August, Stone Mountain

 Temperatures were in the low 70s during the morning walks. It was just a little front, but the cool weather made us think about fall.

You can see signs that the seasons are changing. Sparkleberries, Vaccinium arboreum, are a source of black fruits that attract wildlife in the fall. The plants have put on fruits, but they’re green, still ripening. Goldenrods, in genus Solidago, began putting out their first flowers early in August. They aren’t plentiful yet. If you’re allergic to them, much worse is to come.

Among the wonders of late summer:

• Muscadine vines, Vitus rotundifolia, cover much of the Georgia Piedmont, and the muscadines are ripe. You see the remains of black and dark purple grapes everywhere.

• Bonesets, in genus Eupatorium, are putting out delicate little white flowers. Native people used the plants to make poultices when setting broken bones.

• Partridge peas, in genus Chamaecrista, are everywhere. The flowers are loved by people (like me) who believe that too much yellow might not be possible.

• Clematise terniflora, a perennial vine, drapes itself over underbrush. The vines are loaded with white flowers, each with four petals. C. terniflora is invasive, and so is kudzu, Pueraria lobata. I saw some gorgeous purple-magenta blossoms deep in the woods near the South River. There were no other kudzu vines near this isolated place. 

• Ivy-leaved morning-glory, Ipomoea hederacea, is a native of the Americas, but it’s from the tropics, rather than from around here. In the eyes of cotton farmers, it’s one of the worst invaders. The leaves are deeply lobed, so the vines look a bit like ivy. The flowers are lovely. Usually, you hear of white, pink and blue. The flowers I saw were purple.