New England Asters

It is hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that it is October.  I am thankful for having blooms this time of year that are having so many insect visitors.  I am also glad that I did not thin out all of the volunteers that are around the yard.

I am seeing more sulphurs than usual this year, I'm not sure how many different kinds.  I like this kind with the black on it.

We are still seeing more than one size of bumblebee. This looks to be the smaller kind.

I'm not sure how many kinds of skippers have been visiting, but there have been a good number of them this season, too.

I'm not sure if this is the same sulphur shown earlier.

I always like to get more than one insect in a photo.

These two New England asters are the original ones, whose seeds have ended up in different parts of the yard.  I moved them from where we lived before here.  The stems get diseased late summer most years, even though I cut them back a few times in the spring and early summer.  That does not stop them from having loads of blooms with pollen for the insects.

We are still seeing monarchs each day, but not as many as a few weeks ago.  I counted 7 insects in this photo.  Is that how many you see?

When I saw this at first, the wings were out, like a butterfly, but like this, it looks like a skipper.  Do you know what it is?

Here is another skipper, a sweat bee, and I'm not sure if that is a bee or hoverfly on the right.

I am pleased to be seeing a painted lady or more most days.

I've been seeing a buck eye or two off and on for awhile.  This poor one's "eyes" did not fool some bird or other.

I like the little green sweat bees.

Here's another view of a painted lady.

I decided to add a few more photos, these taken today.  I've learned this is a tachnid fly.

I am not sure what kind of wasp this is.  I've also had yellow jacket hover flies this year.  I didn't even know there was such a thing, but I'm thinking this actually is a wasp.

This clump, in the area where the tree used to be, mixed with some rigid goldenrod, is one I did not plant.  I like where it chose to grow.

This is a different kind of sulphur than the one I showed previously.

I thought this was an interesting looking critter.  I was glad it came to a spot where I could take a photo of the rest of it.

I am not sure what it is, though.  If you know, please tell me.  It's about half an inch wide if my memory is correct.

I have not yet visited those who left comments on my Wildflower Wednesday post.  I am spending too much time on Facebook!  I need to make an adjustment so I can get more blogs visited.  Have a great fall, all!

September's Wildflower Wednesday

This spring and summer sure did fly by!  There were a number of things, like record rainfalls and things coming up that kept me from being out in the yard as much as I like or need to be.  It seems like the only blog posts I am doing are for Gail's Wildflower Wednesday.

My photos did not appear in the order I took them, the order I wanted them to be in, so I'll just have to make do, because I do not have time to put them in the right order.

I like to include insects that are making use of the blooms in my photos.  This is Riddell's goldenrod.  Right now, all of the goldenrods are having lots of activity on them.  It was cloudy today, so I didn't get as many as usual.  Can you see the preying mantis?

I am not sure what kind of aster or ex-aster this is.  The blooms are smaller than the others.

I am not sure what kind of goldenrod this is, but it sure is loaded with little insects.  The lighter colored plant, short-toothed mountain mint is still getting some activity.

Here's another Riddell's goldenrod plant loaded with insects.

I am pleased to have pitcher sage in different spots in the yard.  It sure is a nice color to break up all of the yellow this time of year.

This photo was supposed to be first.  Not all of the beauty is in the blooms this time of year.  I love the seed heads on Illinois bundleflower.  The foliage is also continuing to look pretty good.

There are loads of seed pods on the wild senna plants.

I like the clematis pitcherii seed pods, too.

The New England asters are very cheerful.

The brown-eyed susans get visitors, too.  They are so cheerful with their large amounts of small, about 1 inch blooms.

Blue mist flowers is one that spreads, but I got brave and planted a couple clumps the spring of 2014.  They are spreading, but not too aggressively so far.  Almost every time I go out, I see skippers on these blooms.

 I hope all is well with you and you are getting lots of visitors on your wildflowers!  I love Gail's post, where I see she posted some of the same flowers.  If you haven't been there yet, head on over to Clay and Limestone to see her Wildflower Wednesday post.

