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June 22, 2025

Talbot Spy

Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community

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Adkins Arboretum’s Mystery Monday: Guess the photo

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Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in the photo below:
The answer to last week’s mystery is mayapple or wild mandrake, Podophyllum peltatum, pictured in the photo below:
Mayapples first emerge in April. They frequent mesic to dry-mesic upland forests, well-drained floodplain forests, and various moist, disturbed habitats. Mayapples populate much of Adkins’ Blockston Branch Walk.
As mayapple leaves first emerge in Spring, the leaf blades initially droop downward, then later open flat (like an umbrella) to catch some rays as the tree canopy closes in and blocks much of the sunlight.
Mayapples colonize by rhizomes, forming dense mats. Each year, the rhizome elongates about 6-20 cm in length, terminating in a bud for the subsequent year’s leafy stem. One or more buds form for continuation and branching of the rhizome. Over time rhizome branching results in the formation of large reaching colonies.
Mayapples are unique in that they only have two leaves and a single flower. Nonflowering mayapple stems bear a single leaf. These are young, immature sprouts whereas flowering stems produce a pair of leaves, between which is a single flower. The flowers are capable of self- or cross-pollination.
Be aware, aside from the ripe fruits, all parts of the mayapple are toxic.
Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Adkins Arboretum’s Mystery Monday: Guess the photo

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Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in the photo below?
The answer to last week’s mystery is red maple flowers, Acer rubrum, pictured in the photo below:
The red maple flowers shown here are female. They are dark, deep red with sticky, fuzzy stigmas that extend past the petals and catch pollen floating by. Clusters of red maple flowers are especially striking against a clear, blue Winter sky.
Maple tree flowers are primarily wind-pollinated. As the flowers fade, the fruit – which is often showier than the flowers – appears. The fruit, botanically classified as a schizocarp, is split into two-winged structures called samaras. The samaras dangle on the ends of branches by thin pedicels, or stalks. They remain on the tree for about a month after the Spring foliage emerges and until the wind disperses them.
Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Adkins Arboretum Mystery Monday: Guess the photo

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Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured below:

The answer to last week’s mystery is American sycamore seeds, Platanus occidentalis, pictured below:

 

American sycamore is native to the eastern United States and is the largest deciduous tree in North America. Found most commonly in bottomland or floodplain areas, sycamores thrive in wet environments near rivers, streams, or abundant groundwater.

Sycamore trees are monoecious. They have both male and female flowers on the same tree. This tree reaches reproductive maturity rather young, and flowers profusely, producing numerous light, aerodynamic fruit. The fruit are round balls, around 1″ in diameter, and hang on slender stems.

The seed head persists through Winter, and doesn’t drop the hairy-tufted seeds until January–April. The brush-like structure of the seeds helps them catch the wind and potentially travel long distances.

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Adkins Arboretum Mystery Monday: Guess the photo!

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Happy Mystery Monday!  Can you guess what is pictured in the photo below:
The answer to last week’s mystery is the northern crane-fly orchid, Tipularia discolor, pictured below:

The crane-fly orchid is one of the most common orchids in North America. Spring is when the plant’s green leaves begin to emerge. They appear as a single leaf, often with raised purple spots and a fully purple underside. The leaves disappear in late Spring–early Summer, before the orchid blooms. The flowering stem is leafless and reaches 15–20″ tall.

In late Fall to early Winter, each crane-fly orchid plant will produce a single green leaf. The leaf is called a hibernal leaf because it is present only during the Winter when many other plants are dormant

The orchid’s dull yellow–purplish brown flowers bloom on a reddish-brown stem in Summer. In the Fall, oval-shaped pods containing seeds form up and down the dried stem. Each pod is the size of a pinto bean and houses thousands of dust-like seeds that scatter in the wind across the surrounding leaf litter.

Crane-fly orchids do not transplant well, so it’s best to enjoy them in their natural woodland setting.

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Adkins Arboretum Mystery Monday: Guess the photo

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Happy Mystery Monday!  Can you guess what is pictured below?
The answer to last week’s mystery is the northern red oak, Quercus rubra, pictured in photo below:
The northern red oak is a deciduous tree native to the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada.
It is versatile and hardy in urban settings, and tolerates pollution and compacted soil, making it an ideal neighborhood or street tree.
The northern red oak grows moderately quickly, sometimes maintaining a rate of 2′ per year, especially when it’s young. It commonly attains heights of 70-80′.
This oak displays beauty in all seasons, as many of its leaves stay after they have fallen from other trees. The leaves emerge pinkish-red in the Spring, turning lustrous dark green in Summer, and changing to red, orange-red, and deep reddish-brown in Autumn.
The northern red oak produces acorns that serve as a vital food source for wildlife, including squirrels, deer, and birds.
Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Adkins Arboretum Mystery Monday: Guess the photo!

