Natural Rock Garden

Today's post photos were taken five days ago during the December warm spell.  Seasonably colder weather with snow in the air has returned and we are staying inside.  The first picture shows the oldest stone wall on the original farm.  A river bottom field that gave up these stones lies just beyond a sad excuse for a hedgerow.  A spot of red color marks the location of the present barn.  A missile shaped white blot nearby is the single remaining capped silo. The long strip of bottom land alongside of the barn is not anywhere edged with stone.  Pioneer farmers may have dumped stone from those fields over the river bank where flood waters moved them out of sight down river.

Round puddles of blueish white primitive plant growth sets this stone apart from its neighbors.  If this type of growth has been seen here before, it escapes my memory.  What I had for breakfast also escapes my memory so this plant may be as common as dirt.  In any event, the appearance of this stone placed it in this post.

Hard lichens and darker green mosses are commonly seen here on stone lying near the ground under tree cover.  Stone, moisture and shade provide favorable growing conditions for these simple plants.  The bare areas on the top surface of the stone are puzzles.  Why are no plants growing in those spots?

 

Ocean water swirling over a coral reef is suggested by these round balls of moss.  Somehow this growth just seems out of place here.  Actually, it would be out of place any where else.  Carefully placing stones sporting similar growth near the base of a new wall has always ended the moss.  Perhaps they just shrink when exposed to sunlight.

This stone is supporting plant growth that is nothing like the others.  Stems and leaves point to a more complex higher plant.  Perhaps these plants are growing in trapped soil on the stone surface that was earlier created by eons of lichens that had called this spot home.  What better way to begin  2015 here at the Stone Wall Garden than with plants that actually grow on stones?  We are still fascinated by their beauty.