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!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 12, 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.

08/27/2026 Plastic Pollution Coalition The Plastic We Wear: Hidden Fibers, Chemical Dyes, and the Future of Clean Textiles - Washing synthetic clothing releases hundreds of thousands to millions of microplastic fibers per load, many of which are not captured by wastewater treatment and instead are often discharged directly into waterways. Synthetic dyes and chemical finishes used on many mass-produced textiles have been linked to skin irritation and allergic contact dermatitis.

0 9/3/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Leaf-Peeping Season Is Almost Here. These Interactive Maps Can Help You Figure Out When Fall Foliage Will Peak in Your Area – The article points to several site but Explore Fall is my favorite. I’ve always enjoyed fall foliage road trips!

9/2/2026 Science Daily Too much coffee may weaken bones - Following nearly 10,000 older women for 10 years, researchers found that tea drinking was associated with slightly higher hip bone density. Moderate coffee consumption did not appear harmful, but drinking more than five cups a day was linked to lower bone density. The findings suggest tea may offer a small bone-health boost, while excessive coffee could carry some drawbacks.

09/1/2026 Clean Technica Most EU Ships Are Being Scrapped in South Asia Despite Sufficient Domestic Recycling Capacity - The vast majority of EU-owned or EU-flagged ships are being scrapped under poor conditions in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, while EU-located ship recycling facilities operate under capacitya new study from the NGO Shipbreaking Platform and T&E shows. This is both an environmental scandal and a loss of high-quality materials for the EU economy, say the NGOs, who issued a report concluding that the EU has enough domestic capacity to recycle all EU-flagged and EU-owned vessels.

08/31/2026 NWF Blog 5 Benefits of Using Fallen Leaves in Your Garden - One of the best things you can do for wildlife, the environment, and even your wallet is to intentionally use the fallen leaves and other organic matter in your garden.

08/31/2026 Our World in Data Beef production in Brazil has been the largest driver of global deforestation in recent decades - When we look at the largest drivers of this deforestation, beef production is the standout. The clearing of forests to make space for grazing pastures has driven 41% of global deforestation in recent decades. Almost two-thirds of it has taken place in Brazil. The expansion of cattle pastures has not just come at the expense of natural forests, but particularly of biodiverse regions in the Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna. Beef consumption has grown a lot in Brazil, with per-person demand doubling over the past 50 years. Average consumption is now three times the European average.

08/31/2026 NASA Pasterze Hangs on as Austria’s Largest Glacier - Austria’s largest glacier was holding on by one dwindling thread of ice. The last icefall connecting the upper and lower portions of the Pasterze Glacier in the Eastern Alps appeared poised to break, which would put an end to its reign as the country’s largest. Groups monitoring the glacier say the last conduit of ice may, depending on weather conditions, survive to see another year or two, or it may face its demise before the cold months arrive this year.

08/31/2926 NPR NPR spent 2 years tracking deaths from heat. We found a staggering hidden toll - As summer heat intensifies because of human-driven climate change, the United States' official tally of heat-related deaths does not come close to capturing the full human toll. The data feeding into nationwide death counts is collected inconsistently and rarely thoroughly. The result is a vast undercount of the number of people who die because of heat. And experts say failing to recognize and address this may cost more people their lives. The reasons for the undercount are complex. Heat can often be the trigger that pushes someone's health condition — like cardiovascular disease — from manageable to fatal. But often because heat leaves no obvious mark behind for doctors or coroners to examine, the cause of death gets marked down only as a heart attack. Heat isn't noted on the death certificate. There is better counting of heat-related deaths in some parts of the country. For example, Arizona's Maricopa County — home to Phoenix — has developed sophisticated protocols for sussing out the subtle influences of heat on people's deaths. Maricopa County trains "death investigators" to look for signs of heat stress, such as asking about the state of the deceased's air conditioning system, their ability to pay electric bills to run ACs, their use of medications that increase heat sensitivity, and more.

08/28/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Forests Didn’t Fare Well During an Ancient Global Warming Event, Offering a ‘Cautionary’ Tale About Today’s Climate Change - An intense global warming event 56 million years ago caused a forest in modern-day Wyoming to lose around 60 percent of its canopy cover, and it took more than 100,000 years to bounce back.

