Suzan Bellincampi
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.
I always do and I enjoy eating them too; there isn’t a nut around that doesn’t entice me. Hurricane Irene gave me and other nut lovers a gift of glut: nut glut.
Though the high winds toppled some trees, my black walnut tree held on straight and tall. What it did give up to the gusts was an early crop of nuts. Usually one must wait till later in the fall to harvest black walnuts.
“Going to the beach and ignoring the wrack line is like going to Disney World and looking only at the parking lot.” So said Ed Perry — naturalist, park ranger, writer and lover of sea beans — in Cathie Katz’ book, The Nature of Florida’s Beaches.
“What’s in a name?”
The answer, dear Juliet, is not as simple as it seems.
“That which we call a rose”
Unless, of course, it was not a rose, which is the case for Rose of Sharon, the large-blossomed flowering ornamental shrub bringing bulbous blooms to yards and gardens everywhere.
“By any other name would smell as sweet.”
“It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”
I couldn’t agree more with Lewis Grizzard, the American writer and humorist who had a taste for one of the more divine elements of summer.
He and I are not alone in our fondness for this fruit. John Denver sang of his affections:
“Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What would life be like without home grown tomatoes
Hellgramites prefer that you neither fish nor cut bait.
Either activity could lead to their demise. Hellgramites are the larval form of the dobsonfly, an aquatic freshwater insect that anglers know is a good bet and even better bait to catch bass or trout.
Will the real green giant please stand up?
Polly Hill Arboretum staff report that a sizeable green monster has taken up residence in their parking lot. A cecropia moth caterpillar has been wowing arboretum visitors all week with its grand green proportions.
It may not be too hard to differentiate the giant green cecropia caterpillar from the jolly green vegetable-advertising icon, but actually they do share some interesting similarities.