What to See This Week

The mums in the beds near the Visitors Center are just beginning to bloom! Check each week as the variety of colors start to pop alongside ornamental kale and an abundance of pumpkins. 

Blue wood aster is one of the more common species of aster seen on forest edges and along trails blooming now. Blue wood asters have very lightly blueish purple tinted flowers.

This red fox was spotted near the Visitors Center headed towards the Azalea Glen early in the morning by our Horticulture Manager. As with any elusive mammals like the red fox, first thing in the morning is one of the best times to see them. Red foxes are crepuscular which means they are most active during dawn and dusk. 

We are still a few weeks away from peak fall color at The Arboretum, but the season is starting strong! The Autumn Blaze freeman maples in the parking lot are always some of the first to change and have reliably good fall color year after year.

Poison ivy has beautiful variable fall color. Although it is best to keep poison ivy out of areas that people frequent, poison ivy has a lot of wildlife benefit while growing in natural areas. Only humans and a few other primates actually have a reaction to the urushiol oil found in poison ivy. The white fruits that are ripening now are an important food source late in the winter when not much else is available.

Tamarack, also known as American larch, is a native conifer that gives beautiful fall color. Unlike the majority of conifers in the area, tamarack needles change color to a golden yellow and will drop their needles in the winter.

Many species of slime mold, if they weren’t such bright colors, would be overlooked every time. Pictured here is a slime mold called salmon eggs. These bright but absolutely tiny fruiting bodies are easily overlooked, so as always in nature go slow and take time to notice the little things!

Fall mushrooms have begun to pop! Pear-shaped puffballs are common when the temperature starts to drop, growing from fallen logs. When they first grow they are pure white inside with a spongy texture. As they mature and the spores develop, the inside darkens to an olive color and becomes powdery. The spores eventually are able to escape through a small hole that develops in the top of the puffball.