• steeplebush (Spirea tomentosa)
• horse mint
• hyssop skullcap (Scutellaria integrifolia)
• Maryland golden aster
• pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
• woodland sunflower
• switch grass (Panicum vergatum)
• wild bergamot

It is a reflection of how house/yard busy I’ve been the last few years that it has taken me this long to start logging more walks on the beach…! So far, I’ve walked from the beach by the house north of Norbury’s landing to Bay Ave, and all of the beach crossings in between (not including Bay Ave). I’ll be working on logging more miles on foot this fall, with a goal of traversing the peninsula.

After checking out the Ohiopyle state park visitor’s center, my parents and I walked from where this trail intersects the great Allegheny passage to cucumber falls! Then, we walked along the road inside the guard rail to look at the natural water slides. From there, we walked the foot trail across the bridge along the road back to the parking lot for the falls.

Indulge me here as we veer into some summer landscaping updates! My neighbor gave me some overflow from his yard, including mint that has started to take hold. Then, thanks to some help from my parents, I was finally able to accomplish a few things in the yard that have helped me be able to start the native conversion step-by-step. First, though, I continue with some pretty ornamental annuals. We planted a Chinese hibiscus to add some curb appeal (looks like the orange? peach? double-flowered kind) which will die back with the frost, but it is a stunner for now!

I also started a railing box with an assortment of “Superbena” colors and Salvia. They will probably all die back in the winter, but as you can see I had some fun with my first trip to a garden center; my thought was to have a red railing box to bring in the hummingbirds.

Then, my bosses gave me some of their backyard overflow! I put a deck planter down to hold black-and-blue and tropical Salvia (more hummingbird magnets, hopefully). They can be prolific perennials, so I’m hoping they’ll continue to flesh out the box. I have temporarily moved the anise hyssop into the swan planter you can see below!

They also gave me mountain mint and Spigelia marilandica (which I’m actually hoping to take home to plant along my parents’ stream bed). On the porch planter side of things, though, I found a handy tip and some perfect fit rods and wood pieces to shore up the railing planters.

My first real natives that were planted in ground went where the elephant grass was torn out. I now have a pair of summer sweet bushes in their place.

I also got a showy varietal of black-eyed Susan, both a native and a nod to my MD roots, for the porch.

Between all of these, I have been thrilled to watch the skippers (and other pollinators) parade in. It is pretty rewarding to watch them find the native flowers, and there will be much more to come…likely shovel by shovel!

Well, good thing I went out to take pics of the grass panicles in my yard because the guy came to cut it today. Ultimately want to be lawn free, and the good news is, I didn’t find any Bermuda grass! I used iNaturalist and some lawn grass ID web pages to zero in on that it appears I have Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue and sweet vernal grass (broadly considered cool weather lawn grasses). However and unfortunately, the only place I’ve found Bermuda grass is in my potted plants. This is likely due to that I supplemented my potting mix with the fill dirt that contractors brought in after my water line installation. Still positive news is that it is very clay-heavy and outside, not much is growing in that stretch (including Bermuda grass). I bet there’s a seed bank in there sadly. Yet, it hasn’t made much of a move this year, and let’s hope it stays that way.