Master Gardeners of Ventura County
University of California
Master Gardeners of Ventura County

Posts Tagged: Nature

Gulf Fritillaries Doing Well

The Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, is definitely back from a comeback, at least in the Sacramento, Davis and Vacaville-Fairfield areas. In September of 2009, butterfly guru Art Shapiro, now a UC Davis distinguished professor...

Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, foraging on a zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, foraging on a zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, foraging on a zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Monday, April 1, 2024 at 10:09 AM

Mary Louise Flint's Article in The Acorn: 'Butterflies in Decline'

You won't want to miss the cover story, "Butterflies in Decline," in the spring 2024 issue of The Acorn, the quarterly magazine published by the Effie Yeaw Nature Center.  The center, operated by the American River Natural History...

A pipevine swallowtail nectaring on Jupiter's beard in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A pipevine swallowtail nectaring on Jupiter's beard in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A pipevine swallowtail nectaring on Jupiter's beard in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 3:34 PM

A Bee-Butterfly Battle Over a Zinnia

An Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, settles on a red zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden and begins sipping the nectar. A honey bee buzzes by. Was she just passing through or did she want the same nectar? The bee brushes the...

An Anise Swallowtail, sipping nectar from a red zinnia, seems unaware of a buzzing honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An Anise Swallowtail, sipping nectar from a red zinnia, seems unaware of a buzzing honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An Anise Swallowtail, sipping nectar from a red zinnia, seems unaware of a buzzing honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Anise Swallowtail:
Anise Swallowtail: "What great nectar!" Bee: "I want some, too!" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Anise Swallowtail: "What great nectar!" Bee: "I want some, too!" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Anise Swallowtail:
Anise Swallowtail: "This nectar is great." Bee: "Are you sharing or moving or what?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Anise Swallowtail: "This nectar is great." Bee: "Are you sharing or moving or what?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's touch and go! The honey bee, Apis mellifera, touches and the Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon,  goes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's touch and go! The honey bee, Apis mellifera, touches and the Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, goes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's touch and go! The honey bee, Apis mellifera, touches and the Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, goes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Tuesday, September 5, 2023 at 8:33 AM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

Monarch Butterflies: Closer to Extinction

It was a good news/bad news/sad news kind of day on July 21 when the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)  announced that the migratory monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is now on its "Red List of Threatened...

A monarch caterpillar munching away on its host plant, milkweed, in a Vacaville, Calif., garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar munching away on its host plant, milkweed, in a Vacaville, Calif., garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch caterpillar munching away on its host plant, milkweed, in a Vacaville, Calif., garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch chrysalis attached to the underside of a bird feeder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch chrysalis attached to the underside of a bird feeder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch chrysalis attached to the underside of a bird feeder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male monarch butterfly spreads its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch butterfly spreads its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male monarch butterfly spreads its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female monarch butterfly spreads its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female monarch butterfly spreads its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female monarch butterfly spreads its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at 3:47 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Yard & Garden

The Beekeeper

 Ishai Zeldner, a beekeeper turned businessman, would have been proud. Zeldner, who died in 2018 at age 71, would have been proud to see the family business he founded, Z Specialty Food, develop into a 20,000 square-foot...

These are Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These are Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

These are Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A close-up of Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. He documented his work on the bee boxes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A close-up of Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. He documented his work on the bee boxes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A close-up of Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. He documented his work on the bee boxes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ishai Zeldner loved starthistle honey; his business began with this varietal. Here a honey bee forages on a starthistle, a weed loved by beekeepers but hated by farmers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ishai Zeldner loved starthistle honey; his business began with this varietal. Here a honey bee forages on a starthistle, a weed loved by beekeepers but hated by farmers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ishai Zeldner loved starthistle honey; his business began with this varietal. Here a honey bee forages on a starthistle, a weed loved by beekeepers but hated by farmers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 4:46 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Family, Food, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

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