eBotanical Prints – August 2026

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Twenty more books were added to my botanical print eBook collection in September – all are available for browsing on Internet Archive. There are several series this month: 4 volumes of nature-printed British seaweeds, 3 volumes about Volvox, and 5 volumes of The Plant World (a series I had found previously but somehow skipped these volumes!

My list of eBotanical Prints books now totals 3,443 eBooks I’ve browsed over the years. The whole list can be accessed here.

Click on any sample image from September’s 20 books to get an enlarged version…and the title hyperlink in the list below the image mosaic to view the entire volume where there are a lot more botanical illustrations to browse.

Enjoy the September 2026 eBotanical Prints!

Pennsylvania Trees * Illick, Joseph S. * sample image * 1928

Plantes etrang par Aubriet * Aubriet, Claude * sample image * 1722

Papillons, plantes fleurs et animaux, peints par Aubriet * Aubriet, Claude * sample image * 1722

Guide to Forestry * Illick, Joseph S. * sample image * 1922

Laubmoose * Warnstorf, Carl * sample image * 1904

Leber- und Torfmoose * Warnstorf, Carl * sample image * 1903

Gymnosperms; structure and evolution * Chamberlain, Charles Joseph * sample image * 1935

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft  * sample image * 1892

The nature-printed British sea-weeds : a history, accompanied by figures and dissections of the Algae of the British Isles V3 * Johnstone, William Grosart; Croall, Alexander; Bradbury Henry * sample image * 1859

The nature-printed British sea-weeds : a history, accompanied by figures and dissections of the Algae of the British Isles V1 * Johnstone, William Grosart; Croall, Alexander; Bradbury Henry * sample image * 1859

The nature-printed British sea-weeds : a history, accompanied by figures and dissections of the Algae of the British Isles V2 * Johnstone, William Grosart; Croall, Alexander; Bradbury Henry * sample image * 1859

The nature-printed British sea-weeds : a history, accompanied by figures and dissections of the Algae of the British Isles V4 * Johnstone, William Grosart; Croall, Alexander; Bradbury Henry * sample image * 1860

Le Volvox V1 * Janet, Charles * sample image * 1923

Le Volvox V2 * Janet, Charles * sample image * 1922

Le Volvox V3 * Janet, Charles * sample image * 1912

The Plant World Vol XXII 1919 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1919

The Plant World Vol XXI 1918 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1918

The Plant World Vol XX 1917 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1817

The Plant World Vol XIX 1916 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1817

The Plant World Vol XII 1909 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1909

Zentangle® - September 2026

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30 days in September….30 Zentangle tiles.

It has been a busy month but I still managed to create over 50 tiles…and choosing 30 was not hard. I’m not sure why almost two thirds of them are rectangular rather than square! Most are made with black ink on colored tiles….and I’ll probably continue that way into October then make some major changes in pens and tiles for November!

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Ten Little Celebrations – September 2026

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September always seems to be a busy month – but this year seems busier than most with the overlay of the Missouri Master Naturalist core training that I am facilitating. There has been a lot to celebrate within the increased level of activity!

Wild Ozarks video – again. Before the core training started, I watched the video again since we were asking the students to view it. I celebrated it all over again!

Core training started. I celebrated when we finally got the roster finalized and got the training started. There were 2 classes and 2 field trips in the last weeks of September.

Cooler morning butterfly house shift. Toward the end of September, the days finally started to be a little cooler. I celebrated that it only got into the low 80s….warm enough for the butterflies to be active but comfortable for humans too!

Rockspan. It was a wonderful place for a field trip – even though the day was hot. I celebrated the breeze, the special location, and that the core training students seemed to enjoy the nature journal session that I hosted for one of their rotations.

Green Heron at Ha Ha Tonka. Seeing a Green Heron is always a celebration for me. Of course, the state park has a lot of great things to see…this was just my favorite for that visit.

Imperial Moth Caterpillars. Celebrated seeing another species that has large caterpillars.

Tree ID workshop. Celebrated seeing so many cuttings from native trees…and the lecture pointing out characteristics to clinch the id.

