Collinsonia canadensis and Campanulastrum americanum. This post was edited by carol23 on Sun, Sep 22, 13 at 21:55

Good luck with your determinations folks on the Ithomiinae family from these low resolution pictures. I probably have more experience with this family than all the folks who run this forum regularly combined, and I wouldn't attempt a determination without the bug in hand. There are about 300-400 Neotropical sp/ssp in 3-4 dozen genera of this family, with many dozens that are so close (not even taking into account for species variation) that even the experts in this family often can only give their best guess WITH the bug in hand. So I won't support any of the guesses. BTW bandjzmom, pellucida is a subspecies of Ithomia agnosia unless it has been reassigned to species level since my work with this group years ago. The Sister is an Adelpha cytherea ssp IMO. Fun to have you here Siam as the tropical species were never brought up much until you started posting your pictures. Gives me an excuse to dig into the Neotropical drawers of my synoptic collection. Larry

Not adapted to conditions on this side of the mountains. There was a garden form with yellow flowers being sold locally awhile back but it seems to have come and gone quickly. Possibly it was more tractable than usual. New introductions coming from one or a few suppliers may be dropped quickly for reasons other than the plant being hard to grow - I found the new cherry red tulip with the blue interior markings to be quite good yet despite special promotion with posters etc. by the introducer and supplier it too seems to have disappeared after only a few years. I've forgotten the cultivar name and when I have asked about it at local outlets (still buying from the same company) have gotten blank looks. It had a forgettable cultivar name like 'Spring Beauty' but you'd think considering the promotion it got and its unusual characteristics that it would have made more of an impression on someone working with it only a year or to beforehand.

Beng: Right, Rothkugel is the earliest forest planting. And, it was a planting that mixed the spruce with European larch, and black locust. As a result, the trees are in places scattered or in small groups. but, they are in a forest, and are the oldest such trees. Yes, NS were planted here way back in colonial times, but few of these trees survive, or can be documented to be from that period without core samples being taken. The oldest one--I think--that I knew of near here was at the old house at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA. But, when they did a renovation/restoration of the house, they took no care to protect the grand old tree, so it's now gone. Of course, its planting may not have been at the time of the building of the house, but If I were to take a guess, I would say that tree dated back to at least the 1880's. I consider its loss to be a great shame, and am astonished that care was not taken to protect it, and its root system, during the work. The view of it from one of the upper rooms was wonderful! The first "extensive" planting of Norway spruce in this country happened as a result of the Colombian Exposition of 1893. What I know about this is sketchy, and I am not sure how to get verification, but here goes anyway: the story I heard is that at the German Pavilion, they handed out little seedlings to anyone that wanted them, and that they also told about the tradition in Germany of a young married couple planning "bride and groom" trees in front of their house--a pair. You can still see this in front of many old homes, although they are gradually disappearing, with one or more dying, or the houses being removed, or renovated, with no protection given to the trees. Many of these pairs of trees are quite old, and could date from that year. When I travelled in England a number of years ago, I saw extensive forest plantings of Sitka spruce. I don't think they are hardy here. They planted one at the VA Arboretum, but it didn't survive. I have spent a number of years on the West coast, and explored the forests of the Pacific NW, and saw some of the giant Sitka spruce trees, some 300 feet tall, and up to, and maybe over, 17 feet in base diameter. --Spruceman