#2026photos
LightNews LightNews
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s photo was taken looking up into the branches of one of our black cherry trees (Prunus serotina). By the time I went out, just these & a few other tall plants were still catching the sunlight, & I liked the way the branches shone here.

(1/3)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants
Several branches of a small tree curve upward in a narrow cluster, the branches medium to dark brownish-gray with small white horizontal lines, with several branches catching the late afternoon sun and showing a muted shine on their right sides. The roofs of two houses appear behind the tree, as well as part of the upper story of the house on the left. The tops of other small trees just come into the frame near the bottom, and a clear blue sky is behind all of it.
February 9, 2026 at 3:58 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s photo is of a twig that has melted its way down through the snow. I guess the darker color of the twig causes them to absorb that little bit more heat.

To me it looks like something from the game Operation.

(1/3)

#2026photos
The curved shape of a twig with buds sticking out here and there is melted down perhaps an inch into a layer of bluish snow. The dark-colored twig is partially visible at the bottom of the crevice it has formed.
February 8, 2026 at 2:25 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
We went to a movie after work today, & it was quite dark when we got home. Between that & the snow’s surface being frozen solid again, I didn’t want to venture off the sidewalk, so photo subjects were limited!

(1/2)

#2026photos
Small feathery green fronds of a plant are shown among many dead stems, brown leaves, and other old bits of plant matter. At the lower and right edges of the photo, areas of icy snow are visible.
February 7, 2026 at 3:49 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s picture shows some of the colors and textures of the material we collected, trimmed, and stacked toward (we hope) using in a dead hedge.

Dead hedges can range from very neat to very haphazard, but because we are in a town setting, we would aim for the neater end!

(1/3)

#2026photos
Sticks and branches ranging in size from the thickness of a pencil to perhaps an inch thick and in a variety of grays, browns, and reddish tones, all more or less straight, are shown in close-up, oriented horizontally in a stack.
February 6, 2026 at 3:39 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s picture is a little black oak (Quercus velutina) I put in the ground the autumn before last. Last winter, something nibbled every bud off of it (and most of our other oak seedlings too) - but in spring it pushed out new buds and grew!

(1/3)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants
Several stems of a tiny seedling tree emerge only a few inches from melted holes in a blanket of snow. The stems are dark grayish-brown, mottled in places with lighter gray or beige. A couple of the stems appear dead, but most are tipped with buds that appear viable.
February 5, 2026 at 1:49 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
I joined a great webinar today presented by Homegrown National Park called “Yardenalities,” about finding your design style in the context of planning a garden with native plants. It gave me lots of ideas, & helped some thoughts come together.

(1/3ish)

#2026photos
Dark brownish-gray dry branching stems grow profusely in a shape that’s almost a circle on ground covered in snow. In the background several cut saplings lie in a pile.
February 4, 2026 at 3:44 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s - toNIGHT’s - photo is cheating a bit, because in a hectic day I’d forgotten to take one. But then we saw the moon climbing up from behind the mountain, & here we are. & it counts as a garden photo because part of our grand old silver maple is silhouetted against the sky.

(1/2)

#2026photos
The large limbs of a large maple tree on the right of the picture are silhouetted black against a night sky, in which the moon sits low over dark mountains and illuminates the undersides of long, thin clouds. Beneath the moon are the lights of a small city.
February 3, 2026 at 3:50 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
OK, today’s photo happened quickly (because I was frozen after hours of shoveling) & tonight’s post will too (because my head hurts awfully)… last season’s Spanish Needles (Bidens bipinnata) looking like fireworks against the snow.

(1/2)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants
Clusters of narrow two-barbed seeds burst from the ends of long, thin stems, silhouetted against snow that appears bluish in the low light.
February 2, 2026 at 2:54 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
For today’s photo, a mystery! (To me anyway, likely not to some of you fine scholars.)

Anyone know what made these holes in our little oak (Quercus sp., likely palustris [pin oak] but anyway something in the red oak group)?

