Posted on July 26, 2023July 26, 202307/26/2023 Rudbeckia lacinata The yellow petals have really opened up! It’s such a big plant with such a regular sized flower haha. Abby gave me this plant and it seems happy with the wet spring we’ve had so far!
Posted on July 21, 2023July 21, 202307/20/2023 summer continues The sea oats that came up a few years ago from purchased seeds. They finally bloomed! There are three surprise amaryllis in the yard! They are all this shade of pink. Not native, but obviously tough, and not spreading so it can stay for now. The Texas mallows have begun to bloom! I love how bright they are in the shade. Rudbeckia lacinata from Abby is very happy this wet summer and has started to bloom. Helianthus petiolaris from seeds are starting to bloom! There is a crab spider hiding behind one petal that you can just see their legs.
Posted on June 11, 2023June 11, 202306/09/2023 a different Rudbeckia This one has some rusty color at the petal bases! Different individual plant— this one is over in what we are calling “Leon’s prairie” by his blackberry bushes.
Posted on June 5, 2023June 5, 202306/04/2023 horsemint!!! et al There are two horsemint plants blooming and budding their pink towers in the backyard! A lone Rudbeckia amplexicaulis is attempting a flower. Pima Club wheat has seeds!! One marigold has started in the front yard!
Posted on June 5, 2023June 5, 202306/05/2023 campus good stuff I was pleased to see the National Weather Center had some really happy Purple Coneflowers as well as yellow-petaled Rudbeckia in the background.
Posted on June 28, 2022June 29, 202206/28/2022 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.
Posted on June 12, 2022June 12, 202206/12/2022 yard Maybe Phacelia? I found at least four leaves full of my amazing tree hopper friends. Each leaf had a different set of adults or immatures. Adults get taken care of too. Babies!!! The leaf bends where the treehopper eggs were. Lace bug Frogfruit east of patio is doing well. Just moved a piece there this spring. Nice true bug Dog flower highly mobile. Monarda future flower bud?? Baptisia and okra Rudbeckia maxima from Abby has a new leaf. A planthopper (Flatidae) on curly dock. First time for this family in the yard?? I used to see them regularly at home. Rattlesnake master still lives. Passionvine (seeds from Bartlesville) doing well in their second year. Tiny bee on butterfly milkweed Hedeoma in with Datura.
Posted on June 12, 2022June 12, 202206/11/2022 The Chef made no bake lemon curd/ cheesecake layered parfaits with homemade whipped cream, farm share blueberries, and homemade granola for a garden tour. Prepared the night before in the fridge. Perfect for the tropically humid day. A wasp carrying a caterpillar Spittlebug Hello Tuqu This young man. Two Texas dandelions from home! White specks are elderberry petals. Bee fly Possibly a baby Grindelia leaf?? A second Coryphantha sulcata seedling came up!!!!! Lace bug (Tineidae) on giant ragweed leaf. Nobody home… …except for this crab spider! My keeled treehoppers have a big family!! Soooo manyyyyyy Shackleton and Briar disagree about social distancing. A nice jumping spider. It’s on a houseplant that is outside for the summer.
Posted on June 12, 2022June 12, 202206/12/2022 a walk in the park Just a bit of prairie here at Ruby Grant Park in NW Norman. Oh wait! A box turtle!! It is good pollinator habitat and good prairie too. I heard one Eastern Meadowlark singing and at least one Dickcissel. A weevil on green milkweed pods. A family of baby milkweed bugs on green milkweed pods. We looked but didn’t find any Monarch butterfly caterpillars. Sideoats grama grass. Abby has suggested this is bottlebrush squirrel tail grass. It has very exciting seedheads! Thanks to Mom and Abby for identifying this as Apocynum cannabinum, or dogbane. There was a lot of it along the trail and we saw the dogbane beetle that eats it too! Possibly prairie acacia? A non native lady beetle on the acacia. Really great stands of Rudbeckia amplexicaulis here!