eBotanical Prints – July 2026

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Twenty more books were added to my botanical print eBook collection in July – all are available for browsing on online (mostly on Internet Archive).   15 of the books are a continuation of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletters; there are 4 volumes per year so this month includes 2017 to 2020; I’ll continue browsing this periodical in August. There were a few miscellaneous volumes at the beginning of the list – with a wide range of publication dates (1787 – 2025).

My list of eBotanical Prints books now totals 3,403 eBooks I’ve browsed over the years. The whole list can be accessed here.

Click on any sample image from June’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 July 2026 eBotanical Prints!

The Philosphy of Botany * Thornton, Robert John * sample image * 1799

Cours de botanique * Alyon, Pierre Philippe * sample image * 1787

Boccone Museum rariorum plantarum : nominibus linnaei specificis * Cabrini, Aloysio * sample image * 1791

Hortus Cliffortianus plantas exhibens quas in hortis tam vivis quam siccis, Hartecampi in Hollandia * Linne, Carl von * sample image * 1738

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.46:no.2 (2017)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2017

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.46:no.3 (2017)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2017

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.46:no.4 (2017)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2017

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.47:no.1 (2018)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2018

Native Plants for Stormwater Management Projects - Species Selection for the Lower Midwest * Shaw, Daniel; Schmidt, Daniel * sample image * 2025

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.47:no.2 (2018)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2018

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.47:no.3 (2018)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2018

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.47:no.4 (2018)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2018

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.48:no.1 (2019)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2019

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.48:no.2 (2019)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2019

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.48:no.3 (2019)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2019

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.48:no.4 (2019)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2019

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.49:no.1 (2020)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2020

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.49:no.2 (2020)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2020

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.49:no.3 (2020)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2020

Carnivorous plant newsletter v.49:no.4 (2020)  * California State University, Fullerton. Arboretum * sample image * 2020

Lake Springfield’s Hibiscus

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Last week there were quiet a few hibiscus flowers and buds at the edge of Lake Springfield near the Boathouse. I enjoyed photographing the various stages of the bloom. My favorite shapes/color is the underside of the flower!

In the shallow water and just a few feet from the hibiscus are lotus plants. I need a better camera than my phone to take good pictures of them.

Hot Afternoon in the Forest (2)

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Continuing our hot afternoon in the forest….

It was too hot to hike so I took a few pictures of wildflowers near the cabin

And looking up from my chair in the shade.

We stayed until just before dusk when the fireflies were beginning to come out…and I took a few pictures across the field as I got into the car. The moon was up and there were some clouds in the sky. Some year I’ll stay longer to see the moths that are active at night – but not this year since I had signed up for the next morning shift in the Butterfly House.

As we made our way back on the rutted road, it got darker. We somehow didn’t notice when we passed the cemetery.  The road obviously wasn’t bumpier than when we drove toward the cabin, but we went a bit slower in the gloom and were glad when we got back to the paved road.

Hot Afternoon in the Forest (1)

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The potluck event I wrote about yesterday was for the volunteers and staff that support the Roston Native Butterfly House. It was a very hot day, but we persevered to experience the forest along Bull Creek south of Springfield. After the turn off from the paved road, the way is a rutted historic road which should not be done in a low-clearance vehicle (my daughter has an SUV, and it handled the road well at low speed). Parts of the creek are visible from the road!

The trees form an arch over the road. There were three cars in our group. I shared my insect repellent spray when we got there – didn’t want anyone to get bitten by a tick.

One of the first things I did was see how far along the spicebush fruit was (I knew where there were some female trees from a previous visit). There was one red one and the rest were still green.

The moss on the shed and well roof shingles was about the same as I remembered.

I was glad I brought plenty of water and a peas/corn side dish (cool) for the potluck….and appreciated that the food was in the air-conditioned cabin.

The high point of the evening was seeing some young bluebirds that had been rescued after their parents abandoned them in the their nest box. They were being hand fed and would fledge soon.

More about the adventure tomorrow -

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 1, 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.

