Posts Tagged: dragonflies
UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery's Online Plant Sales Scheduled
If you've been thinking about bees, butterflies and other pollinators--and wondering when the next UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery online plant sales will take place--mark your...
A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, nectaring on a butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii. Many nectar plants will be available at the UC Davis Arboretum Nursery online plant sales. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on a purple salvia, Salvia farinacea. Salvias are popular in pollinator gardens.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A black-faced bumble bee, Bombus californicus, foraging on purple ginny salvia. Salvias are popular at the UC Davis Arboretum nursery plant sales. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, on purple lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery manager Taylor Lewis caring for the plants. Plant sales this year are online sales with curbside pickup. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
COVID-10 pandemic precautions have changed the in-person plant sales to online plant sales at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a scene from the pre-COVID-19 UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery plant sales. The sales are now online, with curbside pickup. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Don't Get the Red Out
You don't want to "get the red out" when a flameskimmer dragonfly visits your garden. You want to let Big Red to stay in. This male flameskimmer hung out in our pollinator garden in...
A male flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, perches on a bamboo stake in a Vacaville garden. In back is a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Looking like a biplane, a male flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Take a Bug Break--and Bring Along This Book
Don't take a coffee break. Take a bug break. Step into your garden, walk over to a community park, or hike in the wilderness and see what's out there. And take along the newly published, newly...
A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, looking for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Booklice, Liposcelis bostrychophila, are nearly microscopic (about a millimeter long). You may find them in your cornmeal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, perches on a stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina (formerly known as Xylocopa varipuncta). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What Are You Thankful for? Insects on the List?
So you're seated at the Thanksgiving dinner table listening to what people are thankful for, what they treasure the most. The three "F's" win hands-down: family, friends and food. But "insects"...
A native bee, Melissodes agilis targets a monarch on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A lady beetle, aka ladybug, targeting aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The honey bee is responsible for pollinating about one-third of the food in our diet. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Lovin' the Lavender
Lovin' the lavender... If you attended the Lavender Festival last weekend at the six-acre Araceli Farms at 7389 Pitt School Road, Dixon, you were in for a real treat. Planted in April 2017, the...
The six-acre lavender fields on the Araceli Farms, on the outskirts of Dixon, glow during the Lavender Festival. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Araceli Farms are planted with seven varieties of lavender: seven varieties of lavender: Grosso, Provence, White Spike, Royal Velvet, Violet Intrigue, Folgate, and Melissa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Cordovan honey bee, the color of pure gold, takes flight through the lavender fields. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Clay's Bees--Clay Ford, owner of the Pleasants Valley Honey Company, Vacaville--pollinate the lavender fields. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A variegated meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum)in the lavender fields. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Western pondhawk (Erythemis collocate) rests on a lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) flutters around the lavender fields of the Araceli Farms in Dixon on June 22. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Maria Gonzalez of Dixon cuts lavender on the Araceli Farms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the curved knife, perfect for lavender harvesting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Visitors at the Lavender Festival at Araceli Farms stroll through the vendor area. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)