Field trip to Bull Creek. Another special place…new to most of the core training students. I always find something to celebrate there and this time it was probably observing the students experience it for the first time.

Woodland management in action. I celebrated a field trip to see places where the strategies described in webinars I’d viewed had been applied.

Butterflies. There are more butterflies in my yard than last year…maybe because of the native plants I’ve added. Cause for celebration!

Zooming – September 2026

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It was very hot in our area of Missouri in September (near Springfield)…but I still enjoyed being outside for visits to central Missouri and the initial field trip with the Master Naturalist core training class I am helping run. The Roston Native Butterfly House, local parks and my house also offered some interesting subjects to photograph!

Native Tree Identification Workshop (2)

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Continuing my collection of tree leaves/twigs….

American Sycamore

Bald Cypress

Black Walnut

Downy Serviceberry

 Eastern Redbud

Eastern Red Cedar

Flowering Dogwood

Hackberry

 Honey Locust

Ohio Buckeye

Osage orange (note the thorn near where the leaf attaches to the twig)

Pawpaw

 Persimmon

Red Mulberry

Sassafras

Short Leaf Pine

 Sweet Gum

Yellow poplar (Tulip tree)

Willow

At the end of the class, it was almost dusk. We walked around until it was dark looking at tree like Bur oak, pawpaw, Osage Orange, and Black Cherry.

As I headed home, it occurred to me that maybe I should have brought my leaf press and put some of the specimens in it since they were probably headed to a compost pile!

Native Tree Identification Workshop (1)

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I arrived early enough for a Native Tree Identification Workshop at the Springfield Botanical Garden to take some pictures of butterflies and thistle seed ready to float away.  

The workshop was to start in a classroom and then end with seeing some trees. The classroom was set up with round tables – some with cuttings on them; I chose to sit at one of them with cuttings. The main part of the class was passing around those cutting and I took pictures of most of them!

American Elm

Red Maple

Silver Maple

Sugar Maple

 Black Oak

Black Jack Oak

Chinkapin Oak

Northern Red Oak

Pin Oak

Post Oak

White Oak

 The series is continued in tomorrow’s post…

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 26, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

09/22/2026 The Conversation Bangladesh has lost 900 children to measles – a warning to other countries where vaccine rates have slipped - Almost 900 people in Bangladesh are suspected to have died in a measles outbreak that began in March. Most of those affected are children. Vaccines only work if people actually receive them. The science has already done its job: measles vaccines are safe, effective, and have protected children for decades. What’s missing is trust, access, and the urgency needed to close the gap – until that changes, outbreaks like this one won’t be the last.

09/18/2026 Yale Environment 360 Microplastics in Soil a ‘Trojan Horse’ for Toxins - To protect long-term food production and soil health, policy must catch up. We urgently need standardized plastic monitoring, full manufacturer transparency, and risk assessments that evaluate through different species how microplastics interact with co-pollutants.

09/17/2026 Science Daily This popular fermented food may help flush nanoplastics from the body - A kimchi-derived bacterium can bind to nanoplastics under gut-like conditions and may help carry them out of the body. In mice, the probiotic more than doubled the amount of nanoplastics detected in feces, pointing to a surprising potential use for microbes from fermented foods.

09/16/2026 BBC Future To save scarlet macaws, scientists are rescuing chicks from their lethal parents - Scarlet macaws are an iconic but declining tropical bird…and they intentionally starve their youngest chicks. Wild fostering techniques for those rejected chicks might contribute to the faster recovery of some populations.  

09/19/2026 The Prairie Ecologist A Simple Guide to Identifying Red-Tailed Hawks – A one page identification guide.

09/22/2026 NPR Abortion is on the ballot again as post-Roe policies continue to evolve – Again in Missouri - the state's Republican-dominated legislature is asking Missouri voters to overturn the abortion protections they recently supported. The conflicting measures even have the same title: Amendment 3. But while a "yes" vote in 2024 supported adding protections to the state constitution, a "no" vote in 2026 would keep them. (A citizen with a 2024 sign) covered the "YES" on her yard sign with a "NO" made from black duct tape before placing the sign back in her yard.

