A few weeks ago, I noticed a Swallowtail butterfly flying frantically in my tropical garden, going back and forth. It would land on this volunteer plant that I didn’t know what it was until now. I realized that this Swallowtail was laying its eggs on this plant.
Happy babies
It turns out the volunteer tree is a Prickly Ash. After the egg laying, I noticed five caterpillars a few weeks later. They look like bird poop. They were happily eating each day and staying here.
They did a good job chomping at the ash!
I would check them daily. Then over time, I noticed one disappeared. Then the next couple of days, two more disappeared. Oops.
I’ll tell you! It gave me a happy surprise yesterday, and who doesn’t love a happy surprise? I especially love one that leads to nature observations and stories.
I was leaving work around 5 pm, as workers tend to do, and turned left out of the parking garage. That road leads between two sets of offices, but is shady and has lots of trees. It once was a lovely park-like area, and some parts of it still are.
I looked ahead after making the turn and saw something in the road. Usually, you see deer, since the herd that’s always lived in the area is still here. But, no, this looked more canine.
As I got closer, I ruled out dogs. As I got even closer, I easily ruled out coyotes by looking at the tale. It was a native gray fox! You usually don’t see them when it’s light…
This is a post I wrote to my ranch blog, but since all the flowers are where we have our Chapter Meetings, I thought I’d share it with my Master Naturalist friends, too.
Ah, Phloxdrummondii. Here’s a Texas native I have lifelong memories about.
When I was young, in the good old 1960s, these grew in great abundance in north central Florida, along the roadsides. There would be miles and miles of phlox blurring into a riot of pinks and purples.
Lucky for me, my mother loved to look at these wildflowers as much as I did. She’d ask my dad to please take us for a ride so she could get herself some phlox.
She’d take pitchers full of water in the car, and when she spotted the ideal field of phlox, she’d shout out for Dad to stop NOW!
We’d all pile out and brave the bees and ants (at least this was pre-fire ant) to pick huge bunches of these flowers. We had to be careful not to pull up the roots.
Back in the car, I’d marvel at all the colors and patterns in the blossoms. So much variety! I don’t think they lasted long in Mom’s vases, but they made her happy.
While the area where I live doesn’t have phlox, I’m happy that you only have to drive a few miles east to see some. It’s not like the old days in Florida, but they are pretty.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these flowers from the field next to Milano Methodist Church. They sure sent me down memory lane.
What’s a wildflower that brings YOU memories? Send Sue Ann your stories, in email, on Facebook, or on a piece of paper.
I’ve been thinking a lot about trash bags and how they endanger our domesticated and wild animal friends. So, you can imagine how perturbed I was when I got behind this garbage truck outside of Temple last week.
See the huge open bag? It was releasing its contents along the road. Above the caution sign at right is a genuine bit of trash that flew out.
The darned thing was blithely spewing trash, and plastic bags in particular, all along the highway. I couldn’t quite make out the license plate, though I was tempted to call this guy in for polluting the road.
I know this truck isn’t alone. The particular stretch of road we were on must be a trash route, because there was a LOT of debris on the roadside. What made us most sad was the plain evidence that people had quite recently walked the road and picked up trash, since there were black trash bags evenly spaced among the fresh new mess.
We really have a lot of education and enforcement work to do, don’t we?
Sharing this post, since it’s all about the spring blossoms and our crazy weather! Remember to send me your ideas and nature sightings, fellow Master Naturalists–Sue Ann
Well, shoot, just when I was really getting into long walks and frolicking amid the wildflowers, a late cold front has driven me indoors. Yesterday, we hosted an event at 11 am at our office. The front showed up right as all the attendees were coming in or trying to find us. A big wind and brief rain surprised everyone, and blew away my meeting signs. March decided not to go out like a lamb after all!
We have a patch of pink evening primrose that is nearly white. It’s striking against the green grass.
But, I did get a lot of flower-viewing, pet walking, and iNaturalist uploading done before the front! It’s a great year for flowers, thanks to the winter rains, so I know I’ll be out finding more to share soon.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 