I'll have a four o'clock, please

In October 2013, I spotted a new-to-me native growing on city easement on the west side of our property. It was a narrowleaf four o'clock (Mirabilis linearis). Lo and behold, two years later the species volunteered in a back yard bed! I was happy.... But not so much now. LOL! This species RESEEDS like crazy! 

Anyway, I was collecting seeds yesterday for the LBJ Wildflower Center and spied this teeny tiny little bug nymph on a four o'clock flower. I ran for my macro lens that fits my iPhone. iNaturalist identified it to genus: Catorhintha. I looked the genus up on Bugguide.net and saw photos of similar bugs also feeding on Mirabilis (four o'clocks). So this genus must largely just occur on four o'clocks. How cool is that?!

An older Catorhintha sp. nymph

Adult

Me and the fluff

This is my life after supper these days .... separating antelope-horn seeds from the fluff and trying to keep the mosquitos away by swinging at the same time.

Milkweed seed harvest underway

This spring/summer season has to be THE best yet for antelope-horns (Asclepias asperula) seed production in our Meadow! The pods are long and robust. I can't even begin to bag all of them, but I'm doing my best. The gauze bags keep the hungry milkbugs out and the seeds contained when the pods bust open. All I do is clip the stem when I'm ready to harvest. Then I sort the seeds from the fluff while the pod's still inside the bag. Very therapeutic! (Thank goodness our neighbors "get" me!)

UPDATE JULY 21, 2021

I harvested a bagful of seed!

Garden club visit

Last Friday, members of the Rock 'n Oaks Garden Club from Hollywood Park (San Antonio) toured our gardens. What a great time! James and I got to see our friends Shirley Fox (third from left, blue shirt) and Melody McMahon (second from right) again. They came to our 2016 Garden Gala and brought us plants. I showed Melody the heartleaf hibiscus and swanflower combo that she gave us. Shirley has a blog, too: Rock-Oak-Deer: Gardening and living in beautiful San Antonio. I've also given presentations, both in person and via Zoom, to this group.

As you can see, Ms. Prima Donna, our snowshoe calico, was the star attraction. It was a fun, fun morning! Thank you for coming, ladies! Looking forward to your fall visit.

 

Artsy grasshoppers

Last week, we visited Mineral Wells. While at the Mineral Wells Fossil Park, I noticed these grasshoppers hanging out in the center of some Texas dandelions. How pretty, I thought. Plus, I've never seen grasshoppers just sit in flowers before. So, of course, I had to get some photos.

Turkey vulture

A while ago, I happened to notice a turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) in the back yard so I ran for my digital camera with a long lens. The vulture flew down to the ground, then returned to the live oak limb. I was curious to see if it found anything dead. Just yesterday, I noticed that stinky "dead" smell in the same area but hadn't see anything. 

Can you imagine the AMAZING sense of smell that these birds have? To detect and smell odors from the lofty distances where they soar? While I was watching this one, a second vulture flew over but didn't land. 

Finally, this one flew over to our neighbors' property and walked around in the grass. It didn't like me getting closer so it took off.

More milkweed blooms

 

Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)