09/21/2026 Smithsonian Magazine An Armadillo Found in Ohio Is the Latest Surprise in the Armored Animals’ Expansion North. Where Are They Now, and What’s Driving Their Movement? - Over the past decades, scientists have tracked the armadillo’s steady northward crawl, from Texas to wider expanses of the South, Southeast and Midwest. Now, the recent discovery indicates that the mammals might soon gain a foothold in the Buckeye State. The animals moved across the Rio Grande in the mid-1800s, passing from Mexico into Texas. From there, they generally expanded north and east, reaching Louisiana by the 1920s and Kansas by the 1940s. With their strong leg muscles and long front claws, the mammals will root through soil in search of insects and create extensive burrows that can reach several feet underground. This behavior can damage gardens, agriculture, building infrastructure or golf courses. The burrows have positive effects, too. In a 2022 study in Arkansas, researchers used motion-triggered cameras to find 64 other species interacting with armadillo burrows—19 mammals, 4 reptiles, 1 amphibian and 40 birds.

09/15/2026 My Modern Met Amazing Winners of the 2026 BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology Image Competition - The photo contest is an opportunity for people in biology to showcase their research to a broad audience. Ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and zoologists worldwide submitted work for the 2026 competition.

09/17/2026 Yale Environment 360 Why Germany Is Building an Ark for U.S. Climate Data - As researchers around the world begin work on the next U.N. climate assessment, fears are growing that the Trump administration could meddle with critical U.S. climate data. In response, scientists are preparing to transfer vast troves of that data to repositories in Germany. In a world where political upheaval is growing, storing data in one place is increasingly thought to be precarious. Assumptions that U.S. government agencies will store data long-term “are proving tenuous at best.”

09/15/2026 Archaeology Magazine Landslide Exposes Pre-Roman Burial in Eastern Italy - A landslide in central Italy has exposed a Picene burial estimated to date to the sixth century B.C. The Picenes are known to have lived near the Adriatic Sea and imported pottery, bronzes, and other goods from Greece.

Cat Photographs from 1929

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Sarah J. Eddy’s Alexander and some other cats was published in 1929 with black and white photographs. Many of the pictures are dated by the clothes of people with the cats….or backgrounds. The three sample images I chose could have been taken today. Cats are photogenic! The book is available in Internet Archive and is my eBook of the week.

The author – according to her Wikipedia entry – was a artist, photographer and activist. “In 1894, Eddy wrote and illustrated a short article "A Good Use for the Camera" for The American Annual of Photography. In the article, Eddy concludes that the personal interactions she had with her photographic subjects were as rewarding as the finished images.”

 Alexander and some other cats

1st week of Master Naturalist Core Training

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In 2024, I was on the receiving end of Missouri Master Naturalist Training; this fall I am guiding the Core Training sessions…and am the primary point of contact for the 30 students. It is a very different perspective!

Each week there is a 3-hour class on Thursday evening and a 4+ hour field trip on Saturday. The first class was hectic. I was thrilled that I had enough helpers to realize that the bags of materials on the chairs was better than handing the bag to each student as they signed in. There were sign up sheets for bringing snacks for upcoming classes and some volunteer opportunities coming up fast. It was a little chaotic during and between classroom activities – but subsequent classes will benefit from what we were able to get done in those first 3 hours.

The field trip was to Rockspan Farm which I visited last May – reconnoitering for this training. I coached the Nature Journal activity for 4 groups (there were also 3 other activities: karst geology, forest ecology, and dichotomous key for trees). It is very different leading an activity rather than participating! When we started the day there was a concern about it getting too hot by the afternoon (forecast was for the mid 90s) but a breeze and plenty of water helped us through. I didn’t wander far from the gathering area for the beginning and debrief for the activity. There were new plantings of dawn redwoods, bald cypress, southern magnolia…big trees: pecan, black walnut, and hackberry to name a few.

There were a few of the trees with small arboretum signs.

I wondered what the story was behind a stump surrounded by another tree.

