After kindly avoiding sitting on the Mexican sage while I weeded, Briar finally decided to sit on them. 🙄Earlier, Briar helped us look over the now conveniently low Maximilian sunflowers. We can see all the insects easily!
Probably Solidago rigidiuscula (thanks for ID, Mom!). This was an accidental but fortunate stowaway in the caliche from TX home!Heavy work, feeding the neighborhood. The maxes hadn’t fully dropped yet here like they did after the rain.
Today I walked outside for a break and saw a very boldly striped bee on the Maximilian sunflowers and thought to myself, “Self, that bee is different.” Turns out I was right! This beautiful lady is a Southern Plains Bumblebee! If I have counted and remembered correctly, this is our fifth bumblebee species for the yard.This species is an IUCN red list endangered species. It is not federally listed so it has no legal protection in the United States, but it is declining and of great conservation concern. Briar was observing our exciting new friend with great attention.
We got a very sudden storm, with over two inches of rain. We accidentally broke off a sunflower stem while putting the trash and recycling bins back behind them. The trimmed off flowers looked lovely with the dinner! Thanks Paula for trimming them to save them!Paula added the fun pumpkins from last week’s farm share after the Chef rearranged the flowers a bit.
Briar shows off some asters (maybe Symphyotrichum divaricatum) that have been mowed along the road as well as unmowed ones. They bloom beautifully either way!
Last weekend, we moved the Mexican Sage (Salvia leucantha) from Judy. It had been in the very dry side yard for about two summers and kept wilting. Here by the garage it will still get sun, but stays just a little less dry. This species is drought tolerant but not quite our-side-yard drought tolerant as the rosemary or Maximilian sunflowers or garlic chives.
The Salvia azurea from Missouri Wildflower Nursery had a second flush of blooms after the recent rain. The plant from TX did too. My young OK seed source plant is starting to bud but it’s still in a pot so not as big. Hopefully with three individuals now we’ll see some self-seeding!
Paula and The Chef collaborated on tonight’s dinner. Larb (or laab) is a meat salad. We used the lettuce leaves as little scoops/wraps and put rice with each scoop. Very tasty. From the garden, the larb contained Chimayó peppers and mint. It was delicious.