we go! Beyond the playground are the woods and bare cornfields, where her nose will be on the trail of deer and rabbits, and other critters.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit Berries

Autumn is on its way around here, sooner than we'd like to admit.  However, one of the pretty pops of color in the fall woods are the Jack-in-the-Pulpit berries. The stalks are anywhere from 8" to 12" tall and the cluster of berries is usually the size of a golf ball (above). However, the specimen below was about about the size of tennis ball! You can see what the springtime flowers look like here. You'd never guess by looking at them that they turn into these odd little pods.

Winter Trails

Another snowy, tree-lined path that Nik and I love to hike. This one borders the Broken Hill subdivision. Just lovely - however, we definitely got our exercise since we were the first visitors to blaze the trail, and the snow was still almost knee-deep in some places. I think I'm investing in some snowshoes for next year...and maybe a little sled for Nik!

Google-y Eyes

Ever get the feeling that someone is watching you? Actaea pachypoda, more commonly known as White Baneberries or "Doll's Eyes," grow wild in our area. The medium sized shrub produces tiny white berries which grow on the ends of pretty hot pink or red stalks. They do brighten the woods on a dark & stormy autumn day, but the berries (and the entire plant) are highly poisonous to humans.

The berries really do look like little eyeballs (see close-up above.) However, they contain cardiogenic toxins which can have an immediate sedative affect on human cardiac muscle tissue, and are the most poisonous part of the plant. Ingestion of the berries can lead to cardiac arrest and death. The berries are harmless to birds, the plant's primary seed dispersers.

Meet Mr. Puffball

We've had a lot of rain followed by hot, humid weather and so have been inundated with a variety of mushrooms in the area. But none so wonderful as the one in the photo I took a few years back of a giant puffball mushroom in the woods near Balmer Park. I couldn't resist giving him some shades. :-)

Another one was of this wonderfully twisted toadstool growing out of a dead branch in our tree line. Looks like something right out of Alice in Wonderland!