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: Trees
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
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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
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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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Fall Medley #1
Posted in Art, Native Plants, Photography, Seasons
Tagged Art, Autumn, Color, Native Plants, nature, Photography, Plants, Trees
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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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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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A Lotta Damn Gall(s)
(NOTE: Full confession—I goofed! The following article is partially incorrect. The apple-like galls are NOT caused by one of the generations of a cynipid wasp, but rather by Polystepha pilulae, a midge, a mere dipteran, not a noble hymenopteran. … Continue reading
Posted in Insect pests, Insects, Landscaping, Native Plants
Tagged Climbing trees, Insects, Native Plants, Oak galls, Parasitic insects, Pest control, Pests, Pin Oaks, Trees, Wasps
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Courtship and Cookies: A Dubious Guide
There are cookies, and then then there are cookies. These were cookies. Handsome, dark, subtly sweet, not overpowering, but able to make you want another, and then maybe another after that. Bad for diets. Good for indulgence. So, of course, … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Native Plants, Recipes
Tagged Cakes, Cookies, Cooking, Food, Marriage, Missouri, Musings, Native edibles, Native Plants, Persimmons, Plants, Recipes, Trees
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