08/27/2026 Planetizen Feds want to stop notifying landowners about drilling under their land - Currently, if the BLM owns the mineral rights underneath private property, the bureau is required to notify the owners of proposed drilling and give the public 90 days to comment on any leasing of rights to outside companies. But a recent proposal would eliminate the landowner notification requirement and reduce public comment time to 10 days. A rancher in Wyoming said that ditches from developers trying to build pipelines stranded his cattle during a blizzard, and abandoned oil wells have caused bovine health issues. In a separate proposal, the BLM also proposed reducing the minimum bonds companies are required to pay if drilling is abandoned without environmental cleanup.

Comic Insects

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This week’s eBook is a children’s book published in 1872 about insects: Comic Insects. The illustrations were done by Berry F. Berry, the text by F.A.S. Reid, engraved by Dalziel Brothers and published by Frederick Warne & Co (who later published Beatrix Potter’s books). The book is a pleasant example of the history of publishing…of children’s books…of illustration!

Comic Insects

Phelps Grove Park Stumpery

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I visited the Phelps Grove Park Stumpery for the first time recently. It is a 2025 addition to the park and one that will become even more interesting over time as the plants become more established and the stumps decay further.

I enjoyed the fungus that is already growing on the decaying wood.

It was a hot day, and I welcomed the big trees along part of the stumpery path….and the plants growing there.

It is appealing to have a place to leave parts of trees that have fallen in storms. The stumpery was initiated with logs and wood pieces from the April 2025 storm….and will probably be replenished or enlarged in future storms. The neighborhoods surrounding the park have a lot of large trees.  

This has me thinking about some pieces of a rotting redbud trunk that my daughter had removed. Maybe I will put them in my native plant garden to form a mini-stumpery that will only be visible until the native plants fill the bed completely (probably will happen before they completely decompose).

Coneflowers

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The coneflowers were full of color just a few weeks ago.

Now their petals are drying…the color fading.

But there are the wonderful ‘cones’ of seeds for birds…and to make the planting denser next season.

I have a group of cone flowers that are regulars in a backyard garden. I will cut some of stalks with seeds and stick them in the native plant garden in the front yard soon. Maybe the birds will eat some of the seeds…but they’ll drop enough of them to add to the garden plants next season!

Coneflowers do get tall, but so does the rattlesnake master and they would look good together - and maybe keep them all upright rather than falling over.

Hungry Cecropia Moth Caterpillar

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One advantage of volunteering in the Roston Native Butterfly House is the opportunity to see caterpillars as various stages of development. Recently I was lucky that one of them was eating while there weren’t visitors in the house….so I was able to capture a short video. It was a medium sized cecropia moth caterpillar, and it appeared to only want to take little bites of the wild cherry leaf going in one direction!

Plastics Crisis – Steam Teams United August Newsletter

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The August Plastic Awareness news from Stream Teams United arrived in my inbox recently. It was full of recent plastic related news…highlights of what interested me the most are below. You can sign up to get the newsletter here.

Researchers tested more than 75 Texas waterways for microplastics. Nearly all had them

  • Kera News

  • A new study by Dallas-based researchers finds that nearly all the region’s waterways are polluted with microplastics.

Tiny Plastics, Big Problem: The Hidden Risks of Plastic Pouches for Baby Food

  • May 2026

  • Human biological matrices such as blood, placenta, lung tissue, and stool have been demonstrated to contain microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), indicating...

  • *Read the technical report here.*

Kansas City Current & Bold Reuse Set a New Standard for Sustainability at CPKC Stadium

  • Bold Reuse

  • In March of 2024, CPKC Stadium, home of the Kansas City Current, opened as the first stadium in the world purpose-built for...

Great waste in the Great Lakes: How plastic pollution is clogging our waters

  • Chicago Tribune

  • More than 40 million people in the United States and Canada depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water. Each glass of treated lake water is laden with...

Microplastics and Nanoplastics as Potential Metabolic Disruptors

  • July 2026

  • Human biological matrices such as blood, placenta, lung tissue, and stool have been demonstrated to contain microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), indicating...

American Spikenard – the Fruit

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The American Spikenard that I see from my office window blew over during a thunderstorm but the stem didn’t break since the leaves are still very green. If you click on the image below to see a larger view you can also see the clumps of fruit that are beginning to ripen! The small spheres turn dark purple to reddish-brown (they remind me of garnets).

I planted the small plant in fall 2023 and thought in spring 2024 that it had not survived because I mistakenly thought American Spikenard was a woody plant but dies back to the roots each winter. It was a pleasant surprise to discover it growing a few weeks after I thought it was gone! So far, it has gotten bigger each year because the roots are getting more established. It is very happy in my shade garden surrounded by violets and the occasional pokeweed which I trim back periodically. The leaves are compound and the leaflets are large.