The sounds of the water in the river called for exploration in its direction. Several people drew frogs and dragonflies.

I noticed that the opposite bank was scoured…probably during times of heavy rain.

There were not a lot of wildflowers – but there was drama at everyone with insects very active.

The slower pace of the day and keeping to shady areas helped make the heat bearable for me …and I enjoyed just being at Rockspan!

Suburban Savanna – 6

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Fall riches abound. Goldenrod is blooming – providing food for pollinating insects. I didn’t cut mine back in June, so it got very tall – fell over onto other vegetation. Trimming plants that will get too tall early enough that they will still bloom and be shorter overall is a lesson learned to be applied next year.

I’ve been watching the growth of my native plant garden during its first year – pulling weeds as quickly as possible. There were a couple of plants that I left for a little while so that they could get big enough for identification. It turns out that they are sassafras! They are ‘bird planted’ on opposite ends of the garden. They are the food plant for spicebush swallowtail caterpillars – so I am leaving them in the front yard garden. I have spice bush in the backyard so I expect to see more of these butterflies in coming years. They are not old enough to produce seeds but might be winter food for birds in coming years.

I trimmed pokeweed to keep it short and there seem to be even more fruits than usual. They will be eaten by birds – mostly songbirds and mourning doves. The dry weather since midsummer has caused some of the plants to already start dying back. I’ll cut a lot of the plants after the first frost, but they will come back from the roots next year!

The chives that I grew from seeds produced in my mother’s garden several years ago are more prolific each year. They aren’t native but they provide another texture among the violets and black raspberry…and they are edible. These are a plant that I grow for the memories associated with visits to Texas over the years.

The American Spikenard blew over in a storm, and it has been so hot since midsummer that it looks like the fruit is going to dry out very shortly after it ripens.

On the plus side – the American Beautyberry did very well this year. Its leaves are lush and the fruits is maturing. They will be food for songbirds too!

I have a few small hackberries but they don’t seem to have any fruit. Maybe they are too young. It will be great when they start to produce…more food for birds.

So much for birds and other wildlife in the fall garden…getting ready for winter.

Previous Suburban Savanna Posts:

August 2026 – Controlling too much growth

July 2026 - Water

June 2026 – Shade Garden

May 2026 – Planting Natives

April 2026 – Overview

Ha Ha Tonka State Park

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The day before the Woodland Management Field Trip, we dove toward Jefferson City and stopped at Ha Ha Tonka State Park along the way. It was before lunch and was already a hot day. The air was very humid too. It was the first time my husband had visited; I was there last October on the way to and from a conference in Jefferson City. We started at the ruins – lucked out that there was an available opening in the closer parking area. I took different perspectives of the ruins than I did previously….noticing the way light came through openings, some deterioration in one of walls, and the undermining of the low wall around the ruins.

Of course, the vantage point from the castle is spectacular - high over the spring; you can hear the water below. There was a tree trunk that looked ‘wrinkled’ at the base that I noticed…among some stumps of other trees inside the wall around the ruins.

We hiked along the paved path and boardwalk toward the spring. I used my phone for some insects on fall wildflowers and

My bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS) for some ‘intimate landscapes’ and a wood-nymph.

The highlights of the walk  toward the spring were birds:

A green heron looking for lunch,

A female wood duck in the water and then in the grasses along the bank,

A pileated woodpecker that we heard before we saw (and was never well positioned for a photograph),

And a blue heron that was flushed by some kayakers and landed just across the water from where I was on the path!

It was a great stop….we kept it short because of the heat and humidity but were both glad we made the visit.

After lunch we opted to make a short walk about the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary before we headed to our hotel. We didn’t make the full loop because of the heat – but realized that if we lived in the area, it would be a place we would visit frequently through all 4 seasons (in the early morning rather than the afternoon in the summer/early fall)!

