First two California natives transplanted
Since there is some rain in the weather forecast, I figured it's a good time to start transplanting the California native seedlings I've had in pots for several months. These two Coyote Bush Baccharis pilularis plants are the largest of our seedlings, and have been thriving in a large plastic pot. Hopefully they don't get too shocked by the transplant. I plant these mostly because the flowers that bloom on these plants in late autumn provide food for monarchs. The soil in the
Leave the Stems for the Stem-Nesting Bees
Image: Living Prairie Museum Remember that bees hibernate in stems during the winter! More information here https://sites.tufts.edu/pollinators/2021/04/the-right-way-to-leave-stems-for-native-bees/?fbclid=IwAR07nWOTuRixskkDpP6SWTGczwpJguqWDwxXR3rOFFhXO1ODgZlTBpN8-L8
Watching the dragonflies circle the garden
We have been observing daily dragonflies flying through the garden throughout most of the daylight hours. When we first moved to this house a few months ago, I immediately noticed large dragonflies flying high in air, zooming through the backyard without stopping. A water source would attract them, but there is no stream or lake in the immediate vicinity. Now that we have settled in, and brought our eighty potted plants, the dragonflies don't just fly through, but circle the
Butterflies still visiting
The butterflies are still active in our garden, although many plants are going dormant. Every day I see all day skippers, Gulf fritillaries, Anise swallowtails, Cabbage whites, but not as many monarchs. Here is a Common Checkered Skipper on the buds of a fennel plant in our field. There are fewer monarchs flying around, and our native milkweed plants are going dormant. But now and then we observe monarchs sipping the nectar of an echinacea plant that we have growing in a pot.
Progress update on our field cleanup
Every day I work in the field and other areas of the yard. The field is quite dry with a lot of dried grass, and oodles of fennel plants. We've been digging out a lot of the fennel, mostly the dried up ones, using Kusakichi hand tools. We're leaving for now the dandelions and fennel growing along the fence until the butterflies are no longer active in the winter months. These Kusakichi handmade gardening tools, purchased from a local Japanese tool store, are so effective! The
Plant native!
More here https://marinarichie.com/2022/10/17/the-elegance-of-disarray/?fbclid=IwAR3j4twE9GGx8JuBo0xihfj-Hy2JYhSpcbCSBeG_mKa3gi5KtiR0EpCsSqo
When you decorate for Halloween, don't make this mistake
A scared screech owl caught in fake spiderweb decorations, hanging upside down with feet tangled in the webbing A reminder from Intermountain Bird Observatory It's that time of year! Please remember that fake cotton cobweb decorations are extremely dangerous for wildlife. If you need a spooky vibe, only use these cotton decorations inside your home. Outdoors, you can save time on cleaning and help the birds by leaving natural spiderwebs alone. Many songbirds eat spiders, spid
Common checkered skipper in the field
The only vegetation flourishing in the dry field are fennel plants, dandelions and a dandelion-like aster relative. The butterflies are there all day, like this skipper. It is perched on fennel seeds. Here is the same skipper on a dried dandelion-like aster plant. Apparently this plant is from the aster family. It looks like a dandelion, but leaves and stems are covered in little spines.