I used my camera’s zoom to photograph the clumps of fruit without wading into the violets. Most of the fruits will go to the birds. A few I might plant in pots (in the refrigerator to scarify and then in a sunny window) … and plant them outside next spring. I wouldn’t mind having more American Spikenard in my shade garden!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 5, 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.

08/24/2026 The Washington Post Leaked memo shows how U.S. aims to weaken global limits on plastic pollution – Depressing and sad for so many reasons.

08/25/2026 Inside Climate News The Biggest Carbon Polluters Are to Blame for Half of U.S. Western Water Lost to Climate Change - Dozens of states and cities across the U.S. have sued large oil and gas companies for environmental damages associated with emissions from their products. This study supports plaintiffs’ position in those cases as they seek to put a price tag on climate change for fossil fuel companies.

08/26/2028 Yale Environment 360 Access to Urban Woodlands Linked with Lower Use of Antidepressants - A study from Scotland found that living near an accessible urban woodland significantly lowered the likelihood of being prescribed antidepressants. A host of prior studies have found that living near green spaces can reduce stress, improve moods, and lower the risk of developing anxiety or depression. Some research has even found that exposure to nature can help reduce violent crime. Considering the well-documented benefits of living near green spaces, the World Health Organization recommends urban planners establish at least 1 acre of green space within 1,000 feet of every home.

08/26/2026 Smithsonian Magazine See 16 Stunning Animal Images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards - The 62nd Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, developed and produced by the Natural History Museum in London.

08/26/2026 NWF Blog U.S. Workers Deserve Protection from Extreme Heat - Comprehensive heat rules that protect all workers require shade, paid rest, and cold water along with a written heat stress prevention plan that includes science-based temperature triggers, annual training, acclimatization, retaliation protection and emergency response procedures. America’s workforce keeps our country moving—delivering mail, teaching our children, constructing new buildings, maintaining infrastructure, and more.

08/26/2026 The Conversation Tiny house villages are increasingly responding to the homeless crisis in America’s fast‑growing cities - The proliferation of tiny house villages across the U.S. is occurring at a time when many cities are attracting new residents and investment, while struggling to provide housing that remains accessible to all.

08/23/2026 Science Daily Scientists left this farm field alone. Thousands of orchids appeared - An abandoned farm field became a flourishing wildflower meadow within little more than a decade, with plant diversity doubling and thousands of orchids appearing naturally. Aside from a traditional annual hay cut, the field was largely allowed to recover without intervention. The discovery suggests that simply giving nature time to recover could be a powerful and inexpensive tool for restoring biodiversity.

08/24/2026 Smithsonian Magazine ‘Only One of Its Kind’ Jellyfish Museum Astounds Visitors with Awe-Inspiring Displays of Sea Nettles Safely Behind Glass - The Florida-based museum opened in the spring and was founded by two aquarium experts who fled the Russia-Ukraine war.

08/26/2026 Clean Technica Photovoltaic Windows Have Been Heating Water in a Bucharest Apartment for Two Years - Solar electricity produced over several hours during the day is converted directly into heat and stored as hot water for use later. There is no photovoltaic battery and no solar inverter between the photovoltaic glazing and the heating element. The PV side operates off-grid and does not inject electricity into the public grid. When solar energy is insufficient, the controller switches the same water heater to the normal AC grid after sunset so that it can reach the thermostat setpoint.

8/27/2026 Yale Environment 360 A Hard-Won Rule to Cut Chemical Plant Pollution Is Being Unraveled - For decades, regulations on emissions of hazardous chemicals such as benzene, ethylene oxide, and vinyl chloride have been weaker than restrictions on more common pollutants, such as those emitted by vehicles. Toughening requirements on six different pollutants at more than 200 petrochemical plants, it was one of a slate of regulations enacted beginning in 2024 on air toxics, each covering a specific industry, from steelmaking to tire manufacturing. Recently, the EPA has invited companies to request exemptions from hazardous pollutant regulations. Also - an online data tool created to give communities located near petrochemical plants information about their operations, including their accident history, emergency response plans, and the chemicals they handle has been removed.

eBotanical Prints – August 2026

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Twenty more books were added to my botanical print eBook collection in August – all are available for browsing on Internet Archive.   There are 14 volumes of Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft (Communications of the German Dendrological Society) published from 1893 to 1925 followed by 6 books that continue the Carnivorous Plant Newsletters; there are 4 volumes per year, so this month includes 2021 to 2022; I’ll continue browsing this periodical in September.

