Nadia’s Backyard- Two-Marked Treehoppers: It’s Complex December 21, 2023
- Birds of a Feather? October 3, 2023
- The Promise of Disorder in a Winter Yard February 11, 2022
- Rerun: Men of Rice December 7, 2016
- Where the Words Live November 30, 2016
- Going Native October 16, 2016
- Backyard Gooseberries are Saucy Little Things June 17, 2015
- Spring Rerun: Kimchi from your backyard to you April 27, 2015
- A Seagull Named Emma January 27, 2015
- The Long Travelers: Leaf-cutter Bees, Part II September 29, 2014
Author Archives: Randy Tindall
Cutting-up in Columbia: Leaf-cutter Bees in the Yard
One of the joys of yard-watching in our urban wilderness is that you never know what you might find and where curiosity might take you. One fine summer day as I patrolled our domain, camera in hand, I came across … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Musings, Photography, Wildlife
Tagged Bees, Hymenoptera, Insects, Leaf-cutter Bees, Megachile brevis, Missouri, Musings, Photography, Pollinators, Reproduction
6 Comments
Death on a Milkweed
Walking out of our yard today to walk Bonita the Beagle, I glanced quickly over a few young milkweeds growing on our curb next to the street. Something under one of the leaves caught my eye. This, to be exact: … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Photography
Tagged Beetles, Bugs, Butterflies, Caterpillars, Insect predation, Insects, Milkweeds, Monarch Butterfly, Podisus, Soldier Bug
11 Comments
The Forest Unseen: A Book Review
Where backyards are concerned, size really doesn’t matter. Even a square meter can yield a world of insight. David Haskell’s wonderful award-winning book, The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature (Penguin Books, 2012), begins its preface with a … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Musings, Natural Areas, Seasons, Society, Wildlife
Tagged Books, Forest Unseen, Insects, Musings, Natural areas, nature, Plants, Reviews
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Columbine Time (Aquilegia canadensis)
When the spring columbines began popping up and blossoming in our backyard, we know it’s time to keep our eyes open for the arrival of the hummingbirds. Sure enough, after several days of gorgeous blooms, we have now spotted at … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Landscaping, Native Plants, Photography, Seasons
Tagged Aquilegia canadensis, Columbines, Gardening, Hummingbirds, Native Plants, Photography, Pollinators, Spring, Wildflowers
4 Comments
Butterflies and Beer: Get Ready for Spicebush Season
Spicebush is leafing out! Normally it would be blooming by now, like this: But it seems that the hard winter and long spring have slowed it down like everything else, since ours aren’t blooming just yet. At any rate, you … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Gardening, Landscaping, Native Plants, Seasons
Tagged Butterflies, Cooking, Food, Gardening, Insects, Lindera benzoin, Native edibles, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Spicebush, Spring
2 Comments
The Ballad of Quercus flatus: A Tale of Spring
The sap is rising in our backyard. Spring has finally sprung (we think), after a couple of false alarms, and signs of life abound. Our redbud is budding red, our wahoo is leafing out and preparing to flower (Wahooooooo!!), our … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Musings, Natural Areas, Photography, Seasons, Uncategorized
Tagged Insects, Landscapes, Natural areas, nature, Photography, Spring, Trees
2 Comments
Backyard Food of the Gods
Still catching up on backyard native plants articles, and the latest is this unseasonal look at the American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), whose Latin name is often said to mean “Food of the Gods”. Some disagree: “…Linnaeus called the persimmon tree … Continue reading
Posted in Cookies, Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Fruit, Gardening, Recipes
Tagged Autumn, Butterflies, Cooking, Food, Gardening, Insects, Missouri, Native edibles, Native Plants, Photography, Recipes, Trees
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Pawpaws, Mastodons and Zebras
Snowed in today and dreaming of warmer times. A good time, it seems to me, to play more catch-up on the backlog of articles on the native plants we have in our yard. This time it’s Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)! What … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Fruit, Gardening, Landscaping, Photography, Recipes
Tagged Art, Butterflies, Cooking, Evolution, Food, Gardening, Insects, Missouri, Native edibles, Native Plants, Photography, Plants, Recipes, Trees, Zebra Swallowtails
2 Comments
Beyond the Fence
Our backyard is inexhaustible. No, I don’t mean that it never gets tired, although that may be true, but that it is so much more than a plot of land enclosed by a battered fence out behind our house, as … Continue reading
Posted in Musings, Photography
Tagged Fungi, human biota, Insects, microorganisms, Musings, Mycorrhizae, nature, Photography, Pin Oaks, Plant communication
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