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Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured below?

 

The answer to last week’s mystery is the tulip poplar, Liriodendron tulipfera, pictured below:

 

The tulip poplar is a large, native, deciduous tree that can grow 90–120′ tall. Its attractive tulip-like flowers give the tulip poplar its common name. Although not a member of the poplar genus, its characteristics are similar to poplar. It is actually a member of the magnolia family.

In the winter cone-like seed clusters sit upright on the branches. The seeds are called samaras, or helicopters. The individual, winged samaras can be scattered by the wind to distances equal to four or five times the height of a tree. Tulip poplar is a prolific seeder. A seed fall of 300,000 to 600,000/acre is not uncommon. Tulip poplar seeds retain their viability on the forest floor from 4–7 years.

Tulip poplars are a favorite nesting tree for birds, and they are an attractive species to butterflies and hummingbirds.

The tulip poplar leaf is the logo for Adkins Arboretum.

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

2025 Juried Art Show at Adkins Arboretum—Discovering the Native Landscapes of Maryland’s Eastern Shore on View through April 25

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“Scorpio Full Moon” by Centreville photographer Emily Zoe received the First Prize Leon Andrus Award in Adkins Arboretum’s 25th annual Juried Art Show. The show, titled Discovering the Native Landscapes of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, is on view through April 25.

There are many voices and many stories in Discovering the Native Landscapes of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Adkins Arboretum’s 25th annual Juried Art Show. From serene waterscapes and fiery sunsets to works that touch on environmental issues and the legacy of slavery, they form a fascinating portrait of the Eastern Shore. On view through April 25 at the Visitor’s Center, the show was juried by Jason Patterson, who will speak about his choices at a reception on Saturday, March 29 from 2 to 4 p.m.
An accomplished portrait artist and woodworker whose work focuses on African American history, especially here on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Patterson serves as Washington College’s Arts & Exhibition Fellow at the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. From the 174 entries that were submitted from artists in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and Washington, DC, he chose 19 works, including paintings, photographs, collages, textiles and sculpture.
“Basically, what I was going for was artwork that felt like the Eastern Shore,” Patterson explained. “I’ve been here for about seven years, and I feel like I’ve gotten to understand the uniqueness of this part of the state in a lot of ways.”
Patterson chose Centreville photographer Emily Zoe’s “Scorpio Full Moon” to receive the First Prize Leon Andrus Award. Photographed with traditional 35 mm film in subtle shades of slate blue and deep gray, it captures the sensation of coming around a curve of a dark country road to see the moon shining above a distant farm.
“It’s done in such a nondramatic way, it really gives you the feeling of driving on the roads out here,” Patterson said, “and I think it’s a lot harder to do that than it is to do something that’s dramatic and vibrant.”
Second Prize went to Annapolis artist Sally Comport’s “Harriet Tubman: Survival,” a collage painting made with acrylic paint, colored pencil and digital media showing Tubman in a corn field. An illustrator as well as a fine artist, Comport skillfully captured the isolated privacy offered by the tall cornstalks and the warm golden light falling across Tubman’s pensive face as she holds out an ear of corn as if offering a gift.
“When I moved out here from central Illinois, I knew Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were from Maryland, but I didn’t know they were specifically from the Eastern Shore and what that meant,” Patterson commented. “This composition is wonderful and has art history references in it. It’s obviously an imagined version of her, and its composition really reminds me a lot of Renaissance or Baroque paintings.”
Patterson also awarded five Honorable Mentions. They include three paintings—“Night Stream,” a strange, dreamy waterscape by Jono Tew of Chestertown, “Five Friends,” a genial group of Assateague ponies  by Annapolis artist Lynn Yockelson and “Fall Cove #2,” with its inviting indigo shadows and orange light by David Leonard of Trappe. The other awards went to two very different photographs. Poking fun at the mundane nature of so much of our environment, “Electromagnetic Interference” by Joseph Minarick of Easton is an expertly simple shot of powerlines running across the blue sky above a farm field, while “Lonely Island” by Denton photographer Mickey Pullen is a hallucinatory image of a brilliantly lit island hovering in the darkness just before dawn.
Rather than choose art that celebrates only the beauty of the Eastern Shore, Patterson has brought together a wide range of works that speak of this familiar place in many different ways. Whether it’s a lone waterman in a small yellow boat, a lighthouse collaged from fabric, shells and beads, or a group of leather fish (one of them stuffed with plastic detritus that might be found on a beach), all of these artworks trigger very personal feelings and emotions about the Eastern Shore.
This show is part of Adkins Arboretum’s ongoing exhibition series of work on natural themes by regional artists. It is on view through April 25 at the Arboretum Visitor’s Center located at 12610 Eveland Road near Tuckahoe State Park in Ridgely. Contact the Arboretum at 410-634-2847, ext. 100 or [email protected] for gallery hours.
For gallery hours or more information, contact Adkins Arboretum at 410-634-2847, ext. 100, or visit adkinsarboretum.org.
A 400-acre native garden and preserve, Adkins Arboretum provides exceptional experiences in nature to promote environmental stewardship.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Adkins Arboretum announces 30th Annual Spring Native Plant Sale