August 2015 Wildflower Wednesday

I am relieved I am getting my Wildflower Wednesday post up before the day is over.  Gail, from Clay and Limestone hosts it the 4th Wednesday of the month.  Go check out other posts!  I hope to make it to all of them.  I still am spending too much time on Facebook, and not keeping up with blogging.

There sure is a lot of yellow in our yard right now.  The pollinators sure aren't complaining!  The meadow rue and cup plant are the tallest in the yard.  You probably wouldn't find them growing together in nature, though, because the meadow rue likes it more moist than the cup plant.  They do fine in the yard, where I sometimes do some spot watering.  This area does not have a sprinkler head in it, so gets less than the rest of the yard in seasons with less rain than we had this year.  We've only run the sprinkler a handful of times, during a hotter, dryer spell.

The cup plant blooms have been visited by lots of bees and a few butterflies. It's hard for me to get photos in good focus that far up.  This one was OK enough to post.  I always like it when more than one butterfly can be in a photo.

The coneflower seeds are being eaten by goldfinches.  The sweet black-eyed susans and native Helen's flower have been having lots of insect activity.

I am glad I found two small Helenium autumnale plants a couple years ago. They are now one large clump.

I believe Heather Holm has told me before that the bee on the left is a long-horned bee, and I forgot.  I asked for help again, and think I am going to remember this time.  I am so tickled that there are a whole bunch of them enjoying the blooms this year, mostly the Helen's flower and sweet black-eyed susans.  Here's a link to an article I found online that she wrote:  http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/52345294/list/look-for-long-horned-bees-on-summer-flowers

From what Heather said in her book, Pollinators of Native Plants, I can tell that this one is a male, because it has the long antennae.  The females do not.

The females have the long pollen collecting hairs that look like saddle bags full of pollen.  I have not seen many males, but have seen a lot of females.  They have solitary nests in the ground.  There is a lot of open ground across the street where my gardening attempts do not go well due to the walnut tree and rabbits.

We have two sizes of bumblebees that frequent the blooms.  This looks to be the larger size.

I am not sure what this little flying thing is, but it is less than 1/4 an inch long.  There are a lot of tiny flyers on the blooms this year, too.

It's good that there are some blooms that are not yellow.  The Liatris ligulistylus has been a favorite of the monarchs.  Other butterflies and bees also frequent it.  They feed on the other liatrises, such as aspera, and now that those are opening, they may be found on them just as often.

Here's a painted lady on the same liatris.

Here's another long-horned bee on some ironweed.  I have a couple kinds scattered around the yard.  It's a nice relief from all of the yellow.

Here's the view going into the area where the tree used to be.  We see sweet black-eyed susan, ironweed, a switchgrass cultivar, wild quinine, and Illinois bundleflower.  Wild quinine has those white blooms early in the season, and has probably the longest bloom time of any in my garden.  The insects, including monarchs, are still visiting them.

This is the plant I lost count at 12 of the long-horned bees on yesterday, and then saw at least that many more, but they got mixed up with the ones I'd already counted.

The goldenrod beetles are here.  I guess I am resigning myself to the fact that the days are getting shorter, and fall is on its way.

This photo was taken a few days ago, showing that the monarchs are also enjoying these blooms.  By the way, this plant is native to areas near my SE Nebraksa home, but not here.  It sure does well, though.

I see I should have straightened this photo before posting it.  Don't get dizzy!  Our yard was featured last week on a Pure Nebraska segment.  Here's a link to it:  http://www.1011now.com/purenebraska/headlines/Keeping-Yourself-and-the-Environment-Healthy-with-Home-Landscapes-322323981.html

I am hoping this posts OK.  I got a message from Google saying my blog storage was full, and I need to buy more or some of my photos will get deleted.  It stated I was on a free plan, but I am not.  We pay $2.00 a month.  Have any of you had problems like that?  My husband emailed them, but we have not heard back.  He checked, and the money is still being paid.