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
Category Archives: Wildlife
No Free Lunch: Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Have you got milkweeds around? If not, why not? Have you ever noticed how many insects they attract? Finally, have you ever noticed some of these insects dangling lifelessly from the milkweed’s flowers? Ever wonder why? (I hadn’t, until recently….) … Continue reading
Posted in Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Gardening, Insects, Landscaping, Native Plants
Tagged Asclepias, Butterflies, Food, Gardening, Insects, Milkweeds, Missouri, Native edibles, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Plants, Pollinators, Pollinia, Reproduction, Wildflowers, Zebra Swallowtails
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A Bounty of Broom Moths
Have your Baptisia been looking a little ragged lately? Check for these little guys. We are certainly having an outbreak in our yard, maybe due to the weirdness of the spring this year (?). I expect the Indigos will survive, … Continue reading
Posted in Insect pests, Insects, Landscaping, Native Plants
Tagged Baptisia, Gardening, Insects, Missouri, Moths, Native Plants, nature, Pests
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Ants in Your Plants? The Magic of Myrmecochory.
Let us again consider the Bloodroot, one of spring’s most lovely and ephemeral visitors. Having emerged in March, the little herd in our yard is just now finishing with its crop of seeds, and here they are. Almost, but not … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Insects, Native Plants, Seasons
Tagged Ants, Bloodroots, Insects, Missouri, Mutualism, Myrmecochory, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Plants, Reproduction, Sanguinaria canadensis, Seeds, Wildflowers
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The Upper Left-Hand Brick
NOTE: This posting has an error. The apple-like oak leaf gall is caused by a midge, not a wasp. The leaf gall of the wasp is an elongated gall along the veins of the leaf. I will update the … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Landscaping, Musings, Native Plants
Tagged Cicadas, Galls, Insects, Missouri, Musings, nature, Pin Oaks, Reproduction, Trees, Wasps, Writing
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You can’t keep a good Goddess down
Despite yesterday’s snow and the 15-degree reading on our outside thermometer this morning, our Sky Blue Aster still held onto a few bedraggled blossoms. I mean, you really have to admire the persistence of this late-season bloomer! It’s over for … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Insects, Landscaping, Native Plants, Seasons
Tagged Asters, Butterflies, Gardening, Insects, Native Plants, nature, Plants, Pollinators
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Halloween Party!
We’ve had a couple light freezes already, but that didn’t stop the Halloween festivities in our yard, as some sturdy late bloomers attracted a few trick-or-treaters. This is just a sample of what we saw. Soon to come is a … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Native Plants, Seasons
Tagged Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Pollinators, Wildlife
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Image Galleries—Finally
I’m finally getting around to putting some images up! You can view them under “Image Gallery” and switch between the different topics at the lower left of the gallery screen, where it says All Categories. More images will be added … Continue reading
Posted in Native Plants, Natural Areas, Photography, Spiders, Wildlife
Tagged 13-year cicadas, Butterflies, Cicadas, conservation areas, deserts, Missouri, Native Plants, Natural areas, nature, Photography, Plants, sand prairies, Trees
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Late Boneset
We just added a new page under Our Native Plants for the under-appreciated Late Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum). A humble, but worthy addition to anybody’s backyard, which literally buzzes with activity!
Posted in Gardening, Insects, Landscaping, Native Plants
Tagged Butterflies, Gardening, Insects, Landscaping, Native Plants, nature, Plants, Pollinators, Wildflowers
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The Hoarder on the Deck: Our Trashline Orb-weaver
I don’t think we’ve reached the point where intervention is called for, but we have a hoarder in our backyard. Not the kind that buys twenty tubes of toothpaste when it goes on sale, but more like the type that … Continue reading
Posted in Spiders, Wildlife
Tagged Backyard, Cyclosa, Missouri, nature, Orb Weaver, Spiders, Trashline Spider, Wildlife
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Through the Keyhole
It takes patience to walk a beagle. It is not an exercise for the terminally rushed, nor is it for those who want to cover a lot of ground and work up a sweat. Beagles have other agendas. It doesn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Musings, Pets
Tagged Beagles, Butterflies, Communication, Dogs, Insects, Musings, nature, Perception, Pets
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