Saving the Monarchs
Monarch butterfly on a flowerhead of our Seacliff Buckwheat Eriogonum parvifolium plant. A plan called Monarch Head Start has now...
Sleeping Summer Long-horned bees
Ooh, here they are! Summer Long-horned bees Melissodes robustior (Apidae) sleeping in a California Delta sunflower. Note how the one on...
Summer Long-Horned Bee on California Delta Sunflower
This bee, a Summer Long-Horned male Melissodes robustior (Apidae), is one of the main reasons why I plant California Delta sunflowers...
Monarch caterpillars munching
At last! I haven't posted anything about monarch caterpillars this year, until now. Monarch mamas have been visiting the garden often...
More buckwheat!!!
Yellow-faced bumble bee flying around Ella Nelson's Yellow Nude buckwheat With our ongoing drought conditions, I've come to the...
Gray Hairstreak Butterfly
Skippers and other little native butterflies like to lay their eggs on our Seacliff Eriogonum parvifolium and Ella Nelson's Yellow...
Leaf Cutting Bee and the Echinacea blossom
Last autumn was the first time I planted a coneflower seedling in a large container in our backyard. The seedling grew a couple of inches...
First sighting of a Summer Long-Horned Bee
So exciting! The Summer Long-Horned Bees are back! This Summer Long-horned Bee male Melissodes robustior was perched on top of a dried...
Monarch Butterfly laying Eggs on Milkweed
The potted native milkweed plants have awakened from their dormant period, some rising faster than the others. I'm trying to focus more...
Colorful native blooms
In an otherwise quite dry and tan landscape due to drought, colorful native blooms bring so much joy. It's that time of year for the...