What to See This Week

The Conifer Glen is one of the top places to visit in the winter. The collection stays beautiful year round and it is full of a variety of colors, textures, and shapes. Pictured here is a Golden Scots pine, providing a splash of yellow color to the area.

This Candicans white fir near the parking area for The Conifer Glen also stands out against the typical greens in the collection. Its needles have a blue-gray hue and curve upwards from the twig.

Deciduous trees are also a point of interest this time of year. Trees can be readily identified by their winter twigs. Pictured here is a very distinctive twig belonging to the northern catalpa. They have large, suction-cup like leaf scars (where the leaves once attached to the twig). One of the most telling features is that catalpas have a whorled branching pattern. This means that at each node (area of new growth) on a twig, there are at least 3 leaf scars. This is an uncommon branching pattern for our area.

Native wildflowers can also be identified in the winter by their seed heads. Pictured here are the seed heads of wild bergamot. Although visual identification can be enough, crushing up the seed head and smelling it will produce the aromatic scent associated with wild bergamot.

In the Bird Watching Garden we often put out whole peanuts for certain birds like blue jays. Once the blue jays notice the peanuts, it is just a matter of time before they take each one. Blue jays don’t immediately eat their peanuts, instead they take them away to bury them for later. 

While the whole peanuts are primarily for the birds, the squirrels will aways be in the garden as well. They are happy to eat the sunflower seeds put out for the birds but whole peanuts do distract them from climbing up to the feeders.

Shelled peanuts attract a different group of birds. Tons of smaller songbirds and woodpeckers enjoy the peanuts. Pictured here are female house finches. House finches are some of the most common birds seen in the garden and often come in a group. Their native range is the southwestern United States and Mexico but they have naturalized here after being introduced in the 1940s.

While house finches are a regular at the Bird Watching Garden, this next bird is a special guest. Red-breasted nuthatches are winter visitors to our area but their arrival is not guaranteed. Some years they are easily spotted, others they don’t show up at all. Their arrival is determined by the availability of food further north.