We have been easing into winter with freezing nights and warmer days. I took advantage of one of those warmer days today, with temperatures in the 40's, to work in the yard. There have been a couple of hard freezes that have killed most things in the flower beds and my goal was to clean the beds of the dead plants. During my work, I found little bits of color that surprised me among all of the dried leaves, brown dirt, and gray branches. It's always fun to see what hidden treasures nature has for me when I take the time to do a Second Look.
Here are a few of those surprises I found today.
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| A native ladybug. These are harder to find these days since the invasion of the Asian ladybugs. Our native ladybugs are red while the Asian ones are orange. |
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| A wild snapdragon has managed to survive and bloom. |
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| Part of a butterfly wing was hiding under some mums. |
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| Violet |
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| This forsythia bloom thinks it is spring. |
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| And now that the leaves have fallen from the forsythia bushes, I found this bird's nest. |
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| I think you can find dandelions anytime of the year. |
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| Bright red nandina berries just in time for Christmas. |
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| This ornamental kale survived the freezes. |
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| As did this pansy. If the winter is not too harsh, this pansy should grow again next spring. |
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| The sun is setting earlier and earlier these days. However in just a couple of weeks, the days will be getting longer again. |
