Not a milkweedNot a milkweed?Maybe a milkweed Known milkweed (probably viridiflora)The skinny adult leaves of known milkweed. New book The Gardener’s Guide to Prairie Plants by Diboll and Cox mentions many milkweeds first adult leaves are skinny even if the eventual adult leaves are broad. Either that or I got the species wrong. One of two Blackfoot daisy survived earwigs and is now growing flower buds and a few new leaves!Perennial coreopsis begins!Briar was pretty miffed it rained HARD most of the day. So before our walk she curled up in disgust right on my big Liatris mucronata from home. Thanks. The Mexican Sage from Judy is up!A sedge?Partridge peaOldplainsmanMysteryCaliche planter babiesThe tomatoes have gotten a bit sunburnt from past rain with sunlight after, so this time I flicked water off and put them in a less intensely sunny spot. Trying to get them hardened off for planting. Like Briar, Shacks was disappointed by rain and not being out. Paula brought him some favorite juicy grass and he loved it.
The fall obedient plant has some tiny flowers.One partridge pea has pods! This is important because it’s an annual. I have 2-3 individuals that were blooming at one time so hopefully the seeds make.Did some tomato pruning and found a lot of tomatoes, one Madhu ras cantaloupe melon, and Paula got an okra.
The accidental shot of the week. I didn’t notice this bee kicking a wasp off its foot until I looked at the photo later!The bumblebee is feeding on Echinacea purpurea.Front of the bumblebee face is yellow.A zoomed in shot. The short overall hairs, all yellow on thorax and head, smoky dark wings, and minimal color on abdomen have led me to think it may be Bombus griseocollis, the brown-belted bumblebee. I have entered the sighting and photos on Bumble Bee Watch’s community science website where they can verify or correct this identification. This would be our fourth bumblebee species for the yard if I have identified it correctly. 🤞🤞I found a second partridge pea plant blooming in the “prairie”!An all orangish solider beetle on a Rudbeckia flower.Shackleton the cat enjoyed hiding in brown crinkly paper. He has such big eyes!Paula is experimenting with kombucha fermentation thanks to a culture from Abby. This is the first sample and contains a garden strawberry for added flavor. It was good!Briar helps us observe bees out front. I’ll do a separate post with evening bees if any pics turned out.A baby moon and stars watermelon!!A baby praying mantis on the mint!Paula and I weeded the orange and red section of the rainbow garden. It has a lot of invasive grass in it.
Partridge pea blooming.A big skipper caught my attention this morning.I think it may be a Confused Cloudywing or an Outis Skipper. The pale ish area below the antennal club is why I think maybe Outis Skipper, but I also get the impression that one is rarer, so I wonder if I’m missing something obvious that makes it a cloudywing. Both have been recorded in Cleveland county, Oklahoma though.Saw a two spotted bumblebee on mealy blue sage again!The juniperleaf cuttings have started to perk up and poke at the plastic wrap, so I am unsealing them a bit to see if they can handle less humidity yet.Silly sleep
Gram guards the rooting juniperleaf.There’s a new pollinator garden on campus!!Very pleased at least one of the partridge pea seeds I sprinkled last year made it up.Paper wasps made a nest on the debris of the invasive clematis.A small lynx spider eats a flyJust noticed that the long true bugs have little flat pom poms on their antennae.A second individual. I think you have to see them from the right angle to get a good view of the antennae spots.DogA helpful cat saw this wasp (maybe a spider wasp?) In the aloe and knocked the pot over.I took it outside and shooed the friend off. No dinner in the house for it. Only cat.I spotted a plume moth hiding on rain barrel stand.Potatoes in straw bale getting big. Hope roots are too.