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: Native Plants
The Return of the Stinker
Hard to believe but stuff’s coming up! Not just the ubiquitous daffodils that pop up just in time to tease us about a yet-distant spring, but other stuff. Like Wild Leeks. Yeah, smelly old Allium tricoccum. What is this plant … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Gardening, Native Plants, Recipes
Tagged Cooking, Food, Gardening, Missouri, Native edibles, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Recipes
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Winter Rations
I’ve often thought of our Sweet Gum tree as more of a Bitter-Sweet Gum tree, mainly when I rake up piles of the spiky little balls it sheds with great joy and abandon. I think I am not alone in … Continue reading
Posted in Native Plants, Seasons, Wildlife
Tagged Birds, Missouri, Native Plants, Photography, Plants, Trees, Winter
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Galls Galore
Besides having some spectacular fall colors this year, another thing our drought didn’t seem to hurt was the prevalence of oak leaf galls. I’m not sure why, but we seemed to have a bumper crop of them this year.
Posted in Insect pests, Insects, Native Plants
Tagged Autumn, Insects, Native Plants, nature, Pests, Photography, Plants, Wasps
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Fall Medley #1
Posted in Art, Native Plants, Photography, Seasons
Tagged Art, Autumn, Color, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Plants, Trees
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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
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Where have all the berries gone?
This is what the fruiting head of Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) often looks like after the berries have matured. What berries, you say? Ask the birds that ate them all, especially the robins that love to gorge on them and leave … Continue reading
Posted in Edible Native Plants, Gardening, Native Plants, Photography, Wildlife
Tagged Birds, Food for wildlife, Gardening, Native edibles, Native Plants, nature, Plants, Reproduction, Wildflowers
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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
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Scanning Nature 3: Purple Coneflower
Posted in Art, Native Plants, Photography
Tagged Art, Gardening, Native Plants, Photography, Wildflowers
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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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