Woodland Management Field Trip

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I signed up for a morning in a managed woodland. It was far enough away and started early enough in the day that my husband and I drove up the day before (more on what we did along the way in tomorrow’s post). The management strategies had been varied across the property were –

No management – Completely closed canopy (no sunlight hitting the ground), only maple and other shade tolerant fast-growing trees, no regeneration, no browse or food sources, no cover

  • Shelter wood cut – a clear cut with a few white oaks left for seed trees

  • Timber stand improvement – cutting all trees except the species that fit your personal goals and thinning the desired species to the best density

  • Forest opening – an island of fresh growth in an otherwise managed and maturing forest

  • Burn – plot was burned

There were signs indicating the type of management and when the action was taken. The goal of the landowner was to produce white oak for harvest and habitat for grouse and turkey.

It was interesting to see the impact of the various strategies that I had learned about in the Woodland Mentor zoom course I am taking…and a pleasant day to be out in the woods.

I did not do a good job of taking pictures of the varying situations just tried to listen….and got sidetracked with trees and sky and under story plants…and a thistle.

On the way our I had my husband stop so I could photograph the stream crossing. It has been a dry summer.

I am thinking more about how this applies in a Suburban Savannah situation than a woodland. There are some aspects of some of these techniques that might skew almost into the Savanna realm – particularly if one of the goals is to provide habitat for birds that like forest ‘edge’ conditions. However – fire is a strategy not available in a suburban situation….and tree harvest would probably not be a goal. My goals for my yard and my community skew toward providing habitat for birds and pollinators (their complete life cycle…not just the adult)…and maybe some less common native plants!

Sustaining Elder Care – September 2026

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I started my drive at dawn and decided to think of a few Haiku…two were good reminders of moments during the 6+ hours driving from my house in Missouri to Lewisville TX.

Dark pink horizon

Driving into the morning

Dark chocolate treat

 

Adaptive cruising

Google navigation says

Object in road  deer

 

I got to the memory care facility and located my dad in the activity room trying to rub him back on the chair. It eventually became apparent that he was itching and very uncomfortable….but that was after I got him back to his room and looked at his back. It had red splotches.  The hospice staff had gotten zinc oxide to put on the rash and he seemed a lot more comfortable after I put some on the part that seemed to be bothering him the most.

I saw him two other times and he was uncomfortable every time I was there. There were other people that seemed to have the same itching problem. It didn’t look like bites but the facility was treating at as a mite problem for all the residents by the time I was heading home. I’m still concerned since it there might be allergic reactions to the treatment…or that it isn’t mites at all but some other issue (like a change in laundry detergent).  

I hope whatever it is can be successfully treated before I go back in a month.

The stay at the hotel was odd. The Bradford Pear ree that was dead last time I was there had been cut down. That translates to less shade in the parking lot and the temperatures in the afternoons were still over 100 degrees.

The big oddity in the hotel – the same one I stay in every time I go – was that once the water in the shower got hot, there was no making it less hot…it was like all the water was coming straight from the hot water heater…and was very hot. I tried to take my shower with quick splashes rather than standing in the stream of water.

As I was leaving on the last morning I saw a small fluff of feather on the parking lot near my car…took a picture of it with a crack in the asphalt and a pine needle. It felt good to notice some small thing to appreciate when so many other things are not quite right.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 19, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

09/09/2026 Leaf & Limb Right Tree, Right Place: What to Plant and Where to Plant it – The top 4 questions to ask when selecting a tree: what is the goal of the tree; what are the planting area’s soil and light conditions; how big will the tree be at maturity; what are the secondary benefits of a tree.

08/06/2026 Plastic Pollution Coalition Recent Recalls on Plastic Toys—and How to Choose Safer Toys - About 90% of toys on the global market are made primarily from plastic. Plastic toys are also especially dangerous for kids because they are made with hazardous chemical additives and become more brittle over time—breaking into small pieces that pose choking hazards and shedding microplastics. Interactive plastic toys are also often made to hold tiny button batteries, which, if not properly secured, can be swallowed to cause extreme and permanent harm. 

09/09/2026 The New York Times Toxic ‘Forever Chemical’ Cleanups at Military Sites Face Years of Delay -PFAS cleanups at nearly 243 military sites had been pushed back by an average of 5 years, and some as long as 19 years. At many sites, PFAS has contaminated local drinking water sources, prompting the Pentagon to provide bottled water to service members as well as nearby residents. The inspector general also found that the Defense Department’s list of contaminated sites might be incomplete, and that the Pentagon could provide no documentation proving that officials had ever analyzed whether PFAS chemicals were used or released at more than 80 installations.