(1/2)

#2026photos #backyardforest #nativeplants #virginianativeplants
A closeup of the trunk of a small tree, about 4-5 inches in diameter. It grows straight, with no branching at this point, its dark gray bark split more or less vertically by light brown cracks from the growth of the tree, and covered in lighter gray patches elongated horizontally. Two small holes appear in the trunk near the middle of the picture, perhaps an inch apart, with the one on the right slightly higher than the other. The inside of the holes appears reddish brown. In the background, out of focus, is a snowy scene.
February 1, 2026 at 12:57 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Well it’s nothing to do with plants, but it’s fun - in today’s picture, the ice that slid down the roof of our new-last-year garden shed, & is now a decorative awning!

I’ll say, last year was *a year* and we weren’t able to take delivery for *6 months* after the shed was ready.

(1/2)

#2026photos
The upper corner of a sage green garden shed with white trim and black hardware is shown with a sheet of ice projecting several inches off its slope on the right side. Behind it is a snowy scene of parking lot pavement and various neighborhood houses, mostly appearing to be from the early 1900s.
January 31, 2026 at 2:40 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s photo is the Common Yucca or Adam’s-Needle (Yucca filamentosa) that was here when we bought the house, looking very spidery in the snow. I’m leaning over a lot of goldenrod and tall coreopsis stems to take the picture!

(1/3)

#2026photos #virginianativeplants
Long, narrow dark green leaves fan out in an arched circle from a central cluster, partially buried in snow. The leaves look slightly limp and have bent in places. Around it are the light brown stems of various other plants.
January 30, 2026 at 3:51 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s photo is one of our two pecan trees (Carya illinoinensis), with a moon caught in its branches.

It took me years to identify these! I thought they were some sort of hickory (a close relative of pecan).

Pecan isn’t native to our county, or even our state.

(1/4)

#2026photos #backyardforest
The trunk and upward-sweeping bare branches of a tree are silhouetted dark gray against a blue evening sky, darkening toward the top of the photo, with wispy gray-white clouds. Between the top branches a partially visible moon glows.
January 29, 2026 at 2:03 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s picture: the shadows of stems - mostly New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), but some northern rattlesnake-master (Eryngium yuccifolium) too - stretching across the snow in today’s late afternoon light.

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants
A flat area of frozen snow with a carved-out or collapsed area to the left is crossed by narrow, straight bluish shadows.
January 28, 2026 at 2:48 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Not much in the way of a picture for today - I was outside shoveling for hours & didn’t remember to take one, and then once the wind got blowing I was too much of a coward to really go back out. 😂 But shown is the current status of some of my seed trays!

#2026photos #wintersowing
The clear plastic domed tops of two seed starter trays are shown with blue tape and brown twine wrapped around them. The near one is almost buried in snow, while the far one is more visible due to being close to the wall of an enclosed porch that has sheltered it. Under the porch can be seen assorted junk and some English ivy at left. In the foreground, many seedling trees rise out of the snow.
January 27, 2026 at 4:00 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
For today’s picture, a special guest photographer! (My partner, because I forgot to bring my phone out when shoveling the sidewalk.)

This one shows all the seeds & chaff the sleet knocked out of the meadowsweet (Spiraea alba). Much of it is chaff, but there are seeds too!

(1/3)

#2026photos
Tiny seeds and other bits of plant material appear as dark specks atop a layer of white snow.
January 26, 2026 at 4:01 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
There wasn’t much daylight left when we got home from helping family with storm prep, and the weather was almost on top of us, so today’s picture is just a quick one of beebalm/wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) seedheads against the darkening sky.

(1/2)

#2026photos #nativeplants
Round, domed seedheads on tall, thin stalks appear against a blue-gray sky with a blue house and other buildings behind them. The seedheads are light brownish-gray but appear darker in places due to the low light.
January 25, 2026 at 4:05 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Some of the last of the black chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa) for today’s picture! We have 4 bushes across the front of our yard, and the other 3 are long since picked clean.

(1/2)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants #gardeningforwildlife
A cluster of dried berries, shriveled, slightly shiny, and purple-black in color hang on short stems from the slender branch of a shrub. The branch is topped with a bud. In the background more branches and berries can be seen, and behind them are a grassy lawn, a sidewalk, and the lower part of a house with a white door on the front.
January 24, 2026 at 3:24 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
To see just how ridiculous we* are, gaze upon today’s photo, which shows a pile of handmade artisanal mulch wrapped in a blue tarp.

