In spring, summer and fall, outdoor colors surround us — from the butterflies, to the birds, to the flower blossoms and changing hues of leaves. But, when November comes around, all seems brown and dingy, until you start exploring.
This week, a native sunflower was still blooming in my backyard and a tiny orange and black bug was nibbling on it.
It looked a lot like a milkweed beetle that crawls around milkweed plants in summer.
A little research told me that this was not a milkweed beetle, but an impersonator called a false milkweed beetle. The insects look very similar, but the milkweed beetle has a black heart shape on its back, while the false milkweed beetle does not.
It also does not eat milkweed. It prefers asters, especially, a plant called — believe it or not — a false sunflower, which is precisely what is still blooming in my yard.
False sunflower is another impersonator. It’s not really a sunflower, because its yellow rays or petals can remain on the plant for a long time, while with true sunflowers, the rays wither and fall off. The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center says false sunflower is easy to grow in dry sites, and is a good choice for clay soil.
That’s where my false sunflower is growing, and still blooming in November. The false milkweed beetle actually eats seeds of the false sunflower and though blooms were still present, seeds were also developing on nearby plants. These beetles also suck the nectar from false sunflowers in summer.
Sometimes in summer, I can be overwhelmed with all the blooming plants and flying insects around, and not take the time to look at one for a long time and learn more about it watching nature unfold. But in November, there are a lot fewer choices, and the false sunflower enticed me to take a closer look.
This month, though most of the maple trees’ red and yellow leaves have fallen to the ground and are nearly all brown, you can find two trees in this region whose leaves are still a lovely golden yellow. They’re both coniferous trees — the bald cypress, native to southern Illinois, and the tamarack, native to northern Illinois. Both are conifers because they form cones rather than flowers that hold seeds.
But they’re not evergreens, like pines and spruces. They lose their leaves, which we call their needles, in winter and grow them again in spring. You can find glowing yellow tamaracks at Volo Bog in November. You also can find bald cypress with yellow leaves.
Though bald cypress is not really native to northern Illinois, we actually have two growing in our front yard. We planted them as “stick” giveaways from a local nursery, and now they’re about three-feet tall and their needles are turning yellow. Soon, they’ll be brown and fall off the tree, and we’ll visit them in spring to see the green needles forming once again.
Another natural experience to enjoy in November is smelling the seed heads of gray-headed coneflower and bee balm. The coneflower’s yellow petals are long gone, and the bee balm’s purple blooms are spent as well. But in November you can inhale lovely aromas by crushing the seeds on these native plants.
Bee balm leaves smell like oregano, with hints of mint and thyme, according to one source. Gray-headed coneflower seeds have been described as being spicy and somewhat like anise.
To me, the crushed seeds of both plants smell like a soothing, calming mint. Their colorful flowers are just memories in November, but the fragrance is still alive. Nature goes on year-round, though it appears more subtle, and more difficult to find in the colder months.
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Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the baiduhai and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment. Send story ideas and thoughts to [email protected].