09/09/2026 Clean Technica Denmark Can Produce 140% Of Its Electricity Demand from Wind Power - The Danish Energy Agency is spearheading an ambitious plan to produce even more wind power for both export and domestic use. The plan is to construct two new “energy islands” in the North and Baltic seas that will serve as wind power hubs, transmitting some electricity directly to coastal grids while reserving the rest for offshore activities including green hydrogen production.

09/09/2026 Yale Environment 360 Chinese Industry Is Starting to Wean Off Fossil Fuels - New clean power more than met the growth in demand across China last year, leading to a small decline in coal output. Analysts identified eight provinces where coal generation is now seeing declines, including industrial centers such as Hunan and Shandong, and it named another nine provinces where the growth of coal generation has slowed substantially….you can see fossil fuel use flattening out, sector by sector and province by province.

09/08/2026 Science Daily Caffeine may flip an ancient cellular switch linked to slower aging - Scientists found that caffeine activates an ancient cellular energy system involved in stress resistance, DNA repair, and growth. The discovery could help explain caffeine’s links to healthier aging and may point toward new ways to target the same pathway.

09/09/2026 Planetizen 15 million people rely on the Rio Grande — in 2 years, it may run dry - The Rio Grande is one of the most threatened rivers in the country — even more so than the Colorado River. The river fuels billions of dollars in agricultural production, and roughly 15 million people depend on it for drinking water. In Mexico, taps could run dry within a year. In two years, the river may be completely depleted, resulting in millions of Texans losing their source of fresh water. The only thing that can help now is reducing agricultural water use.

09/07/2026 The Conversation Farmers can now produce more of their own energy than ever – but will they? - We’re unlikely to see the farm diesel tank disappear any time soon. But we are likely to see many more shed rooftops covered in panels – and new ways to make use of clean, cheap power from the sun.

09/06/26 Cool Green Science A Nature Conservancy Volunteer’s Hunt for Champion Trees – Gary Williamson, age 82, has devoted his career and free time to conservation and natural history. He has been a Nature Conservancy volunteer for more than 40 years, contributing to the organization in many ways. He’s a herpetologist, park ranger, author and canoeist. And he’s always on the lookout for big trees.

09/08/26 The New York Times California’s Ambitious Plan for Textile Waste - California is trying to become the first state to make fashion brands, manufacturers and retailers pick up the tab for textile waste, and the details of the plan are taking shape now. California residents discarded nearly 1.2 million tons of textiles in 2021 alone. The vast majority of textile waste is landfilled. In the new system - fees will be lower for clothes designed to be easily repaired and for clothes made from recycled materials. Fees will be higher for clothes that are difficult to recycle, like those made of blended fibers or that contain toxic chemicals.

Life Magazine in 1950

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Continuing my look at Life Magazines on Internet Archive….

As I looked at the issues from 1950, the Korean War was becoming more dramatic as the year progressed. The 75% reduction in pneumonia deaths between 1930 and 1950 was a stunning statistic. Advertisements from Life Savers, Howard Johnsons, American Airlines, General Motors, Christmas cards, Coca Cola and American toys captured my attention. Natural events – frozen redwing blackbirds, lots of snow in the Sierras, dust bowl in Texas, albino deer, Mauna Loa erupting, an owl nest, and Dutch Elm Disease - also were in the news. They were all part of what the publishers thought was newsworthy in 1950!