07/22/2026 I’m Plastic Free 8 Plastic-Free School Supplies & Zero-Waste Tips for Students – Some good ideas for reducing plastics for the beginning of the school year.

07/22/2026 Clean Technica It’s Time to Adopt a New Mindset About the Planet - The author suggests: Begin with the Billionaires. Oil companies must clean up their pollution. Chemicals need to be reined in, not excused. Accountability for climate change. Returning rivers, streams, and the oceans. Vote!

07/21/2026 BBC Future A stranding in Ireland sheds new light on the long, slow, ice-cold life of a deep-sea shark – Some species factoids: The Greenland shark, the longest living vertebrate on the planet, can live for around 400 years; Greenland sharks are among the world's biggest sharks, measuring up to 5m (16ft); Greenland sharks are slow-swimming, solitary scavengers and predators. The post documents the study of a Greenland shark carcass that washed up on an Ireland beach in April.

07/21/2026 Yale Environment 360 Long Presumed Dead, a Thriving Coral Reef Is Discovered in West Africa – A paragraph in a 1960s report…and then no investigation again until recently. Researchers have classified the site as a mesophotic coral ecosystem (MCE). Such systems are light-dependent communities existing at the lower limits of reef-building corals. At more than 175 feet below the surface, the coral garden they discovered appears patchily scattered on a rocky substrate.

07/20/2026 Cool Green Science The Bird That Needs Fire: What Bachman’s Sparrow Can Teach Us About Restoration - Long before most people spot one, a Bachman’s Sparrow announces itself from a patch of native grasses, delivering one of the first songs of the season. Small and easily overlooked, it has become one of the most important indicators of whether longleaf pine forest ecosystems are functioning as they should.

07/17/2026 Science Daily Tiny plastics in drinking water may be making dangerous bacteria stronger - New research suggests nanoplastics can actually help harmful bacteria survive by strengthening the slimy biofilms they form inside water systems. These tougher biofilms become more resistant to disinfectants, making them harder to remove and potentially increasing public health risks.

07/17/2026 Smithsonian Magazine These 16 Splendid Aerial Views Capture Wildlife from Above, Revealing the Beauty and Mystery of Nature - A selection of the photos that spotlight animals from a new perspective – from the Second International Aerial Photographer of the Year contest.

07/15/2026 My Modern Met Tennessee Introduces Anti-AI Seal Supporting Photographers Taking Real Photos of the State - Tennessee tourism has been booming, breaking new records in recent years for the Volunteer State. In 2024, they brought in 147 million visitors and $31.7 billion. This was the fourth consecutive year to break the record in tourist spending, which has surged 36.6% since 2018, more than double the national average. It is important to the state that “what you see is what you get.”

07/23/2026 Science Daily Goodbye, cavities? New gel could regrow tooth enamel - Inspired by the proteins that guide enamel formation in infancy, the gel fills microscopic cracks and draws calcium and phosphate from saliva to grow a new mineral layer that closely matches healthy enamel. After the gel is placed on a tooth, it forms a thin but durable coating that penetrates the tooth's surface and fills small cracks, pores, and other damaged areas. This coating then acts as a framework for rebuilding the mineral structure of enamel. When applied to exposed dentine, the gel can grow an enamel like mineral layer over the surface. This could help reduce tooth sensitivity while also creating a stronger surface for dental restorations to bond to.

07/23/2026 The Prairie Ecologist Those bugs are eating my flowers! What do I do? - If a species is reducing the resilience of a site - mitigate that. Stepping back to put that scene in context with the broader area usually helps answer the question about whether or what to do anything about it. After all, one of the benefits of facilitating ecological resilience is that it gives prairies the ability to adapt and absorb impacts, including Japanese beetles shredding some plants here and there.

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2026

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July was hot…making is more challenging to enjoy time outdoors – but I still found plenty to celebrate!

Car chargers on my way to Texas. I noticed that there were car chargers at a place I normally stop along my route between my home and seeing my dad in Texas. That bodes well for me buying an EV next year!

Children in the butterfly house. I enjoy my shifts in the Roston Native Butterfly House – particularly if there are children that enjoy their visit too. Their awe as they follow the flights of butterflies or watch the butterfly get nectar from a flower seems to transfer to everyone in the house!

Spicebush Caterpillar. There was a spicebush caterpillar that disappeared from the plant on the table just as I was leaving….and we weren’t seeing it anywhere. Then as I walked by – I noticed that it was on the other end of the table…crawling along the edge. We all celebrated that it was found and could be put in the pupation cage instead of risking getting squished on the floor.

Gall Webinar. Celebrating an interesting webinar that introduced me to new organisms that I will look for when I am out and about.

Blooming American Spikenard. Celebrating that the plant is bigger and has more blooms than last year. It’s one of the first native plants I added to the yard and probably my favorite.

250th.  It wasn’t as fabulous as I remember the 200th – but still worth celebrating.  

Home alone. My husband was away for almost a week and I enjoyed the time without the television blaring! Then again – I am glad it doesn’t happen very often.

Salmon. I celebrated making a dinner that I wouldn’t make if my husband was home!

Watermelon. It’s the summer food for celebration. I wish we could still buy the big watermelons with seeds that seemed to be even more flavorful.

Missouri Master Naturalist. I celebrated my chapter showing resilience to change….forging ahead.

Zooming – July 2026

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All the images in this month’s slideshow are from around Springfield: the Lake Springfield Boathouse, Springfield Botanical Gardens/Roston Native Butterfly House, and my yard. There is a lot to see this time of year! The weather has been hot enough that I make short forays for photography rather than longer hikes.

Empty Eggs

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A few weeks ago, I was cutting back the spent stems of coreopsis at the Lake Springfield boathouse garden when I came upon empty eggs in and around a small hole – almost hidden by the remaining foliage. The shells were curled into themselves – no sign of what had emerged although we all thought it was probably turtles.

They had plenty of vegetation to camouflage their escape! A big drift of cone flowers was right next to the nesting site and Lake Springfield is not too far away either.

American Spikenard Buds/Flowers

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The American Spikenard I planted my first summer in Missouri (2023) might be my favorite plant in the whole yard. I see it from my office window. It is thriving with violets as its understory. When I planted it, the violets were mostly between the new plant and the house; once I stopped mowing they have filled half the side yard. I thought that the spikenard had been killed that first winter, but it came back the next spring and has been bigger every yearsince. References say that the plants get 3-5 feet tall but this one is taller!

And it is full of buds/flowers right now. They are not showy as individual flowers, but the cluster is noticeable because of the change in texture from the large compound leaves. The fruits will be even more noticeable this fall because they will be reddish purple.

The American spikenard is not as common as many of the other native plants, but it certainly has worked well in my garden. It should contribute to the lushness of my shade garden as it spreads via it roots or seeds. I planted a second plant this year at the northern end of the shade garden and wonder if the two plants will eventually expand to meet in the middle!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 25, 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.

07/13/2026 Science Daily Why are healthy young non-smokers developing lung cancer? - Younger Americans under age 50 who have never smoked and consume more of fruits and vegetable than average may face a higher risk of developing lung cancer. Commercially grown (non-organic) fruits, vegetables, and whole grains generally contain higher levels of pesticide residues than dairy products, meat, and many processed foods. There is also previous research showing that agricultural workers with long term pesticide exposure experience higher rates of lung cancer. The next phase of the research will involve measuring pesticide levels directly in patients' blood or urine samples. That work could help determine whether certain pesticides are more strongly associated with lung cancer risk than others.

07/09/2026 NWF Blog Spark Joy in Your Outdoor Events by Blending Forest Bathing, Nature Appreciation, and Wildlife Education - Learn more about the practice of forest bathing and to access tips and resources on how to level up your outdoor events this summer through forest bathing, nature appreciation, and wildlife education.

07/08/26 Archaeology Magazine Scythian DNA Study Examines Elite Family Ties - The remains of 38 of the Scythians were recovered from kurgans that also contained elite weapons and gold artifacts, while the other 47 were recovered from smaller kurgans that lacked gold grave goods. The elite Scythians were 11 times more likely to be related to each other than to the other Scythians. Nearly half of the elite individuals in our dataset were female, indicating that women held high social status within Iron Age Scythian society.