My list of eBotanical Prints books now totals 3,423 eBooks I’ve browsed over the years. The whole list can be accessed here.

Click on any sample image from August’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 August 2026 eBotanical Prints!

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1925 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1925

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1902 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1902

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1899 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1899

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1915 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1915

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1921 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1921

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1905 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1905

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1906 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1906

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1905 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1905

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1918 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1918

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1893 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1893

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1912 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1912

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1896 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1896

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1895 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1895

Mitteilungen der Deutschen dendrologischen gesellschaft 1924 * Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft * sample image * 1924

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.50:no.1 (2021)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2021

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.50:no.2 (2021)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2021

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.50:no.3 (2021)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2021

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.50:no.4 (2021)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2021

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.51:no.1 (2022)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2022

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.51:no.2 (2022)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2022

Rattlesnake Master as a Nectar Plant

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I hadn’t thought much about Rattlesnake Master being a plant for pollinators until I saw the insects on the plants! They were mostly skippers and scolia wasps. The plants look too prickly, but that doesn’t seem to deter the insects!

These are plants that were new last spring. The first bloom stalks tended to fall over because there were no other tall plants around to help support them. Now the stalks are in a clump and seem to stay upright. Next year there will be more stalks and it’s good to know that they will provide nectar for insects in the hottest part of the summer.

Rattlesnake Master is a prairie plant, and it is often planted for prairie restorations. It has certainly thrived during the first year of my native plant garden.

Lunar Eclipse

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I didn’t stay up last Thursday night (August 27,2026) for the Lunar Eclipse – but my husband did! He shared a picture taken from our back yard the next morning.

Zentangle® - August 2026

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31 Zentangle tiles…one selected for each day of August.

I created a series that used stippling to fill in all the vacant places on the tile…

And another series that intentionally left blank spaces. I experimented with a frame and then a smaller shape inside the frame that was filled densely. These tiles are very different than my norm!

And then there are the rest that don’t fit into either series!

--

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.

Plastics Crisis – Actions at the Community Level – August 2026

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After a lull the last few months, there are community actions shaping up for the fall and winter for our Beyond Plastics Ozarks group!

We have a February date for the show of the Plastic People movie sponsored by the City of Springfield and are gearing up to get the word out to the community and recruit some people for the panel discussion after the movie.

There are 2 reducing plastics presentations coming up – one in November and one in December…and participation in an interest/experience activity (plastics is one of six ‘tables’).

I am glad there are things to feel positive about locally since a headwind of a story came out in the Washington Post this week (“Leaked memo shows how US aims to weaken global limits on plastic pollution”).

Ten Little Celebrations – August 2026

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August was a great month of summer activities – trying to dodge afternoons that were way too hot to be outside!

Great cohort signed up for Missouri Master Naturalist core training. I’ve been working on the core training curriculum since last spring and everything began to come together in August….ready for the start of the course in September. I am particularly celebrating the existing Master Naturalists that signed up for all the volunteer tasks I identified!

Webinars when I was traveling. I am celebrating two excellent webinars (creating habitat that works and building a native plant movement in your community) that I watched from my hotel when I travelled to Texas.

Dancing oakworm catepillars. I celebrated getting a video of oakworms in action…and then being able to share it with peoole  visited our table after the caterpillars themselves had worn themselves out (i.e. were no longer dancing).

Stone edge installed around my native plant garden. Getting the edge around my native plant garden was a great addition. I’m celebrating how great it makes the front yard look!

Dark chocolate. Recently I remembered starting my day with a small serving of dark chocolate years ago…and I am celebrating every morning that I revive that tradition!

Mississippi Kites at Lake Springfield. I celebrated the 4 Mississippi Kites that were hunting for breakfast near the Lake Springfield Boathouse one morning I was there. They were finding plenty to eat!

Salmon for lunch. I’m still a little surprised about how easy it is to prepare! I celebrated a lunch on my own while my husband was away.

Sunlight through the spikenard leaves in the morning. The plant is leaning but I celebrate that its fruit is developing and it is still my favorite plant viewed through my office window.

Insectorama and an Io caterpillar. There was a sign that said “don’t touch” for the Io caterpillar and no one did. I celebrated that the visitors got to see it with no negative event!

Yard work done. In August I feel like I need to dodge high temperatures and the sprinklers to get yard work done….so I celebrate with I finally can just do it.