 Life Magazine 1950-01-02 - Acceleration of Science

Life Magazine 1950-01-09 - Einstein

Life Magazine 1950-01-16 - Frozen Redwing blackbirds in Oklahoma

Life Magazine 1950-01-23 - Children on Will Rogers statue

Life Magazine 1950-01-30 - Natural childbirth

Life Magazine 1950-02-06 - A winter battle in snowy Sierra

Life Magazine 1950-02-13 - Pneumonia death toll dropped 75% in 20 years

Life Magazine 1950-02-20 - Disney’s Cinderella

Life Magazine 1950-02-27 - Atomic explosion (cover)

 Life Magazine 1950-03-06 - St. Louis Museum shows art of the Mississippi River’s great past

Life Magazine 1950-03-13 - Fireworks in Port-au-Prince for the inauguration of the bicentennial exposition

Life Magazine 1950-03-20 - Familiar house and garden bugs

Life Magazine 1950-03-27 - Peppermint stick life savers (advertisement)

Life Magazine 1950-04-03 - Owl nest

Life Magazine 1950-04-10 - Dust Bowl Look in Texas

Life Magazine 1950-04-17 - Hopper paints the city in stark lonely moments

Life Magazine 1950-04-24 - 3 albino deer in Wisconsin

 Life Magazine 1950-05-01 - Coca Cola advertisement

Life Magazine 1950-05-08 - American Airlines advertisement

Life Magazine 1950-05-15 - Edward Steichen (when he was 71) photography

Life Magazine 1950-05-22 - Sand sailing

Life Magazine 1950-05-29 - Olmec stone face

Life Magazine 1950-06-05 - Poison ivy

Life Magazine 1950-06-12 - Spring’s rain splashes away the soil

Life Magazine 1950-06-19 - Mauna Loa splits its seams

Life Magazine 1950-06-26 - Amish school children

 Life Magazine 1950-07-03 - Building of the Eiffel Tower

Life Magazine 1950-07-10 - Korea – bracing climate and depressing proverbs

Life Magazine 1950-07-17 - Howard Johnson’s advertisement

Life Magazine 1950-07-24 - Marine muscle heads to Korea

Life Magazine 1950-07-31 - Yanks hit a beach in Korea

Life Magazine 1950-08-07 - Wounded GIs flown from Korean front

Life Magazine 1950-08-14 - Greatest meteor crater? (north of Quebec)

Life Magazine 1950-08-21 - General motors advertisement

Life Magazine 1950-08-28 - Present plants will handle 4 to 1 expansion (military aircraft)

 Life Magazine 1950-09-04 - In Korea the supplies stack up and roll on to fighting front

Life Magazine 1950-09-11 - Life savers advertisement

Life Magazine 1950-09-18 - The Korean air war in color

Life Magazine 1950-09-25 - New chemical may halt ravages of Dutch Elm Disease

Life Magazine 1950-10-02 - Small size separates

Life Magazine 1950-10-09 - Historic church burns

Life Magazine 1950-10-16 - US is building new schools but is facing a serious shortage

Life Magazine 1950-10-23 - Photograph to raise funds for a non-profit

Life Magazine 1950-10-30 - October in the Southwest

 Life Magazine 1950-11-06 - Churchill Christmas cards from Hallmark

Life Magazine 1950-11-13 - Thanksgiving (insurance advertisement)

Life Magazine 1950-11-20 - Arthur Siegel photographs

Life Magazine 1950-11-27 - Give American toys (advertisement)

Life Magazine 1950-12-04 - Christmas cards and wrapping paper (advertisement)

Life Magazine 1950-12-11 - Eva Peron

Life Magazine 1950-12-18 - Great retreat in Korea

Life Magazine 1950-12-25 - Christmas in Korea

Ants in the Hummingbird Feeder

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The past few weeks I’ve had problems with ants in the hummingbird feeder twice….not just a few ants but thick in the sugar water! The first time I didn’t quite realize how many there were and they got all over my arms when I retrieved the container to clean. The second time I waited to open it until I got it inside and into the sink where I could run water to flush them out and down the drain.

Earlier in the season I had an ant problem once (a few ants…not large numbers) and I thoroughly rinsed off the window where the feeder is attached when I cleaned the feeder and hadn’t had another infestation until recently.

Maybe it has happened because it has been so hot and dry that the water moat dries out relatively quickly. Now that I’ve had a huge number of ants a second time – I’ll refresh the moat daily and see if that helps.

