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05/20/2022

Beautiful plant.
Rocky mountain bee plant
Geometrid moth among the dayflower leaves.
The striped planthopper on the elderberry.
Very tiny bees on the widow sedum. One sitting, one blurring through in flight.
One Missouri fluttermill primrose among the strawberries!
During weedeater repair we found a DAMN EARWIG.
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Mesh weavers! And other friends

Onion flowers.
05/21/2022 a mesh weaver on an onion flower husk.
Sliiiiime mold!!!! Also from May 21.
A lightning bug spied on our dinner. (05/21/2022)
Mesh weavers on the sugar peas.
More mesh weavers!
Thanks to the diligence of the tiny mesh weaver spiders, here are 146 g of Thomas Laxton sugar peas. (05/20/2022)
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2022/05/21 a cool afternoon, good for last plantings before summer heat

Weird fungus in front strawberry bed where sweetgum roots are rotting.
Potatoes!
Some eggs on the house.
Dayflower. Someday I’ll figure out if it’s the native or non native species.
A mystery that came along from Texas.
It turns out these tiny things are seedheads, so I completely missed it blooming.
I looked at it in the microscope to confirm they are seeds. Abby suggested a Nutallanthus sp which looks right. I can’t believe I somehow missed the flowers! Maybe while I was at home in Texas in April?
A non native rye. It’s pulled now. Thanks Jeanne!
Mystery grass, up close of seedheads. Abby has identified as Vulpia sp, but that genus contains both native and non native species.
The same Vulpia sp, outside.
Guest cat Shackleton wanted and got a leash walk today.
He loves a good dust patch.
At the end of the water hose is a small Datura wrightii that I figured I should plant while we have our probably last spell of cool weather for the spring. I left its sibling in a pot until I find out if this spot has enough sun.
A baby Dalea purpurea (purple prairie clover) in the prickly pear planter! This was from a free seed packet from prairie moon. I didn’t use any inoculum.
Abby very kindly gave me one of her two seedlings from her Rudbeckia maxima! Really excited to watch this one grow!!
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05/18/2022

A male velvet ant foraging on the widow sedum!
Milkvine are sprouting everywhere. Hope it’s a good year for milkweed tussock moths!
Yarrow from home is blooming.
The striped planthoppers are still out on ironweed today.
Greeneyes leaves are fuzzy and my watering spillage shows it off.
Rudbeckia lacinata from Abby is getting tall!
Texas buckeye has added some leaves and seems to be food for someone.
Carolina buckthorn from plant sale doing fine.
Mexican buckeye from plant sale doing fine.
Texas mallows are coming back up! At least three in the shade of the big red oak.
Thistle from home. Mom did a lovely post on these fine flowers recently. They are homes and food for many friends.
Mystery grass that came with the thistle soil. Possibly Canada wild rye. I have been asked to get better photos. Jeanne has kindly identified it as an annual native barley.
The beautyberry has perked up.
False garlic is going to seed! I took one pod across the patio to the “prairie” area and left the other here east of the patio.
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05/16/2022 south of the river

An update from the Texas home garden this past week!

Pink brandywine tomato flowering in Mom and Dad’s container planter garden last week.
White currant tomato flower buds.
The red rubin basil has appreciated an increased watering regime.
First marigold bloom! The ones up here in Norman in my garden are just getting their first and second sets of true leaves.
Last Wednesday, note the size of mustard greens.
They sure grew over just a few days!
In fact, they grew enough that Mom harvested some.
Mom sauteed them in butter, oil, and white vinegar with salt, pepper, and a lemon juice top off at the end. Sources say it was good.
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05/13/2022 garden checkup

Sweet basil seedlings.
Butterfly milkweed is up in the backyard too but hasn’t flowered yet (same as front yard).
Yellow flax still blooming! It’s annual, so I hope the seeds like it enough here.
Whitlow-wort gone to seed. Another native annual from TX home.
False gaura that I planted from potted last night is doing well.
Texas verbena has bloomed! It’s a perennial.
The rattlebox had adorable seed pods as promised.
The Rocky mountain bee plant from the botany club plant sale is blooming! There were ants at the blooms.
The Phacelia is really fun.
The prairie bluet is flowering a bit. I’m worried since it’s early that this means it’s not happy. However, it’s a perennial, so hopefully it will do its thing now and be less worried next year.
The twice-moved yucca is making new little leaves!
This yucca is in the shade which I figure is probably okay at this age.  Many plants seem to like to have nurse plants.
The baby winecups are starting to get true leaves.
Second year for this mystery plant with no blooms.
It does have a square stem. Abby suggested Monarda, which I did seed here at one point, so fingers crossed!!
Slippery silk beans and several other varieties are up!!
The two leaf senna didn’t have a lot of roots when I planted it from a pot last night. So, I put two containers of water so it would gradually keep it damp for now so it can get established. It’s my only sprout from the seed and I love this plant! It’s a host for Cloudless Sulphur butterflies.
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05/12/2022 all the not dramatic regular stuff

Walking onions from garden, assorted farm share veggies, with glass noodles and chicken.
Pulled a lot more Maximilian sunflower this evening. I put it in a tub with some potting soil to keep until they can go to new homes.
I found a baby spittlebug on one sunflower stem! I took it over to the sunflowers we’re keeping so it can keep eating.
In the front yard, a few winecup seedlings are coming up in the ground cover orchard area.
More baby winecup!
I pulled up two more native black walnut seedlings and potted them.
Hopefully this one can make it with only half its remaining food. Anyways, this makes a total of four. I have found good homes for most or all of them now. Our lot is too small for another big tree.
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05/06/2022 emergency strawberry eating party

Fruit processing is a social endeavor among vaccinated friends.
The Chef’s magic strawberry sauce recipe… Strawberries and powdered sugar!
The angel food cake meringue.
Angel food cake must be cooled upside down for fluffiness.
Since they’re tiny angel food cakes I call them cherub cakes.
The Chef made everything look pretty.
Dog awaits her guests. She likes guests.
Paula had the excellent idea to use our garden cart stools as more seating. Farm to table eating!
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Strong plants and strong ants

Horsetail just shoves the hard soil out of the way!!
More Stark Surecrop Pie Cherries.
Soaker hose hard at work for the winecups and chamomile.
The hose has a leak so I put the leak over a pot of Maximilian sunflowers.
The Chef spotted ants carrying away this insect. Maybe a soldier fly??
He also spotted this milkweed bug. Hi milkweed bug! All three butterfly milkweeds in the front yard rainbow garden are up, plus the wild milkvines are pushing up everywhere too.