A Website about Urban Environmental Restoration in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Our walk this afternoon in the park.
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This is the very beginning of Fall, where the days are the same length as the nights. We could really tell that Fall light as the equinox approached. Suddenly it really felt different outside. Remembering the Spring Equinox, it was the same, all of a sudden that Spring light was upon us, and the Winter light was gone. The Bloodroot emerged from the layer of dead leaves and bloomed. Â Today, we feature a couple of Spring plants that have made it into the Fall.
This Bloodroot plant is still hanging on, spending the summer under the deep shade of a mature Sugar Maple.
This is the same specimen, with the silvery underside exposed as this plant drops to the ground.
The one fruit on our Euonymus  americana specimen, the Hearts-a-Bustin’, has opened up in a glorious display of fall color and bounty.
Our Joe -Pye-Weed is turning colors, its seeds blowing away in the wind as we intended.
The snakeroot which is trying to take over the whole yard, is finally blooming in a fantastic display of glowing white flowers.
The Jewelweed collection, which consists of both the orange Impatiens capensis and yellow Impatiens pallida has been a huge favorite with the bees this summer.
Above, the Yellow Jewelweed, (Impatiens pallida) and below the Impatiens capensis.
Like the Bloodroot, this Trillium Grandiflorum, which had a spectacular white bloom in April, is still around, surviving under the shade of an American Elm.
Just about six months ago! Â It was the very end of summer and the beginning of fall when these shots were taken. Â Usually at this time of the year, late summer and. Early fall is not given hardly a thought. Â Spring is highly anticipated and winter is rationalized, having finally gotten used to it. Â But, just to mix things up a bit, here is a snapshot of the very end of summer 2011.
Helianthus, in our back alley.  This is the native one and it grows really tall and produces a late summer show of bright yellow flowers. Really  fun to find them in the wild.
Lobelia cardinalis. Â This is our garden specimen that did nothing but bloom all summer, and throw seeds out. Â Now, in mid February, there is a nice healthy Rosette of green leaves soaking up the winter sun, signalling that the plant is still alive and ready for the upcoming season.
Goldenrod, a volunteer, graces our back alley on Morris Park Road. We get alot of native wildflowers in our yard just by weeding out the non native plants and letting things grow, and repeating  the process. Now our yard is more and more like what grew there many years in the past, sort of an heirloom wildflower yard.
This is a forest discovery, a parasitic native plant that grows off the roots of Beech trees. Â Always fun to try to find them below Beech trees in the fall. They are a bit camouflaged.
Some more blooms to look forward to in six months. At this time of the year, it is hard to believe these flowers exist. Â They are just living roots, waiting for a full growing season. The Swamp Mallow, a native flower that likes sun and moist soils, loves growing at the end of our drainpipe. Â Available for sale at your local native plant nursery, eastern North America.
