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…
Bumblebees of the Southwest Yesterday, I posted about an opportunity for public participation in a bee and plant survey. Today, I want to share the 5 most common bumblebees in Arizona and New Mexico, according to iNaturalist. American Bumblebee: Despite being on the verge of the endangered species list, it is the most common to see in our area.Continue reading “Bumblebees of the Southwest”
Ask a Bumblebee Source: Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab (BIML) | Facebook USGS/FWS Native Bee Lab have developed a simple Plant/Bumble Bee Survey that permits anyone to survey what plants Bumble Bees use anywhere there are Bumble Bees (literally). Our goal is to quantify which plants bumble bees use, rank them by that use, and also identify which onesContinue reading “Ask a Bumblebee”
Meet the plants: Beardtongues Beardtongues (or Penstemon, the scientific name of the genus) are blooming again in Arizona. With over 50 wild species in Arizona and New Mexico (and more than 270 total), there’s a lot of options for our gardens. We hope you’ll pick up a few of these plants when visiting your local, native plant nursery thisContinue reading “Meet the plants: Beardtongues”
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)”
What is this HUGE insect in my yard? – From Southwest Yard & Garden Blog Cicada Killer Wasps Are Cooler Than They Are Scary To read more, visit: https://nmsudesertblooms.blogspot.com/2020/08/cicadakillerwasp.htmlhttps://nmsudesertblooms.blogspot.com/2020/08/cicadakillerwasp.html and https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H175/welcome.html
Landscaping for Pollinator Diversity – From Southwest Yard & Garden Blog Are all bees beneficial? “For the most part, yes. Wild bees and honey bees need pollen and nectar to survive and establish their nests. Some bees can become pests when they build nests in areas where humans (or animals) live and play, but even those bees offer benefits as pollinators. Many bees look for openContinue reading “Landscaping for Pollinator Diversity – From Southwest Yard & Garden Blog”
Community Forests Prepare for Climate Change – From the EOS Blog “Trees benefit residents in communities around the world by mitigating pollution and other environmental impacts of contemporary society and by broadly improving livability in cities and towns. However, many locales are feeling the heat as urban, or community, forests—defined by the U.S. Forest Service as “the aggregate of all public and private vegetation and green spaceContinue reading “Community Forests Prepare for Climate Change – From the EOS Blog”
2021 in New Mexico Butterflies – From the PEEC Blog “Time moves on, and the 2021 butterfly season has come to an end. As I pull together New Mexico data for the LepSoc’s Season Summary, it seems worthwhile to highlight and expand on some of the wild and wacky aspects of the recent year in New Mexico butterflies, and to ask: How do we markContinue reading “2021 in New Mexico Butterflies – From the PEEC Blog”
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
What should I plant for the most pollinators? As much as possible! Okay, that’s not much of an answer. First, which kinds of pollinators do you want to attract? Hummingbirds – red tubular Penstemon and Acanthus flowers work great. Bees – sunflowers are your best bet. Butterflies and moths aren’t so picky, but you’ll want to provide host plants, like milkweed for Monarchs.Continue reading “What should I plant for the most pollinators?”
New Insect Page on PollinatorWeb.com! I am happy to introduce some fantastic flying critters, from popular to obscure. In my suburban Albuquerque yard, I have recorded over 120 species from tiny fairy bees (Perdita) to noisy, showy cicada killers. I hope you will go find some in your neighborhood. Take time to appreciate them and upload the pictures to iNaturalist.org,Continue reading “New Insect Page on PollinatorWeb.com!”
Turn Off Those Landscape Lights at Night! About half of the insect population is nocturnal, so your outdoor lights may be contributing the the plummeting insect population numbers. We are all aware of how pesticides and industrial pollution are destroying insect habitat, but artificial light at night is affecting nocturnal life cycles, and harming nocturnal insects. Read the full article here
Caterpillars a Keystone Food Source We all love our butterflies because of their beauty and the services they perform as pollinators. Even though a given butterfly is unlikely to be an efficient pollinator, the sheer number of butterflies and moths result in a significant pollinator contribution. So it may be surprising to learn that caterpillars are a star for aContinue reading “Caterpillars a Keystone Food Source”
Small Gardens Can Make a Large Difference Small garden, no problem, no garden, plant in pots! In urban settings, small contributions can have significant benefits to Pollinators. “The types of plants that gardeners chose to grow did matter, however. The researchers found that shrubs provided 58 percent of nectar, since they condense many flowers into a smaller space. Daisies were also helpfulContinue reading “Small Gardens Can Make a Large Difference”
Climate Change and Corridors Current and projected climate change may have significant impacts on biodiversity and other resources. Corridors and buffers may potentially affect these impacts in several ways. “Corridors may be of limited value for biodiversity if climate change occurs at a rate too fast to allow for migration and may end up just benefiting species that areContinue reading “Climate Change and Corridors”
Connecting Pollinator Areas In urban areas, development has fragmented pollinator resources. Homeowners, renters, businesses and governments can all contribute to connecting these resources with patches, corridors and stepping stones. For terrestrial species, habitat loss and fragmentation represent the primary threats to biodiversity. Biodiversity simply means the variety of life on Earth. Humanity is highly dependent on biodiversity, because a diversity ofContinue reading “Connecting Pollinator Areas”
What Are Pollinator Stepping Stones? Stepping stones and patches are small areas of pollinator habitat that ensure that insects have nectar and host plants as they move through our urban environment. “Small patches can serve as stepping stones, allowing for species movement between large patches and are important in fragmented landscapes.”