07/08/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Sperm Whales Living in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea Seem to Have Developed a Distinct Dialect from Those in the West - From Southern drawls to Irish brogues, humans can sound very different while speaking the same language. It turns out that some whales might have similar regional variations in their vocalizations, too. Sperm whales living in different parts of the Mediterranean Sea appear to have their own distinct dialects. Scientists think that about 20,000 years ago, a group of intrepid sperm whales swam into the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean Sea, where they’ve remained ever since. The individuals living in the Mediterranean rarely leave the sea—and other sperm whales don’t often enter the area—so they’re considered a genetically distinct subpopulation.

07/07/2026 Clean Technica New York Now at 8 Gigawatts of Distributed Solar Power - New York has just reached 8 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power capacity in the “distributed” solar market — rooftops and small-scale installations. The state has a target of reaching 10 GW by 2030, and this new milestone puts them ahead of schedule. Just from lowering electricity demand on the power grid during times of peak demand, solar power is estimated to have saved New York $90 million last summer. Greater savings will come this summer.

07/08/2026 Yale Environment 360 What Do We Actually Know About the Microplastics Inside Us? - I know it is easy to say we don’t have enough information yet, but we do know about [the health risks from] these chemicals that are in all the plastics that your food is wrapped in. From that perspective, it is still a good idea to reduce plastics or eliminate them where possible. – Cassandra Rauert

07/07/2026 The Conversation Island life changed how Brazil’s Noronha skink reproduces, but the lizard’s strategy might be failing in a rapidly evolving world - Reproduction occurs during a relatively narrow period of the year, in the dry season. Not all females reproduce annually: our data suggest that many reproduce only every two or even three years. When they do, they produce only two eggs at a time — a very low number for lizards in this group. These eggs, however, are large relative to the mother’s body size, indicating a high investment in each offspring.

05/20/2026 PLOS One Skeletons in the permafrost: Exploring climate-driven heritage loss and occupational health at the early modern whaling burial site of Likneset, Svalbard - Rapid Arctic warming is accelerating the degradation of permafrost-preserved archaeological sites, threatening both cultural heritage and the scientific information it contains. Early modern whaling burial sites on Svalbard are particularly vulnerable due to their organic-rich burial contexts and exposed coastal settings.

Homegrown National Park How to build a mosquito bucket – A non-toxic way to control mosquitos in your yard.

Leaf & Limb 7 Ways to Help Your Trees and Shrubs During (and After) a Drought – My area of Missouri is not in drought right now….but it has been in previous summers. The suggestions in this post can be done any time….and keep trees healthier ahead of the next drought!  

Life Magazine in 1948

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Continuing my look at Life Magazines on Internet Archive….

As I looked at the issues from 1948, I noticed more stories about booming business and industry that about the aftermath of World War II. Isreal was in the news…and Truman surprised the prognosticators by winning the election in November. Children were in the news struggling in a polio epidemic or left behind across the world by GI fathers or hungry/homeless in Europe. The Life pictures are windows into what the publishers (and a lot of other people) thought was newsworthy in 1948.

 Life Magazine 1948-01-05 - Big whale kill in Faeroe Islands

Life Magazine 1948-01-12 - Coca-Cola advertisement (vending machine)

Life Magazine 1948-01-19 - As the Arabs fight from ambush, the Jews train regular army

Life Magazine 1948-01-26 - Fighting bighorn rams

Life Magazine 1948-02-02 - Palestine Jews crawl through cross fire

Life Magazine 1948-02-09 - The US runs short of oil

Life Magazine 1948-02-16 - Gandhi joins the Hindu immortals

Life Magazine 1948-02-23 - Timberline skiing

Life Magazine 1948-03-01 - Scio, Ohio rebuilding pottery plant

Life Magazine 1948-03-08 - Explosions kill Jews as Arabs defy the UN

Life Magazine 1948-03-08 - Sacred rivers receive Gandhi’s ashes

Life Magazine 1948-03-08 - The Brando’s – the brother and sister from Omaha

Life Magazine 1948-03-29 - Czechs flee their new red regime

Life Magazine 1948-04-05 - Ozark spring

Life Magazine 1948-04-12 - Cannon percale sheets

Life Magazine 1948-04-19 - Dishwasher advertisement

Life Magazine 1948-04-26 - Meteor Crater in Arizona

Life Magazine 1948-05-03 - Spring walk (garden)

