Hi River Roaders,

Every seed can provide the possibility of renewal. Seeds come in different shapes, sizes, textures, tastes, and colors. Let’s look at a variety of seeds on our grounds that are coming into their prime this week.

The Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is one of our deciduous holly trees that likes the damp areas near the springs in the back. The red fruit persists into winter.

We have several magnificent oak trees on our property that produced vast numbers of acorns last year. It does not look like this will be a big acorn year.

Each of the seed cones of the Juniper contains several seeds. Our junipers are on the wall by the bridge.

Most of our Common Milkweed (Asclepias syricia) are along River Road, although we have some beside each parking lot. Each of these seed pods contains many seeds that are dispersed by the wind.

We have one Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parvifolia) on our grounds. The nuts encased in these husks are unfortunately not edible.

One of the shrubs we planted along the new path out front is the Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia). These berries should also persist into winter.

I’ve included multiple photos of Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) in this blog because they are really cool. One of their common names, “Touch Me Not” is evident when you touch the green seed capsules, and see (or hear, or feel) the seeds explode out of the capsules.

The aptly-named American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana). We have several around the lower parking lot.

That’s all for this week.

Joe