Tag: shrub

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01/31/2024 red seed processing

A single scarlet legume seed sits in a clear glass beaker of just-boiled water.
Paula picked up this coral-bean from the Texas coast somewhere. Nokes’ guide to native plant growing says hot water allowed to cool can break the thick seed coat. I also scratched at it somewhat ineffectually with a razor and barely made any noticeable damage to the hard shell.
Ten smooth seeds lay on a folded envelope along with scattered bits of twig and dried bright red-orange berry flesh.
The fruits of American Bittersweet have been sitting drying in this envelope for several months and slid right out of the dried fleshy bits. Nokes says they succumb easily to damping off, in addition to needing cold stratification, so we’ll just put them outside in a pot.
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Dixon Water Foundation morning

Bladderpod with small native bee
For someone who is probably growing this fellow’s relative, I sure have a hard time identifying cacti. I believe it’s Coryphantha sulcata based on having one central spine per areole. Here’s my baby.
Mom looks at photos she is taking.
Mom takes more photos.
It’s a magnificent creek!
Bubbles on moss.
Neat rocks the creek goes through.
A mournful thyris moth. We saw more in redbud flowers. I think it may have been getting water here, because if you zoom in you can see its proboscis out.
A cricket frog!
Another big view. You can see a redbud in the woods.
Englemann daisies growing above the creek! They’re much smaller than the ones in my garden. Presumably less water.
A white bush honeysuckle (a native one, Lonicera albiflora) branches over the creek.
This is probably a hawthorn shrub. Thanks to Abby for the suggestion that helped me look it up! There seem to be a lot of very similar species.
Here’s the probably-hawthorn trunk.
This seems familiar.
Ah ha!  A Missouri fluttermill primrose!  Note the red speckled and sort of square long flower bud.
An old seed pod at the base of the primrose plant. The leaves are much less red than the ones in my garden.
Ceanothus herbaceus, redroot or New Jersey tea.
Here are the leaves. I am growing its relative C. americanus (also called New Jersey tea) in my garden, from seeds bought from prairiemoon.com.
Blue flax!  It’s probably Linum pratense, which is an annual.  Apparently it does intergrade with the perennial Linum lewisii which is what I planted in my yard.
This flax hasn’t bloomed but you can see the leaves are very like the L. lewsii ones in my yard.
Another Englemann daisy demonstrates how adaptable this species is, growing up on the barrens away from the creek.
Just to the left, just below the middle of this picture is another fluttermill.
Cymopterus, a very early blooming wildflower, starts to go to seed.
I think this must be a much younger fluttermill Missouri primrose that has already bloomed.
This is prairie burnet.  I’d never noticed it before.  Thanks to Abby for the identification!
Yellow star grass (not actually a grass).
Another fluttermill primrose, this time in a big beautiful mound.
The face of abandonment.
Another dog who didn’t get to go.
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Yesterday’s stuff

The Chef got three jars of dehydrated onion stems/leaves from our harvest of granex bulb onions. The bulbs are still drying in the hall.
My hat is irresistible to Gram.
He tries to eat the string and tulle until I get fed up and put it up.
Fleabane in full bloom!
Photography is boring for dog.
Dill starting to bloom.
Elderberry is thriving.
Full view. It’s just one plant!
A tiny bee on Gaillardia pulchella.
A young (?) lynx spider eats a house fly while sitting on coreopsis.
Coneflowers are going strong.
I need to look up the name of this skipper, which is sitting on a dayflower leaf.