Nick in NC
@nicknc.bsky.social
gardener, amateur naturalist. neurobiologist. mennonite.
Views my own. All photos mine. May include predator-prey interactions, spiders, and snakes.
https://sweetgumandpines.wordpress.com
Views my own. All photos mine. May include predator-prey interactions, spiders, and snakes.
https://sweetgumandpines.wordpress.com
Another week, a little more progress. This Stenorrhynchos speciosum is killing me. Such slow growth. So much time for a slug to attack before it finally opens. 🌴 🌱 #orchids
November 22, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Another week, a little more progress. This Stenorrhynchos speciosum is killing me. Such slow growth. So much time for a slug to attack before it finally opens. 🌴 🌱 #orchids
Latest pitcher on my Nepenthes x Dyeriana. ~40 cm tall.
Just an inspired bit of plant breeding by George Tivey. Description was first published in 1900, so he presumably made the cross sometime in the early/mid 1890s.
Nepenthes (northiana x maxima) x (rafflesiana x veitchii)
🌴 🌱
Just an inspired bit of plant breeding by George Tivey. Description was first published in 1900, so he presumably made the cross sometime in the early/mid 1890s.
Nepenthes (northiana x maxima) x (rafflesiana x veitchii)
🌴 🌱
November 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Latest pitcher on my Nepenthes x Dyeriana. ~40 cm tall.
Just an inspired bit of plant breeding by George Tivey. Description was first published in 1900, so he presumably made the cross sometime in the early/mid 1890s.
Nepenthes (northiana x maxima) x (rafflesiana x veitchii)
🌴 🌱
Just an inspired bit of plant breeding by George Tivey. Description was first published in 1900, so he presumably made the cross sometime in the early/mid 1890s.
Nepenthes (northiana x maxima) x (rafflesiana x veitchii)
🌴 🌱
Morning walk around the neighborhood. This particular lot seems to home to lots and lots of eastern newts who appear on the road when migrating to and from their breeding pond.
November 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Morning walk around the neighborhood. This particular lot seems to home to lots and lots of eastern newts who appear on the road when migrating to and from their breeding pond.
There are just so many of these little guys in our yard.
November 12, 2025 at 9:13 PM
There are just so many of these little guys in our yard.
When the first frost is late and the bananas have time to fully ripen, they peel themselves. We didn’t get there this year.
November 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
When the first frost is late and the bananas have time to fully ripen, they peel themselves. We didn’t get there this year.
First freeze last night. The growing season for subtropicals like Musa velutina is officially finished for the year. 🌱
November 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
First freeze last night. The growing season for subtropicals like Musa velutina is officially finished for the year. 🌱
Flowering today: Paphiopedilum Mark Dimmitt. The cross is Paphiopedilum ((philippinense x rothschildianum) x sanderianum) x parishii, registered by Fred Clarke earlier this year. 🌱 🌴 #orchids.
November 11, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Flowering today: Paphiopedilum Mark Dimmitt. The cross is Paphiopedilum ((philippinense x rothschildianum) x sanderianum) x parishii, registered by Fred Clarke earlier this year. 🌱 🌴 #orchids.
Here’s a snail eating a snake.
Haplotrema concavum (gray-footed lancetooth) chewing on Carphophis amoenus (eastern worm snake). May 2024.
Haplotrema concavum (gray-footed lancetooth) chewing on Carphophis amoenus (eastern worm snake). May 2024.
November 9, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Here’s a snail eating a snake.
Haplotrema concavum (gray-footed lancetooth) chewing on Carphophis amoenus (eastern worm snake). May 2024.
Haplotrema concavum (gray-footed lancetooth) chewing on Carphophis amoenus (eastern worm snake). May 2024.
Even a couple of big leaves will work as an ad hoc cat trap.
November 9, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Even a couple of big leaves will work as an ad hoc cat trap.
There are something like 28,000 orchid species worldwide, but Psychopsis are surely among the most beautiful.
Psychopsis versteegiana from northern South America and my greenhouse. #orchids 🌱 🌴
Psychopsis versteegiana from northern South America and my greenhouse. #orchids 🌱 🌴
November 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
There are something like 28,000 orchid species worldwide, but Psychopsis are surely among the most beautiful.
Psychopsis versteegiana from northern South America and my greenhouse. #orchids 🌱 🌴
Psychopsis versteegiana from northern South America and my greenhouse. #orchids 🌱 🌴
Marbled salamanders that I previously photographed under one of my garden cover boards. 3 of 3
November 2, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Marbled salamanders that I previously photographed under one of my garden cover boards. 3 of 3
Shaky cam video of the eggs. If you look closely, you’ll see baby salamanders wriggling in some of the eggs. 2 of 3
November 2, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Shaky cam video of the eggs. If you look closely, you’ll see baby salamanders wriggling in some of the eggs. 2 of 3
Eggs of marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum) under a log in our little neighborhood wetland today. The eggs are laid on land beside a vernal pool, and they’ll hatch when winter rain submerges them. #herps 1 of 3
November 2, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Eggs of marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum) under a log in our little neighborhood wetland today. The eggs are laid on land beside a vernal pool, and they’ll hatch when winter rain submerges them. #herps 1 of 3
Vanda falcata, the furan or fukiran (often Samurai orchid in English) has been cultivated in Japan for centuries. IMO, it’s one of
the top 10 orchid species for fragrance
Flowers are typically white, sometimes with faint pink/purple blush. Brightly colored cultivars are usually hybrids. 🌱
the top 10 orchid species for fragrance
Flowers are typically white, sometimes with faint pink/purple blush. Brightly colored cultivars are usually hybrids. 🌱
November 2, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Vanda falcata, the furan or fukiran (often Samurai orchid in English) has been cultivated in Japan for centuries. IMO, it’s one of
the top 10 orchid species for fragrance
Flowers are typically white, sometimes with faint pink/purple blush. Brightly colored cultivars are usually hybrids. 🌱
the top 10 orchid species for fragrance
Flowers are typically white, sometimes with faint pink/purple blush. Brightly colored cultivars are usually hybrids. 🌱
Fascinating. I just checked Rhus copallinum, and the axillary buds are tucked in close to the petiole but are visible from the top.
November 1, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Fascinating. I just checked Rhus copallinum, and the axillary buds are tucked in close to the petiole but are visible from the top.
Mysterious woodlot hasn’t sold in a red hot real estate market because
a. soil doesn’t perc (boring!).
b. carnivorous trees.
c. fairy archers.
d. hellmouth.
e. witches.
f. other?
a. soil doesn’t perc (boring!).
b. carnivorous trees.
c. fairy archers.
d. hellmouth.
e. witches.
f. other?
November 1, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Mysterious woodlot hasn’t sold in a red hot real estate market because
a. soil doesn’t perc (boring!).
b. carnivorous trees.
c. fairy archers.
d. hellmouth.
e. witches.
f. other?
a. soil doesn’t perc (boring!).
b. carnivorous trees.
c. fairy archers.
d. hellmouth.
e. witches.
f. other?
Fothergilla ‘Mt. Airy’ doing its best autumn color. 🌱
Also called witch-alder, which seems appropriate tonight.
Also called witch-alder, which seems appropriate tonight.
October 31, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Fothergilla ‘Mt. Airy’ doing its best autumn color. 🌱
Also called witch-alder, which seems appropriate tonight.
Also called witch-alder, which seems appropriate tonight.
October 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM