Worst Months for Plants in Phoenix Although you may initially assume that the months with the hottest average temperature pose the biggest threat to plants, other factors also contribute to plant stress levels. Let’s look at a table of average weather in Phoenix: Temps of 100 plus are common June through September. July and August pose additional challenges for plants, withContinue reading “Worst Months for Plants in Phoenix”
Best Months to Observe Butterflies in Phoenix Butterflies are most active when it’s warm and when nectar sources are readily available. So what are the best months to observe butterflies in the Phoenix Sonoran Desert? In Phoenix, Queens, Fiery Skippers and Gulf Fritillaries are usually around all summer. You can expect to see a showing of butterflies in the late winter intoContinue reading “Best Months to Observe Butterflies in Phoenix”
Bee Flies as Pollinators Family Bombyliidae (Bee Flies): A pollinator with a bad reputation. They are among the many flies that imitate bees, bumble bees specifically. By hovering, instead of landing, they avoid many predators hiding in the flowers. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, some being important pollinators. Larvae generally are parasitoids of other insects, including bees. The adult females usually deposit eggsContinue reading “Bee Flies as Pollinators”
How Many Butterfly Species Live in the Sonoran Desert? The Sonoran Desert is bounded to the north by the Mogollon Rim, to the west by the southeastern corner of California and down into Baja California, and to the south by Sonora, Mexico. There are over 250 species of butterflies in the Sonoran Desert. This rich butterfly diversity is due in part to the variedContinue reading “How Many Butterfly Species Live in the Sonoran Desert?”
About Native Bees in the Sonoran Desert – Stings and Nests Most of the news goes to the Honey Bee, a non-native European import, but there are about 1,000 species of native bees in the Sonoran Desert bioregion. And unlike the general bee stereotype, most native bees are solitary and don’t produce honey. Whereas honey bees build honeycomb hives and live in large colonies, native bees,Continue reading “About Native Bees in the Sonoran Desert – Stings and Nests”
It’s June – where are all the native bees? A hike in a Phoenix nature preserve today revealed very little in bloom, and consequently few native bees or butterflies. Most of the Sonoran Desert native bees have just one generation per year, so, unlike the non-native Western Honeybee, many native bees will only be active and visible during the Spring or Summer wildflower blooms.Continue reading “It’s June – where are all the native bees?”
Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden 10june22 Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp, Bee Fly (genus Geron), Queen butterfly, White-winged Dove, Bee Fly, Fiery Skipper, Smoketree Sharpshooter. It’s been a hot week, with temps of 110 degrees F and above. Can’t remember the last time it rained, but forecasts are favoring an average to above average monsoon season this year, yay! In the meanContinue reading “Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden”
Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden 7June22 Plants in the garden, and sharing plants from the neighbor’s garden Most urban and suburban lots are small relative to the natural tracts of native habitat, so there are limits to what we can plant, both in size and variety. And, it turns out, putting your yard into context with the nearest forage/host areaContinue reading “Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden”
Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden 7June22 Blood-colored Milkweed Bug, Tarantula Hawk Wasp, Queen Butterfly, Ceraunus Blue Butterfly, Great Horned Owl The beauty of a pollinator garden is a two-edged wand: The reward of knowing you are contributing to the health of the ecosystem that you inhabit The treasure hunt of discovering the web of characters that visit your paradise InContinue reading “Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden”
What are those white “eggs” all over my Cascalote? Also described a “salt deposits” or “sugary specs” and followed by yellowing leaves, black mold spots and defoliation. What’s going on? Sometimes called jumping plant lice, psyllid feed on a variety of plants. Both adults and nymphs feed by piercing the leaf surface to extract cell sap, and excrete “honeydew”, a sweet sticky residue thatContinue reading “What are those white “eggs” all over my Cascalote?”
Pollinator Web: Arizona Bark Scorpion Observing the cast of characters that comprise the pollinator web ecosystem in the low desert in Phoenix Arizona. Although this scorpion does not seek to attack humans, it will sting if threatened, especially if its young are threatened. The bark scorpion is able to climb vertical surfaces that are sufficiently rough, and can enter aContinue reading “Pollinator Web: Arizona Bark Scorpion”
Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden Design: TJ’s framework drawing for pool and landscape. This is the third post in this series. You can read the first post here. Bucking the trend of right angle, manicured modern design, we decided to go with organic shapes to soften the landscape and align with the natural shape of the plants. Have we waitedContinue reading “Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden”
Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden Design: North Side Yard Welcome back! This is the second installment in this series – in the previous post I presented the history of the project and the design considerations for the South Side Yard – you can view that post here. The side yard on the north side of the house has two separateContinue reading “Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden”
Musings from a Phoenix Pollinator Garden Join us for this series where we’ll cover a Phoenix Pollinator Garden from design to planting to pollinator observations.
