Thursday, September 12, 2013

Orgy in the goldenrod

Bet that title got your attention!

Went for a nice walk the other day...


As you can see Tristan, aka the Spleenless Wonder, is doing VERY well after having had his spleen and a six-pound tumour removed. He has a new spring in his step and has recovered so well from his surgery. Long may this continue! He turns 11 this fall.

On my walk, I found...


...prickly cucumbers!! Still one of the top search keywords for my blog. I have no idea why!



The 21 acres we had planted in native grasses and wildflowers this summer are doing GREAT! And you can see by that red tree that fall is in the air.


In the third year of its growth, this is going to be spectacular, but I am already deeply in love with the new grasslands. :)


We have a bit of corn planted on the other side of the field (no neonicotinoids!)



Another view of some of the grasslands.


The four beehives I have in the middle of all that are very happy.


And while I have still not seen a Monarch this year , I did see this:


Too bad I can't remember what kind of butterfly it is. Anyone?


But I believe these are Orange Sulphurs on the fall asters...



At least somebody's happy.

And while this is not a honey bee, she is still lovely...


If you can identify her, let me know. Goldenrod is an important fall food for bees and many other pollinators. People often mistake it for ragweed, the pollen of which is a terrible allergen for many people. Goldenrod is NOT the cause of your hay fever! In a recent issue of Canadian Living magazine, I saw three separate photos of goldenrod misidentified as ragweed (they did print a correction in a subsequent issue.) This is problem, because pollinators really need this food source, and I would hate to see people weed-whacking it because they wrongly blame it for their sniffles.

And look...


...a Goldenrod Soldier Beetle orgy!! :0


Sophie had a good walk too.

And I still have honey to bottle, and honey to extract. I am eventually going to do a post on that!

15 comments:

  1. Glad to hear Tristan is doing well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good on you far establishing some native grass land on your property. As you should there's much life in a grassland. Nice to see the dog back in better health.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That land looks heavenly!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful your Tristan is doing so well. Love your photos and slice of country.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are truly blessed to live where you do. My oldest son lives in a cornfield along a river near Winchester. I love visiting there. Grasslands are so important. A former ranch of ours was take over by the government and reverted back to a grasslands park and protection area for big horn sheep etc.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Long life to Tristan. He looks good.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous2:09 am

    That all looks idyllic ma'am, and the hound looks happy fit to burst! Give the ol' boy a pat from me please.

    p.s. idyllic all apart from the over-scale insectoids.

    ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. You live in paradise... well except for the cold winters and bees. I'm not a big fan of those orgies in the goldenrod either. Damn allergies!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great to see Tristan looking so sprightly.
    The leaves are just beginning to colour up here, no asters yet though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sophie and Tristan are looking great!
    We have tons of Golden Rod...it always seems busy with bugs...ah bless 'em.
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's good to see Tristan doing so well. So that stuff is called prickly cucumber. I never knew.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your anglewing is an Eastern Comma.

    And I've just googled "prickly cucumber orgy" and clicked on your blog, just to add to your woes. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tristan looks awesome!!! So glad to hear he is bouncing back. All your photos are so beautiful :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. The scenery on you walk looks wonderful :-) I am glad that Tristan is recovering well.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your meadow of native grasses is just lovely. Our goldenrod is just coming into its own now, and yours has already gone by, the difference a few thousand miles makes. I just love all your photos. So glad that your sweet boy is doing so well.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!