Last summer, eager to demonstrate to the city that our brush piles were not eyesores, we trimmed & stacked the larger straighter pieces neatly…

(1/3)

#2026photos
A pile of cut and broken up sticks and branches sits partially wrapped in a blue plastic tarp, with metal plant stands leaned against it to hold the tarp in place. The tarp has blown open somewhat anyway, and is two shades of blue due to the sun fading it in places. Around it is half-dead brown and green winter lawn grass.
January 23, 2026 at 1:33 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
For today’s photo, back to yesterday’s hackberry! While taking yesterday’s photo I noticed these galls on the branches.

Galls form when certain insects hatch as nymphs from eggs on a plant’s leaves & those nymphs begin to feed on the leaf.

(1/3)

#2026photos #nativeplants #invertebrates
In sharp focus, a light tan, rough-textured round gall swells from the end of a slender branch, with a curled, dry brown leaf attached to it on the opposite side from the branch. There appears to be a small hole just above where the leaf attaches. The shot is taken looking upward at an angle, and behind the gall are the corner of a screened porch and its roof, and a blue sky.
January 22, 2026 at 4:12 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Today’s photo shows the base of the trunk of a common hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) growing in the gravel behind our porch. It’s only I think ~3 years old and maybe 1” in diameter but you can already see the bark here getting its “grown up” knobbly, warty look.

(1/3)

#2026photos #nativeplants
The trunk of a small tree emerges from whitish gravel strewn with dead leaves, stems, and other debris in shades of gray and brown. The little tree’s bark is scabby and warty looking at bottom, with irregular raised areas and shades of gray, brown, and green.
January 21, 2026 at 3:21 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
It wasn’t that cold today, but a brisk wind made me want to get back inside quickly, so I went for an easy one for today’s photo: the dried remains of the gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis).

For winter, this is my favorite goldenrod.

(1/3)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants
A dried branching stem stretches diagonally from left to right, with the ends of each branch covered in fluffy whitish-gray dried flower heads. Behind the stems are various other dry winter plants, a large tree trunk further off to the right, and neighborhood houses in brick and blue stucco. Behind the houses the afternoon sky is blue, and low-angled sun hits the roof of the far house.
January 20, 2026 at 2:03 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
I’ve tried a few times to get this picture, but my camera struggles to focus on small/near things. For today’s photo I gave up and put my hand behind this serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) seedling to get its distinctive, elongated buds in focus.

(1/2)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants
A slender twig of a seedling with thin, elongated, reddish-pink buds on alternating sides appears in front of a pale pinkish hand held just behind it to aid with camera focus. In the background out of focus are white gravel, the brown remains of the previous season’s shrubby growth, and the corner of a screened porch.
January 19, 2026 at 1:22 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
OK today’s photo is not at all well-composed, and it’s zoomed in so the focus isn’t great, but you do not KNOW how many raspberry canes I had to reach through to get it.

THIS is ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron)!

(1/2)

#2026photos #nativeplants #virginianativeplants #ferns
Narrow-leaved green ferns with black stems grow mostly upright from under a mossy and lichen-covered landscaping timber, with scattered dry leaves and the stems of last year’s plants all around.
January 18, 2026 at 1:09 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
With today’s photo, a confession: I took this photo with the intention of talking about ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron). I knew that’s what it was, we’ve had it for years. But I decided to ID it in Seek & send the observation to iNaturalist.

It isn’t ebony spleenwort.

(1/3)

#2026photos
Ferns in a muted green grow from under a moss covered, shadowed landscaping timber that crosses the top of the photo. Their leaflets are broad, with a wider section at the base of each, and their edges are serrated. Some sections of the ferns have died back and are brown and curled. Crumbly bare dirt covers a slope below them, and slender sticks are scattered here and there.
January 17, 2026 at 2:04 AM
grayherndon.bsky.social
Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)! It doesn’t have a lot of fans, but I’m one - for its exotic magenta stems, interesting structure, dramatic flowers, the lovely ink the berries make, and of course the food they provide for birds. (But only birds! Don’t eat them!)

(1/4)

#2026photos #nativeplants
Forked and twisted, the dried whitish stems of pokeweed are laid in a jumble on winter-browned grass, with the cut ends pointing away from the viewer, and a few dried brown oak leaves caught among them.
January 16, 2026 at 4:08 AM