The Lifecycle of Butterflies A comparative look at a few southwest species It’s early May in Phoenix and we’re starting to see lots of blues, and more and more Monarchs, Queens, Yellows, Whites and Skippers. But in my yard there has been an interesting lag the past couple of years – I’ll observe an early generation of butterflies inContinue reading “The Lifecycle of Butterflies”
Milkweed Bugs: Friend or Foe? What are those reddish-orange and black bugs crawling all over your milkweed, and are they harmful? Like many elements in an ecosystem, the answer fits into the gray zone. Large Milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) and Small Milkweed bugs (Lygaeus kalmia) love your milkweeds as much as the Monarch and Queen butterflies, and they exist togetherContinue reading “Milkweed Bugs: Friend or Foe?”
On Farming Metal From Plants and Intelligence Beyond Humans Basking in our industrial and technological successes, humans have proudly flaunted their superiority over the natural world. But now the true cost of that hubris is coming to light – is it too late? The answer will likely only make itself available in hindsight, but it’s not too late to learn. In James Bridle’s GuardianContinue reading “On Farming Metal From Plants and Intelligence Beyond Humans”
The Ladies and a Gentleman Painted Lady, American Lady, West Coast Lady and Red Admiral Butterflies Brush-footed butterflies belonging to the genus Vanessa, the name of the genus may have been taken from the character Vanessa in Jonathan Swift’s poem “Cadenus and Vanessa,” which is the source of the woman’s name Vanessa. In the poem Vanessa is called a “nymph” eleven times, andContinue reading “The Ladies and a Gentleman”
The Gulf Fritillary Butterfly The Gulf fritillary or passion butterfly (Agraulis vanillae/Dione vanillae) is a bright orange butterfly in the subfamily Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae. Females are generally larger and have more brown in their markings. Gulf fritillaries have a chemical defense mechanism in which they release odorous chemicals in response to predator sightings. As a result, common predators learn to avoid this species. Gulf Fritillaries have several broodsContinue reading “The Gulf Fritillary Butterfly”
Monarchs Are on Their Way Monarchs leave their Mexican roosts in the second week of March For those of us in the South, Monarchs are already creating the 1st generation of the year, moving north from Mexico and laying eggs on milkweed plants. These Monarchs have had an incredible journey in their migration south in the fall, and now theyContinue reading “Monarchs Are on Their Way”
Great Purple Hairstreak Family Lycaenida, Gossamer Wing Butterflies – Jewels of the Insect World Also known as the Great Blue Hairstreak, Atlides halesus is one of the largest gossamer wing butterflies, but it’s solitary and uncommon. The caterpillars feed on mistletoes (Phoradendron spp.) and there are several broods during the year. The best time to view the GreatContinue reading “Great Purple Hairstreak”
Migration Cycle of the Painted Lady Africa to Europe Migration of 10,000 KM; U.S. from Canada to Mexico Museu De Ciencies Naturals De Granollers presents a fascinating journey of the Painted Lady butterfly from Subtropical Africa to Morocco. Painted Lady are the most widespread butterfly species in the world, and uniquely, their migrations don’t follow a stringent seasonal pattern. Ever noticeContinue reading “Migration Cycle of the Painted Lady”
Gardening for Wildlife with Native Plants Plant a Park! Your Adventure Awaits People go to national parks for adventure, beauty, relaxation, and the sense of wonder of visiting a pristine natural area. Planting a tiny “national park” in your yard can bring those benefits home for you and your family to enjoy year-round. If Americans were to replace only half theirContinue reading “Gardening for Wildlife with Native Plants”
To What Extent Should We Help Pollinators? We plant natives, we irrigate and then admire the parade of pollinators in our garden. But we’re also enabling predators like assassin bugs, crab spiders and small milkweed bugs. A shocking number of plants in my garden are homes to predators. It’s painful to observe the latest victims to this insect offense. Should we sitContinue reading “To What Extent Should We Help Pollinators?”
Green Desert – February 28th 2022 We had some winter rain, but then a lengthy dry spell, until just the other day, another .5″ of rain! What does this mean for wildflowers – a reasonable carpet, but most plants have stunted growth. Let’s take a look at the last dat in February…
Keystone Plants, and the Plants Beneath (Soft Landing) Similar to permaculture principles where you layer the plants for a forest garden, having ground covers, plants and leaf litter under keystone tree species amplifies benefits for the ecosystem. Learn More: 1 2 3 Arizona Keystone Trees Ironwood (Olneya tesota) Oaks (Quercus spp) Arizona White Oak (Quercus arizonica) Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chrysolepis) Belota (QuercusContinue reading “Keystone Plants, and the Plants Beneath (Soft Landing)”
The Desert Is Greening Up Winter rains have given wildflowers a good start, let’s hope future rains will give us a banner wildflower season! Combseeds are already flowering Fiddleneck and Coulter’s Lupine Ocotillo Brittlebush California Poppy Buckhorn Cholla
