Spring Plantings

On 9/23/2020 at 9:52 AM, ESVA said:

Yep, it's a common maypop (Passiflora incarnata).  They get a large egg size fruit hollow on the inside filled with seeds and make a popping sound when mashed or thrown at another lad.  Spread easily.  There's also the yellow species (P. lutea)  which grows here in Virginia, too, but is less common. It's more cold hardy than the maypop but its fruit is marble-sized. 

I like where you've planted out hundreds of sabal seedlings along your woodland path.  Braved ticks and chiggers last month to run about 16 miles of  trails in 100 degree heat and 90% humidity. Packed some sabal seeds along for naturalizing but no canteen  and near about died from thirst.  

Running 16 mike's of trails in the summer isn't my cup of tea.  I have to maintain a pretty good fitness level and weight to keep my job, so I exercise regularly. I can't claim to enjoy running enough to brave the heat and the bugs for a long trail run. My hat is off to you on that one.

I typically stay out of our woods from about late April through the first freeze (usually mid October to early November). The ticks are so bad it is ridiculous. I have cleared our trail so that you can walk on it without touching any vegetation at all, but I still usually end up with at least one or two ticks if I walk it during the growing season.

And over the last decade or so Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever has become very common in the area as well. When I was a kid it didn't bother us much to just play where we wanted and pick the ticks off later. Now I treat so many patients with tick fevers that I am more careful.