There are white foam patches on plant stems now in western Pennsylvania that indicate it’s spittlebug season.
Spittlebugs are nymphal froghoppers that suck the juice out of plants and excrete it as a sticky foam to protect themselves from temperature extremes, dessication and predators.
I’ve never seen a spittlebug but I haven’t looked closely. Fortunately Rod Innes’ 2011 video shows what these insects are up to. Way cool!
There are also some coming attractions outdoors.
Mulberries are bearing fruit in western Pennsylvania, attracting birds and smashing on the sidewalk. Read more about them in this vintage article: Mulberries Underfoot.
Schenley Park’s bottlebrush buckeyes are almost ready to bloom as shown below on 11 June. Stop by the park in early July to see the flowers in full glory at two locations: South side of Panther Hollow Lake (left side of lake as seen from Panther Hollow Bridge) and across West Circuit Road from the Westinghouse Fountain.
When bottlebrush buckeyes bloom they look like this.
(photos by Kate St. John)
The piece, Mulberries Underfoot, is blocked.. Thank you for your blog.
Suzanne, thanks for letting me know. I’ve fixed it.