05/27/2022 work picnic at Ruby Grant park

A beautiful little wasp on fleabane. I just ordered a field guide to social wasps of North America so I hope I can identify it soon!
Blister or soldier beetle on annual coreopsis (I think).
A tiny crab spider offering free hugs.
A little beetle. I have seen a lot of these in my backyard too.
Need to look this legume up.
Rudbeckia amplexicaulis!
Milkweed bug!
The green milkweed was everywhere in the park!! We saw an adult monarch butterfly too.
A legume.
Bumblebee!!
Flying view
I still need to look up the species.
More of this purple legume.
A blurry assassin bug on yarrow.
Another milkweed bug – maybe a different or smaller kind?
Legume. Edit: Mom suggests non-native Trifolium species, which looks about right. Thank you Mom!
The park’s picnic pavilion has lightning bug lights!!

It’s a great little prairie. I heard singing Dickcissel, Field Sparrow, and Painted Bunting, and an Eastern Meadowlark calling. Nice!!

Checking up on fall garden intervention

Faithful blog readers may recall a Garden Intervention last fall. Today we delivered a few more plants (coral honeysuckle and Mexican plum) and checked up on the previous plantings. Here’s one of the showy evening primrose!
Doesn’t have the red spots but I think this is the other showy evening primrose. It’s in the right spot.
Several patches of Maximilian sunflower are doing great.
An interesting mystery plant I haven’t seen in my yard. Please comment if you know what it might be!
Possibly a baby Rudbeckia from the seed mixes that the resident humans have tried?
We made a second visit later in the winter to plant more sunflowers, plus goldenrod and Englemann daisies from Abby. Here’s the goldenrod!
All the Englemann daisies we planted had leaves.
Thank goodness the Doggie is home again!!

Transplant successes from earlier

Rudbeckia lacinata from Abby.
Viola bicolor is an annual, but I moved some last year from the front yard (where I am gradually removing the lawn but I want to rescue the few native plants) to the backyard in hopes they’d seed. They did!

Assorted day off activities and observations

Several strawberry runners took root so I snipped the runners.
I set out a tray of dirt to try to capture more strawberry runners.
The Chef helped me cut down the yaupon holly that was planted in a bad spot. It kept hitting the garage roof and gutter. Nine of ten water barrels are now in place for use!
Dinner… I made it this time. It includes a few of the new tomatoes (as well as a store tomato) and fresh garden basil and oregano.
Got mail!!
Drying coriander (the cilantro seeds) for later harvest!
Tepary beans reaching up!
Wild poinsettia (A volunteer).
The prairie and its rain barrel.
Rudbeckia is looking great.
A true bug.
Standing cypress about to bloom!

Pleasant surprise

Mom gave me Rudbeckia amplexicaulis seeds last year and I hadn’t seen any seedling candidates, but apparently I missed some! Here are very small ones flowering!

How can things grow this much in a week?? Backyard edition

More wow!!!

Englemann Daisy blooming.
Bachelor’s buttons are not native but were in a mix I got and do get some nice little bees.
I believe this is greeneyes from seed from Mom.
Hedeoma seedling from seed from Paula in western Oklahoma. It’s in the cactus planter.  You can also see a baby moss rose and some widow sedum.
I think this is going to be an Echineacea, could be either the purple or pale one as I’ve planted seeds of both.
Rudbeckia (I think?) leaves are wonderfully soft.
Cilantro is blooming beautifully!  Future coriander.
One parsley is thinking about blooming.
Walking onions are so cool.
Gaillardia blooming!
Sooooo many evening primroses!  Last week only a few were open!
This mound of Oxalis was here when we moved in and it just gets showier all the time.