Chuparosa – For the Love of Hummingbirds But great for butterflies and people too! “If Arizona’s hummingbirds could vote on a state flower, it would be Chuparosa (Justicia californica).” Given adequate water, Chuparosa will bloom year round. Also attracts butterflies and is the host plant for the Texan Crescentspot. Chuparosa blossoms are a fun addition to salads, too, as they taste like cucumbers!
Lynne’s Legacy Texas Sage Leucophyllum, commonly called Texas Sage, are among the most reliable and fool-proof of the low water use plants available in Arizona. In the past twenty years, many new species and varieties have been brought into cultivation. The dozen-odd species are often called “sages”, although they have no relationship to the genus Salvia. Leucophyllum shrubs are legendary forContinue reading “Lynne’s Legacy Texas Sage”
Flower Power: Asteraceae If your looking to plant a lot of pollinator punch in your yard, the Asteraceae family acts as hosts to a wide variety of butterflies, including: Cabbage White, Common Buckeye, Common Checkered Skipper, Dainty Sulphur, Fiery Skipper, Painted Lady, Pearl Crescent, Red Admiral, Hackberry Emperor, Tawny Emperor Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, mostContinue reading “Flower Power: Asteraceae”
Nectar Powerhouse: Gregg’s Mistflower There is a groundcover species Conoclinium greggii, and a shrubby one, Chromolaena odorata; both have an alkaloid in their nectar that Monarchs and Queens use to attract mates. Add a host plant and let the party get started :-). “If you were given the choice of only choosing one plant with the purpose of attractingContinue reading “Nectar Powerhouse: Gregg’s Mistflower”
Acacias, Vachellia, Snegalia, Mariosousa, Acaciella, oh my! Once known as Acacia, this genus has morphed into a dizzying number of genus. Part of the pea family, Fabaceae. “The flowers are usually yellow but occasionally white and have many stamens apiece, giving each one a fuzzy appearance. The fruits are legumes and are highly variable in appearance, depending on the species. Acacias are often confusedContinue reading “Acacias, Vachellia, Snegalia, Mariosousa, Acaciella, oh my!”
The Making of a Queen On a cold November day in 2020, I moved a Queen caterpillar indoors to save it from nighttime freezing temperatures. It was feeding on A. subulata (Desert Milkweed), so I replenished a stock of stems and flowers daily… The next day the caterpillar became a chrysalis. Nine days later the chrysalis turned dark burgundy, andContinue reading “The Making of a Queen”
Germinating Desert Milkweed In December 2020 I started some Asclepias subulata seeds. They started germinating surprisingly quickly, and within a week seedlings were peaking above the peat pods. I recommend starting the seeds in March so the seedlings can go in the ground immediately; they don’t like their roots disturbed. The great thing about Desert Milkweed seeds isContinue reading “Germinating Desert Milkweed”
Great Milkweed Grow Out The Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden is helping Monarch and Queen butterflies with this initiative, with a focus on propagation, expanding Monarch habitat and finding the best native milkweeds to support Monarch and pollinator populations. More Info
The Stages of the Monarch Butterfly Monarch Monarch butterflies are one of the most iconic species in North America. It is distinguished by bold black lines that give the top of the wings a stained glass appearance. Two other butterflies are similar in appearance – the Viceroy and the Queen Host Plant: Milkweed Nectar Plants: Wide variety More Information: 1 2Continue reading “The Stages of the Monarch Butterfly”
The Stages of the Queen Butterfly Queen The Queen butterfly at first glance looks very similar to the Monarch, but the adult Queen has white dots in the margins and the caterpillar has a third set of filaments. Host Plant: Milkweed Nectar Plants: Wide variety More Info: 1 2 3