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Prepare for spring in the garden! Adkins Arboretum, offering the Chesapeake gardener the best selection of landscape-ready native plants, announces its 30th Annual Spring Native Plant Sale. All proceeds benefit the Arboretum’s rich variety of education programs that teach about the Delmarva’s native plants and their connection to a healthy Chesapeake Bay.

To ensure the best quality plants, sales will be conducted entirely online. Orders will be accepted through Thurs., March 27 at adkinsarboretum.org and will be fulfilled via timed, scheduled pickup in late April and early May.

New this year, there are two pickup locations to choose from: Adkins Arboretum and Delmarva Native Plants in Georgetown, Delaware. This partnership allows those in Delaware or east of the Arboretum to pick up their plants at Delmarva Native Plants’ future retail location. Upon completing your online order, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to schedule your pickup date, time and location.

Plants for sale include a large variety of native perennials, ferns, vines, grasses and flowering trees and shrubs for spring planting. Native flowers and trees provide food and habitat for wildlife and make colorful additions to home landscapes, whether in a perennial border, a woodland garden or a restoration project. Native honeysuckle entices hummingbirds, while tall spikes of purplish flowers grace blue wild indigo. Milkweed provides critical energy for monarch butterflies on their winter migration to Mexico, and native azaleas present a veritable rainbow of colorful blooms.

For information about special orders, special pickups, help with plant choices for restoration projects or pricing for nonprofits or commercial contracts, contact Leslie Cario at nativeplants@adkinsarboretum.org.

As always, Arboretum members receive a generous discount on plants that varies according to membership level. To join, renew your membership or give an Arboretum membership as a gift, visit adkinsarboretum.org or contact Kellen McCluskey at [email protected].

For more information on plants, purchasing or pickup procedures, visit adkinsarboretum.org, send email to nativeplants@adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Adkins Arboretum Mystery Monday: Guess the photo!

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Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in photo below?

The answer to last week’s mystery is river birch, Betula nigra, pictured in photo below:

Native to the eastern United States, river birch is found in Maryland along stream banks and in moist locations. It’s a fast-growing, highly adaptable tree, especially in its tolerance to heat and flooding.

River birch is a pioneer species, meaning it rapidly colonizes exposed, bare stream banks and gravel bars, stabilizing the soil and developing a forest for other trees to succeed. It tolerates deer, drought, clay soil, wet soil, and is very resistant to air pollution.

River birch is the only Spring-fruiting birch tree species. Female river birch flowers develop in the Spring as shorter, upright catkins on spur-shoots develop into cone-like structures containing winged seeds. Male flowers develop in the Fall as drooping catkins at the tips of twigs.

Unlike most birches, the seeds of this species mature in late Spring to early Summer, and are distributed immediately. The seeds are winged and are distributed to some degree by wind, but also rely significantly on water for distribution.

River birch seeds are eaten by songbirds and mice, while the twigs are eaten by deer, and beavers use it to make their lodges. Birch bark is an incredibly versatile material. It has been used as a form of paper, as a building material, and even clothing. Break a twig during the growing season, and you’ll smell a sweet wintergreen odor. And yes, birch beer has been made from these trees!

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Adkins Arboretum Mystery Monday: Guess the picture

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Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured below?

 

The answer to last week’s mystery is partridge berry, Mitchella repens, pictured below:

Partridge berry is a delicate, creeping vine that does not climb. Instead, it forms a low mat of evergreen leaves. Indigenous to the woodlands of eastern North America, partridge berry looks very much like teaberry.

Partridge berry plants produce flowers with both male and female parts, but they are arranged in pairs, where each flower needs to be pollinated by the other to produce a berry. There are two types of partridge berry flowers, those with long stamens and short styles, and those with short stamens and long styles. However, only one type of flower can be found on any individual plant.

Pollination happens via insects. Each flower pair produces one red berry. There is a pair of shallow dimples toward the tip of each berry, an identifiable feature of the plant.

Partridge berry fruits are eaten by various birds, including ruffed grouse, northern bobwhite, sharp-tailed grouse, prairie chicken, wild turkey, and the now-extinct passenger pigeon. Mammals also enjoy the berry, including raccoon, red fox, eastern skunk, eastern chipmunk, white-footed mouse, and woodland deer mouse. The plant’s foliage is also eaten by deer.

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.