Life Magazine 1948-05-10 - Jews score a preliminary victory

Life Magazine 1948-05-17 - Maine & Pennsylvania

Life Magazine 1948-05-24 - American Airlines advertisement

Life Magazine 1948-05-31 - Isreal is born in travail and hope

Life Magazine 1948-06-07 - Pennsylvania railroad advertisement

Life Magazine 1948-06-14 - Trademarks in nature and gasoline

Life Magazine 1948-06-21 - Hong Kong’s eastern tip – cemetery for World War II dead

Life Magazine 1948-06-28 - Western Europe wears a new look

 Life Magazine 1948-07-05 - Oil breaks production records again

Life Magazine 1948-07-12 - Earthquake in Japan

Life Magazine 1948-07-19 - Fogging to kill insects (using helicopters)

Life Magazine 1948-07-26 - Chicago beach

Life Magazine 1948-08-02 - Black and white ranges of Peru

Life Magazine 1948-08-09 - Steel and sunflowers in Ukraine

Life Magazine 1948-08-16 - American abroad

Life Magazine 1948-08-23 - GI children left behind by their fathers from London to Tokyo

Life Magazine 1948-08-30 - Polio epidemic

Life Magazine 1948-09-06 - Madison, Wisconsin

Life Magazine 1948-09-13 - Airborne hospital

Life Magazine 1948-09-20 - Western Electric (telephone) advertisement

Life Magazine 1948-09-27 - Soviet prison camps

Life Magazine 1948-10-04 - Never has such a volume of goods been manufactured by a nation at peace

Life Magazine 1948-10-11 - Ritze crackers with cheese

Life Magazine 1948-10-18 - Yardley advertisement

Life Magazine 1948-10-25 - Earth photographed from rockets

Life Magazine 1948-11-01 - Rainwear

Life Magazine 1948-11-08 - Bees on the wing

Life Magazine 1948-11-15 - Truman wins!

Life Magazine 1948-11-22 - The US harvests a record corn crop

Life Magazine 1948-11-29 - Watchmakers of Switzerland advertisement

Life Magazine 1948-12-06 - Johnson and Johnson first aid advertisement

Life Magazine 1948-12-13 - Pennsylvania railroad holiday homecoming

Life Magazine 1948-12-20 - American Airlines “I’m closer to my grandchildren” ad

Life Magazine 1948-12-27 - Christmas finds many children of Europe in great need of help

Rattlesnake Master

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One of my favorite native plants is rattlesnake master. All three of the plants I bought and planted in my front yard garden have bloomed this year. The downside is that their flower stalks fall over if there is not a lot of vegetation growing around them to help hold them upright. I did notice that there were tiny insects all over the flowers even when they on the ground! They are touted as great plants for pollinators and some swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs on them! As the season has progressed, I’ve noticed that they are continuing to grow more stalks. By next year maybe each clump with be substantial enough to support the stalks. They are the most interesting plants in the native plant garden structurally!

I saw a clump of rattlesnake master at the St. Louis Zoo which has become my and am wondering how long it will be before my plants are as dense. Maybe next year? Maybe the year after that?

Butterfly House - July

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My shifts in the Roston Native Butterfly House in July were hotter; maybe not as pleasant for people but the butterflies and caterpillars were very active. I’ve learned to take more water – and wear a neck fan! The caterpillars included  large cecropia moth caterpillars (that can get as big as a hotdog) as well as tussock moths and red spotted purple caterpillars that look like bird poop. There were still plenty of spicebush swallowtail caterpillars around too, but I somehow didn’t take any pictures of them; I was too busy trying to get them into the cage as they opted to leave the plant to find a good place to make their chrysalis.

The giant swallowtail is laying eggs on the wafer ash and there are all stages from egg to varying sizes of caterpillars on the tree. Based on the number of eggs, some of the caterpillars will have to be moved to another tree (i.e. outside the house) so that the tree will keep at least a few leaves!

The pawpaws are still green. It will be a month or more before they ripen. The thistles that were the big nectar source in June have been replaced with other plants that are smaller but must have plenty of nectar.

The butterflies and big moths are still the big show!

Serendipity Trees

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Serendipity trees are one of the joys of native gardening! I have 3 different kinds in my yard.

The oaks are from ‘squirrel planted’ acorns – probably from my neighbor’s red oak. Most of the time I mow the seedlings but there is one that is growing in the place where we had to cut down a pine (it fell on its own really). The oak is growing well and is no longer much shorter than the plants around it: iris, beautyberry, gray-headed coneflower, and newly planted elderberry. My plan is to enlarge the bed as the oak grows so that most of its leaves will fall in places that will never be mowed! In the front yard, there is a younger seedling in the native plant garden that is shorter than the Missouri evening primrose beside it! It too can continue to grow and the bed can be expanded over time to receive its leaves.

There is a dying redbud near the neighborhood stormwater pond, but it is leaving its progeny all over the neighborhood – seeds probably transported by birds. Some are growing as shrubs near the holly…and other is growing in a good place to provide some nice afternoon shade to our deck in the next few years.

The hackberries are also bird planted; there is a big healthy tree near the dying redbud with lots of seeds that I see on the sidewalk in the fall. I have several that are coming up in the bed with the hollies and with a Japanese barberry. The Japanese barberry is not native and somewhat invasive so I will be cutting it down repeatedly until it dies – making room for the hackberry!

I like the serendipity trees. It akin to a savanna replenishing itself naturally.

Cat Sitting

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My family is traveling…I am the only one at home – which means that I am taking care of cats in 2 locations! Food, water, litter scooping….the occasional clean-up of throw up. Treats occasionally but they don’t seem to be as crazy for them as previous cats.

My daughter and husband left for an amateur astronomy event in Nebraska in the early morning. I took a picture of the sunrise at my house since I was up and ready for the day already.

They sent a picture of their camp later in the day…and then sunset.

Evidently the sky was clear, but it was windy which made photography more challenging. They did send one picture from the first night.

There are evidently some tiny prickly pears in the field where they are set up…they stick to everything – including tires.

My son-in-law left for a conference early the next day. I checked on their cat in the afternoon…refilled a water bowl and refreshed the food supply. My son-in-law had already put the trash/recycle bins out at the edge of the driveway; I put them away when I went the next day.

I am enjoying the quiet of home…even with the little bit of extra work cat sitting!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 18, 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.

07/06/2026 Clean Technica Fixing Climate Communications Part 1 - Make consequences such as your insurance bill, your home, and your children’s health urgent and tangible; make the cause concrete by anchoring every message to pollution rather than climate change; and make the cure feel expansive rather than restrictive. Reaching enough people to sustain the transition will require a delivery infrastructure built around genuine community engagement, economically grounded wins, and a willingness to hold accountable the interests that have made this conversation harder than it needs to be.

07072026 Clean Technica Climate Communications — From Losing the Argument to Winning It Part 2 - Telling the climate story with the value proposition of cost, risk management, improved operational performance, supply chain resiliency, and long-term enterprise value is a winning one. It’s a strategy that appeals to the C-suite, is durable, and can be couched in shareholder returns.

07/06/2026 Smithsonian Magazine These 11 Wildlife Images from the Ocean Conservancy’s Photography Contest Showcase the Wonder of Earth’s Waters - The annual contest received more than 1,000 photographs of marine wildlife and habitats this year. The ones that rose to the top were portraits of ocean wildlife, and I think that’s because we crave to see and connect with animals on an interpersonal level.

07/07/2026 The Conversation 3.1 billion‑year‑old rocks in Australia reveal a forgotten chapter of Earth’s water cycle - We learn the water cycle in school as a story of evaporation and precipitation. But Earth runs a second, far slower one deep beneath our feet. On the ocean floor, seawater seeps into the oceanic crust and reacts with the rock, becoming chemically bound inside its minerals, locked into their crystal structures rather than sitting as free water. Over millions of years, sinking tectonic plates carry these water-bearing minerals down into the mantle, the hot rock layer beneath the crust. This sinking of one plate beneath another is called subduction, and volcanoes eventually breathe the water back out. The deep water cycle moderates Earth’s water budget. At the surface, it keeps the oceans from drying up or drowning the continents, while in the interior, it changes how the mantle melts and builds continents.

07/06/2026 NWF Blog Marine Animal Quiz: It’s Plastic Free July! - Take the time to learn more about how plastic pollution in the oceans of the world harms marine life and consider action steps you can take to reduce your plastic waste footprint.

07/04/2026 ScienceDaily The secret to healthy aging may be hidden in your blood - A new study found that centenarians have a unique chemical "fingerprint" in their blood that sets them apart from normal aging, including unusual patterns of bile acids and steroids linked to longer survival.

07/03/2026 Planetizen Lake Powell reaches lowest water level on record - Currently, Lake Powell is around 24 percent full. The last time it was completely full was in 1983. Since then, water levels have fluctuated, but in 2026, they have fallen to a critical point. And there are multiple concerns if the water levels continue to drop. One includes reaching "dead pool," the point at which water levels are so low that water can no longer move across the dam and into the Grand Canyon, which would cause significant ecological impacts and reduce the capacity for hydroelectricity. 

07/03/2026 Yale Environment 360 In Overfished Adriatic Sea, Dolphins Look to Trawlers for Food - Off the eastern coast of Italy, large numbers of bottlenose dolphins are looking to fishing trawlers as a source of food, a sign that dolphins may be struggling to feed themselves in waters depleted by overfishing. Dolphins may also suffer hearing damage that results from chronic exposure to the noise of trawlers. It is risky behavior. However, finding sufficient prey away from trawlers in an overfished sea may be too difficult. It appears that for these animals, taking the risks is better than going hungry.

7/2/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Earth Might Be Home to 20 Million Insect Species—More Than Three Times as Many as Previously Thought – Only about one million species have been named and described, meaning up to 95 percent of the planet’s insect diversity might remain a mystery…. With more than 40 percent of known insect species threatened with extinction. “The library is being burned before the books can be read.”

6/21/2025 YouTube Slicing and Dicing Onions – Learn some practical kitchen knife skills via a video from the American College of Culinary Medicine!

Suburban Savana – 4

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Continuing my series on my progress toward transitioning my yard to a suburban savanna…..

This month I am focusing on water. My yard has a sprinkler system that was installed in the late 90s. We get it checked at the beginning of each season and replaced the controller last year so that it doesn’t come on if there was rain recently (prior that that we often manually turned if off earlier in the growing season when our area gets enough rain for plants to thrive).

This year I am watering as I have in years past since so many of the plants are new. Next year I will likely reduce either the duration or the frequency since the plants are native and should thrive without extra water. In subsequent years when most plants are well established, I might simply turn on the sprinklers manually…only when there are very long periods with no rainfall (i.e. in drought conditions).

The only plant that will likely need extra attention is an Kousa dogwood (planted by a previous owner) that is growing in full sun. Even with the watering I do now, it tends to get some dry/brown leaves in summers with high heat and little rain. It’s not a native so obviously is not honed to our Missouri climate! I might put a soaker hose in to specifically provide water to the roots of the tree….or plant some green native ground cover (something like golden ragwort on the north and south, Missouri evening primrose on the western side, violets on the eastern side) under the tree that will keep the soil cooler than the mulch that is currently there.  

In a few years, if something on the sprinkler system breaks enough that it would required replacement – maybe I will decide I don’t need a sprinkler system often enough to warrant the expense!

More about my suburban savanna and blooms for pollinators next month.

Previous Suburban Savanna Posts:

April 2026 – Overview

May 2026 – Planting Natives

June 2026 – Shade Garden

Common Evening Primrose, Poke weed, and Fleabane

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I have three plants in my yard that are native….but I didn’t plant them…and I have an evolving strategy for them. The first picture shows all three: the yellow-flowered common evening primrose in the foreground with a small poke weed between them. In the background – the white-flowered fleabane accents the yard between the patio and the pine. .

I had common evening primrose in one of my beds year before last…and it is back in that bed and beyond this year. I am letting it bloom. It is tall but sturdy enough that it remains upright. The individual blooms are fragile (heavy rain damaged the ones I photographed) but there are open flowers for pollinators longer because new buds are maturing further up the stalk - sustaining the bloom time.

Poke weed is a challenge. There are times I like the green leaves and purply pink stalk…other times they seem to crowd out other native plants that I want to thrive or they get so tall that they fall over in the next storm. Birds eat the seeds and something occasional eats the leaves…but they are not as much value to wildlife (insects, pollinators, birds) as other plants. My strategy this year has been to cut any that get too tall and leave ones that are small. Cutting has the effect of causing the plant to branch and stay low so at least they are not as dominate in the landscape as they would be without cutting. They die back to ground level in the cold but then return from the roots in the spring. Where violets are growing very densely, there are not as many poke weed so perhaps the key is to cut the poke weed repeatedly until the other native plants fill the area.

The fleabane came up in the grassy part of my yard, and I have been mowing around it. As soon as they make seeds, I will mow them. The flowers are small but butterflies, bees and moths like them. It’s great to have plenty of food for pollinators. My goal this summer it to observe when things bloom and then focus my buying of new plants on filling in the flower availability gaps for next season.  

Plastics Crisis – Avoiding Plastic Wrap

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This is the season for watermelon! In prior years, I generally cut it and put some plastic wrap across the portion I was putting back in the refrigerator. This year – I thought about an alternative…. wanting to avoid single use plastic entirely.

My solution: turn the watermelon upside down on a tray! So simple. If the juice leaks a little, the tray will hold it, so it is better than plastic wrap from that perspective.  I found myself wondering why I didn’t think of this before.

Our Missouri Yard

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There is so much going on in our yard this year that I might do more than one post about it each month. Every time it rained in June – there were mushrooms in and around the native plant garden in the front yard. They were often almost like a living edge…along the margin of the mulch – almost into the grass. A few times there was a clump in the middle of the bed. I love to see them because it means the natural decomposition of the mulch is well underway.

All three of the rattlesnake master plants have stalks. Unfortunately, most of them fall over but they still seem to be developing. I might have seeds and then more plants next year!

The new Missouri Evening Primrose plants are thriving and most have bloomed. The red oak seedling (squirrel planted) that I am leaving is next to one of them. In a few years it might be the tallest of the new plantings although it might be more years before it is taller than the maple. The yarrow (I bought 2 but only one survived) is next to another of the primrose plants; I like the very different texture the yarrow adds to the garden and hope that it will reproduce itself over time…or I will have to buy more!

In sunny, drier garden next to our front door, the day lilies and Virginia sweetspire have finished blooming now…the crape myrtle (out of the picture) is blooming and there are several fall blooming natives there. The violet (ground cover) is lush but will begin to dry out soon unless I remember to water it; the leaves are already not as good to eat as the violets that are growing in my shade garden.

The soapweed yucca appears to be thriving although I need to keep other plant away from it. There is a grapevine growing on the dead Japanese maple in the corner….and I am going to let it continue to grow there…and drive out other plants that are not as hardy.

I noticed a stand of poison ivy in a small flower bed on the west side of the house…and it had something growing on the leaves. After watching a recent webinar on galls, I realized that the growths were caused by the poison ivy gall mite! It also can infect fragrant sumac; I checked the plant I have in my back yard and, so far, it doesn’t have any galls! I need to develop some better techniques to take gall pictures….since now I will be looking for them everywhere I go (particularly on oaks!).