bees in the bay breeze

This is always the best part of growing sunflowers, especially native sunflowers. A visit from a monarch butterfly! As I mentioned in a post a few days ago, the California Delta sunflowers I planted as seedlings didn't grow very tall. But although they are only a few feet tall, they are doing well, producing beautiful flowers. So far I've seen bees on the flowers (photos in an upcoming post), and now this lovely female monarch. She visited this particular sunflower many times

The California Delta sunflowers are now in bloom. Every year I plant seedlings that I buy from Annies Annuals https://www.anniesannuals.com/ because whenever I've tried to grow sunflowers from seed, birds and cutworms eat the sprouts. This year I planted five of these in our native patch area. Being optimistic, we put five feet tall bamboo stakes next to each seedling in hopes that the sunflowers grow at least that high, as they did the first year we planted them in this ya

The Migrating Mural is a series of murals that highlight animals that migrate along corridors they share with humans within the North American continent. Ink Dwell studio, founded by science illustrator Jane Kim, started the mural project in 2012, to celebrate and bring awareness to migrating animals. Here is a clip published in June 2020, featuring Jane Kim and other members of Ink Dwell studio working on the huge walls of a building in downtown San Franciso, working on a mu

Leafcutting Bee female with the piece it cut from a leaf, resting on a yew hedge From the corner of my eye, I caught some movement in the native patch, something flying with a bright green object. And there it was, a female Leafcutting Bee Megachile perihirta, carrying a piece that it had cut out of a leaf for its nest. These fascinating bees create brood cells that are usually cup-shaped, formed with neatly cut leaf or petal pieces. I've never seen a Leafcutting Bee with su

This is a first for us. A Satyr Anglewing Polygonia satyrus visited our backyard. I had never seen one before, let alone in our own backyard! I happened to look out our back window while chatting on the phone, and noticed a bright orange butterfly fluttering, then landing on a frond of tree fern right in front of the window. At first I thought it was a monarch or Gulf fritillary, but then I saw the interesting wings and markings. Of course, I had to immediately excuse myself

Yellow-faced bumble bee flying around Ella Nelson's Yellow Nude buckwheat With our ongoing drought conditions, I've come to the realization that native buckwheat is almost the best plant to guarantee a lot of nourishment for the pollinators. As I mentioned in previous posts, we have hardpan clay soil in our yard. The soil is like cement in the summer, so whatever is planted in it won't have great drainage. Because I'm trying to mainly keep the garden as close to its natural s

We have a tall pokeweed growing next to our native garden. It planted itself there, probably seeds deposited by a bird, a couple of years ago. Since pokeweed isn't a native plant, I considered pulling it out. Pokeweed is said to need shade and moist soil, but is thriving in our hard pan clay soil. A feisty specimen! After observing Northern mockingbirds and Western scrub jays visiting the plant daily for berries, I decided to leave the plant alone. With drought affecting thei

Here is your chance to be a citizen scientist and gather data to help the scientific community conserve the monarch butterfly along its migratory route! http://www.cec.org/media/media-releases/celebrate-the-5th-international-monarch-monitoring-blitz-by-participating-all-across-north-america/?fbclid=IwAR3UQ9CN4C7dezi_rWwPp8tqerjrW3K_BFdjTVIytvKPDp5EiUYHkId-2do

Skippers and other little native butterflies like to lay their eggs on our Seacliff Eriogonum parvifolium and Ella Nelson's Yellow Eriogonum nudum ‘Ella Nelson’s Yellow’ buckwheat plants. Here, a Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus is laying eggs on a flowerhead of the Seacliff buckwheat. This buckwheat plant is a very lovely shrub that grows in a mound, blooms throughout the year, and so far has spread to more than 3 feet across. Fortunately, it is thriving in our hard pan clay