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
Tag Archives: Butterflies
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
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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
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
A Miracle of Monarchs
We have seen very few Monarch butterflies in our backyard for the last two years, but that doesn’t mean they are not there. Caterpillars are showing up on our milkweeds, so it seems that they must be making whoopee somewhere, … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Native Plants, Photography, Seasons, Uncategorized, Wildlife
Tagged Butterflies, Insects, Milkweeds, Monarch Butterflles, Native Plants, Photography, Plants, Reproduction
2 Comments
A Swallowtail Odyssey: Life among the Spicebushes
It’s Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) time in our backyard, which is good for us curious yard-watchers, but a bit hard on our spicebushes (Lindera benzoin). We’re watching the little ones grow up and they do it fast! Now, I am … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Photography
Tagged Butterflies, Gardening, Insects, Missouri, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Spicebush swallowtail
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Hitting the Trifecta
It’s not often—or ever before, to be honest—that I’ve had the chance to photograph several stages in an insect’s life journey in just a week or so, but I think I nailed it recently. We’ve got some wild senna growing … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Insects, Native Plants, Photography
Tagged Butterflies, Insects, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Reproduction, Wildflowers, Wildlife
4 Comments
There Be Giants Here!
Found this in our backyard today, so new that it’s wings weren’t even fully expanded. A big surprise, considering the dearth of butterflies this season, at least here. We’ve never seen this one before, but I think we’ve seen its … Continue reading
Posted in Insects, Wildlife
Tagged Butterflies, Giant Swallowtail, Insects, Missouri, nature, Zebra Swallowtails
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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
2 Comments
And now a word from our sponsor…..
In an act of shameless self-promotion (while I’m getting my next REAL post ready), I would like to present my Etsy photography store, right here. FYI, if anyone sees an image they would like a print of on this blog, … Continue reading
Posted in Photography
Tagged Art, Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Landscapes, Missouri, Natural areas, Photography, Plants, sand prairies
2 Comments