July 2025 Moment in Nature

A thriving plant, blooming its head(s) off, is this month's #momentinnature because it just makes me smile every time I see it! This is devil's walkingstick (Aralia spinosa).

This shows about 4 of the flowers

I wrote about this exact plant in 2014 when it bloomed for the first time. Shortly thereafter it broke in a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms have broken branches 1-2 more times since then, but each time the remaining branches got stronger and now I have 15-18 of these giant flowers.

The photo below more accurately reflects the pale cream color of the blooms. The tiny individual florets are opening and equally tiny insects are visiting it. It will eventually bring in even larger butterflies and in general be a joy to watch from the deck where I have a birds-eye view.

Aralia spinosa as viewed from the deck above it.

Not many people are willing to have this thorny plant in their landscape. Most often you see it on the side of road where it is free to be as thorny as it wants. But I enjoy having it and will definitely take a sprout of it whenever I move.

This photo from 2020 shows 3 butterflies enjoying it