On the way to the feeder, I noticed a feather on our patio. An ant had already found it too. It might be a tail feather of a Mourning Dove. There weren’t any other feathers around so maybe the bird survived.

Butterfly House – September 2026

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The Roston Native Butterfly House is open until the first week in October and there are still plenty of butterflies to see: Tiger Swallowtails, Diana Fritillaries, Giant Swallowtails….and more. It has been very hot even for my morning shifts but there are still plenty of people visiting – some from out of town. It is still one of my favorite volunteer gigs.

The usual cecropia moth caterpillars are still eating and, more recently, there have been Imperial Moth caterpillars too.

There are stilt-legged flies around too – looking at ants…until they fly!

The pawpaw fruit is ripening and falling from the trees. I brought one home and ate it last week. I’m keeping the seeds damp and will plant them in my yard – not in the place where I already have 7 young trees!

I’m hoping that my upcoming shifts will be a little cooler….and will miss spending time with the butterflies and their visitors when the house closes.

Our Missouri Yard – Still summer

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September has started out very hot – days still reaching into the 90s. We haven’t gotten much rain recently either. We do have a sprinkler system which I have kept running to help the native plants that I planted early in the season become well established….with the plan to water less next year.

In the front yard….

The edging around the native plant garden is making it easier to see/pull any encroaching grass and to use the weed eater to trim just outside the stones. There are frequently mushrooms on both sides of the stones! The one yarrow in the garden is blooming and I am optimistic that enough of its seeds will land in the garden for more plants to be there next year.

The elderberries are thriving – two better than the third one but they might all survive and be the thicket in the middle of the garden.

Missouri Evening Primrose has bloomed at various times….the new plants blooming better than the larger one near the mailbox (they are in a better place than the small triangle between the box, sidewalk and driveway where the original one is planted. The Rattlesnake Master is thriving only 1 of the 3 plants has stalks still upright; they should do better next summer will some other plants around them (and some strategic staking).

In the back yard…

The shade garden is my favorite part of the yard. The 7 young pawpaws (from seed, MDC seedlings, and Ozark Soul) are doing well and some insects have found them too (note the ‘bites’ out of the leaves). There is a pokeweed growing with them….violets and iris underneath…a spicebush a little further down the hill.

I go around with my pruners cutting down small oaks and maples in the areas where I don’t mow any more.

The chives I planted from seeds collected in my mother’s garden are blooming – providing for some pollinators before the goldenrod started blooming. Those plants coming back every year prompt good memories.

The pokeweed fruit is ripening. I have cut the plants to keep them low this year and might have prompted more fruit! They do get competition from the violets under the pine.

The funnel spiders like the violets!

Vaccinations

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It’s fall – time for 2 vaccinations: COVID and Flu. We are in the ‘over 65 years old’ cohort so both are advised for us….and we concur. Neither one of us has had flu in recent years…or COVID at all; we are keen to avoid getting sick since we have so much we want to do this fall/winter!

My husband made our appointments at our local CVS.  The pharmacist did the shots almost 10 minutes past the time of our appointment but that was not too long to wait. They have streamlined the paperwork where it is all digital and the vaccinations are paid for by Medicare so there is not a ‘receipt’ either.

 Overnight and the next day my arm felt a bit tender but that did not hamper my usual routine; I was glad I had not planned a road trip for the day after.

I’m glad we are done with shots for this fall!

Roses

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I have two rose bushes that came with my house. They have not fared well during the winters. I’ve trimmed out dead stems each spring and am tempted to trim the bushes back in this fall - to create the chance for a more regular shape for next year. The stems are probably from the root stock rather than the more ornamental rose that was grafted to it since the roses look mostly wild – without the layers of petals of ornamentals. Still – they have simple beauty. Sometimes I cut one for a windowsill vase even though the stems are short and they have little fragrance.

I find myself photographing spent blooms too. It is interesting how the color changes as the flowers fade. Sometimes the red deepens and other times it becomes almost pink…before they turn brown and brittle. And the petals curl into interesting shapes as well.

There have been times I have been tempted to dig out both bushes and plant some native in their place – but it won’t be this year!