What Should I Plant?

I'm working on a new presentation! If you can, please join me Sunday, March 20, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Gem of the Hills Community Center in Blanco. My presentation starts at 6. The event, which is free, is being hosted by the Blanco County Master Gardeners.

 

UPDATE: My presentation yesterday evening (March 20) went well at our Gem of the Hills Community Center. I have a lot of fun sharing about nature with anyone who will listen.

First daffodils LATE

These photos were taken March 5. In the past, these daffodils have started blooming in mid February. Lack of rainfall is setting everything back, I guess.

Ruby-crowned kinglet

This little fellow has been hanging out with us this winter and eating suet that we put out. He's a ruby-crowned kinglet (Corthylio calendula). A few days ago, he flitted to the window sill and displayed his ruby crown. I was close enough and fast enough to snag a few photos. What a character!

 

24 hours later

Wednesday, February 2, 2022, 12:30 p.m., 56 degrees

Thursday, February 3, 2022, 12:25 p.m., 25 degrees

WEIRD larvae

So what do you suppose THIS is?! Brad, a friend in Kerrville,  messaged me this photo and asked what it was. He was hoping it wasn't the dreaded hammerhead flatworm (Bipalium kewense). The odd-looking critter, less than an inch long, was in a cord of wood that he'd bought and was splitting into smaller logs. 

 

This grub was a mystery to me! So I had to call out the Big Guns. First I went to iNaturalist and incorrectly surmised that it might be a flat-headed root-borer beetle. Which doesn't even occur in the United States! Then I emailed biologist Sam Kieschnick, aka "sambiology" on iNaturalist. He's seen nearly everything in his iNat-ing travels. "Ew, gross," he wrote back. "A bark beetle larvae! It looks like of the buprestid larvae." Well, I'll be! I've found adult bark beetles in our gardens but not any larva. At least, not yet! Now I know what to watch out for.

Fall Symposium presentation

"What's Up in the 'Hood: How Native Plants Have Made My Life Way More Exciting," Native Plant Society of Texas Fall Symposium, October 2021.

Notes to myself

So we have some pathways in our gardens that are just dirt. Which turns into mud when it rains. I decided I'd take the initiative and gather buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides) seeds, which I dropped along the paths. We shall see what happens. Hopefully, some germination.

When I was picking this afternoon, I spotted teeny tiny critters on a seedhead. Aphids! Very interesting......

UPDATE JANUARY 20, 2022 So my biologist friend Sam Kieschnick happened to see this post and sent me some thoughts....

"Gosh," he wrote, "I hate to tell you this, but you just collected the males! The females are the ones that produce the seeds. Here's what those look like. The males have the flag-like flowers. If you don't see any buffalograss germinating in that spot, it's because those were all boys. The female flowers are close to the ground."

As always, thanks, Sam!