Front Yard Landscaping

Bill Hilton of the Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History in South Carolina shows us what he found in the front yard of an old farmhouse.

Landscaping of any front yard, from meticulous to casual, brims with the unexpected. All we need to do is take a little time - perhaps an hour - and take a non-critical look at what we have. The unexpected results may include finding something new or feeling more tranquil than when we began.

Sometimes, our exploration means getting down on hands and knees or even lying flat on our tummies; at other times we might want to climb a tree or use a step-stool to observe above our heads. Bill Hilton of the Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History in South Carolina used about an hour near dusk to explore the front yard of an old SC farmhouse.

Here is a

summary of what Bill found and photographed:

• mushrooms (AKA "toadstools") in particular Caesar's Amanita, Amanita jacksonii, which is an edible Amanita. However, it is easy to confuse with other poisonous Amanitas so, it is not always OK to eat front yard mushrooms;
• a juvenile Fowler's Toad, Bufo fowleri, which occurs in urban and suburban SC yards, but is enduring loss of breeding habitat and toll from automobile tires;
• Slender Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthes lacera, a native North American orchid named because the assemblage of small white flowers twirling along its stem in a tight spiral resembles a "French twist," a woman's hair style;
• Eastern Red Cedar "berries", Juniperus virginiana, which can be used to flavor sauerbraten and gin;
• Blackjack Oak, Quercus marilandica, with brown carrot-like structures sprouting from its twigs that are some type of gall, a cancer-like growth usually caused by an insect or fungus;
and
• Wheel Bugs, Arilus cristatus, "assassins of the insect world" because they plunge their pointy beaks into ill-fated invertebrates.