These are just a few things that I've "discovered" within a two block radius of my house over the past few days:

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find that the small tree across the street, currently shedding its bright yellow leaves, is a Ginko, but I was. In my defense, I've only had a digital camera for a number of months, and the main thing I've learned about photography is that looking through a lens changes the way one sees things. It causes you to pay more attention.

And this is one of the things that definitely caught my attention! From a distance, it looked like Christmas, if Christmas were indeed orange. I'm gonna go out on a limb and call this a staff vine, or bittersweet, even though the coloring and the shape of the capsules made me wonder if it might be some variety of spindle tree.
If it were up to me, it would be called Ladybug Vine.
This one, I was absolutely afraid to touch! That's a lesson learned from wanting to eat the berries from the privet growing next to the steps, at least until I found out what they were. Thanks to Wontar for clueing me into the fact that this is some variety of milkweed. I don't care if it's common or not, to me this will always be Alien Plant that Grows Hair and May Well Be Flesh-Eating.
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