Posted on

05/16/2023 promising candidates

This seedling is not something I recognize so I’m hoping it could be Bluehearts from Mom. I left other volunteer plants in as that species is hemiparasitic and does better with a host.
Possibly a silverleaf nightshade seedling!
Another possible silverleaf! Looks a lot like its congeneric cousin tomatoes’ babies.
Another baby Arkansas yucca!!! This one is in a bigger pot so hopefully we can keep it watered enough.
Two fern acacia seedlings from last fall came up!!
The winecups are really taking off!! Super pleased.
This adorable sweat bee is the first visitor I’ve seen so far to our Penstemon grandiflorus.
New mystery in the prairie!
Briar being innocent
Guard flamingo
One of our two plastic flamingos has been retired due to its new hobby of breeding mosquitoes. The remaining one has been reassigned to guard two Oklahoma penstemon that the dog keeps laying on.
Posted on

05/13/2023 what’s happening at Saxon Park

Maybe a Pediomelium sp blooming? There’s a lot right now! Very cute! Edit: Abby has kindly identified this as Psoralidium tenuiflorum.
Sensitive briars have adorable puffy pink flowers!
Baptisia australis blooming- few weeks ago it was all B. bracteata and this weekend we only saw the blue!
Only a quarter mile in and Briar demanded to lay on the wet earth in the shade.
A rough leaf dogwood starting to bloom.
Three views of a very pale showy evening primrose!
Ooh a dark center in a sun drop primrose—maybe that other less common species??
Nope it’s a flower beetle nestled deeply in the lemon yellow primrose flower!
The trail sides are covered with rabbits tobacco!
Another requested rest break by Briar dog.
Up the hill, Gaillardia suavis and Echinacea angustifolia (I assume) are blooming, starting to bloom, and finishing at various places!
We met a three-toed box turtle going on the path too. Briar has not met many turtles.
We saw a three toed box turtle! It was very intriguing but concerning to briar. She was cautious but also wagged.
Three views of the only wild Solomon’s seal patch I have seen. We saw them at this site last year.
Groundplum milkvetch (Astragalus crassicarpus) is has gone to seed. Some look a bit squished from the trail being mowed.

Posted on

05/10/2023 neighborhood athlete

This series of images shows a magnificent full sized Three-toed Box Turtle pull itself up over a concrete curb. I had no idea they could do this!! Turtle-conscious people have since informed me this is normal but I am still highly impressed. This was a few blocks from our house.
Posted on

05/01/2023 planting before rain and checking on growth

Holding a bit of Sherardia bluet by a possible globemallow for comparison.
A plantain blooming
Plantain with spike moss from Jeanne
Silphium radula from a kind plant friend!
Asclepias incarnata too!
Transplanting Asclepias viridiflora (we think) from pot into ground. Long root! It’s still alive almost a week later (05/06/2023).
Posted on

05/01/2023 planting before rain and checking on growth

Peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillos getting used to sun.
Holding a bit of Sherardia bluet by a possible globemallow for comparison.
A single stalk. Yucca or grass??
Mystery plant turned out to be non native cornflower.
Skink!!! We have at least four individuals around the yard.
A plantain blooming
Plantain with spike moss from Jeanne
Silphium radula from a kind plant friend!
Asclepias incarnata too!
Transplanting Asclepias viridiflora (we think) from pot into ground. Long root! It’s still alive almost a week later (05/06/2023).
Posted on

05/06/2023 lots growing and blooming

First tepary bean up along trellis!
Right in the middle of this picture is the brown coating of a green milkweed being pushed up as it takes root!
This is also probably a green milkweed, and it has two tiny adult leaves starting to push out between the seed leaves!
These seedlings are in the same pot so I think they are also green milkweeds.
Briar finds examination of seedlings boring but at least we are outside.
I’m not sure why but my hopeful globemallow suddenly died.
Here is a small seedling in the globemallow container. Maybe it is one? There are a lot of Euphorbias popping up too.
The prairie parsley is blooming! I saw a potter wasp on it but didn’t get a picture as I was distracted by a baby cottontail bunny running away!
I planted two species in this pot – small native Hypericum and an unknown pod with tiny seeds inside from a dappled light post oak/blackjack oak forest. Maybe agalinis? It bears watching.
The Venus looking-glass is blooming in the rock garden!
Another plant with narrower toothed leaves, milky sap, hairs on the veins, and square stems is growing with the Venus looking glass. Not sure what it will turn out to be! Edit 05/2023: another type of Venus looking glass!
Posted on

04/16/2023 hair on the oregano? Not today!

I brushed the dog. Usually I let it fly around but sometimes it accumulates on the herb garden and that is unappetizing.
I haven’t put suet out lately so I stuffed the easily catchable dog hair clumps into the suet feeder. Hopefully more chickadees and friends find this helpful!
Posted on

04/10/2023 gobble gobble

Two male and one female Wild Turkeys walked down the camp road! This is one of the males. We determined they are the paler southwestern form after looking in the Sibley bird guide.