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

Posts Tagged: native

Monarchs on the Move: A Migration and a Bohart Museum Open House

It's Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 1 and a female monarch butterfly flutters into our Vacaville pollinator garden. Me: "Welcome Ms. Monarch! Aren't you a little late for the migration?" Ms. Monarch: "No, I'm just a late bloomer,. so to speak. I'm...

A female monarch butterfly sipping nectar from a tropical milkweed on Wednesday, Nov. 1 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female monarch butterfly sipping nectar from a tropical milkweed on Wednesday, Nov. 1 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female monarch butterfly sipping nectar from a tropical milkweed on Wednesday, Nov. 1 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch spreads her wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female monarch spreads her wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch spreads her wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A little flight fuel and the monarch is off to an overwintering site along coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A little flight fuel and the monarch is off to an overwintering site along coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A little flight fuel and the monarch is off to an overwintering site along coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 3:42 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

And Just Like That, A Monarch Fluttered into Our Garden

And just like that, a female monarch butterfly fluttered into our Vacaville pollinator garden this morning, Aug. 10, and left a dozen or so calling cards: precious eggs.  We earlier saw a male monarch patrolling the garden on the morning of...

A female monarch flutters into a Vacaville garden on Aug. 10 and checks out the narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female monarch flutters into a Vacaville garden on Aug. 10 and checks out the narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female monarch flutters into a Vacaville garden on Aug. 10 and checks out the narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The monarch heads for another milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch heads for another milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The monarch heads for another milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The monarch investigates a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch investigates a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The monarch investigates a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A tiny monarch egg clings to the underside of a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A tiny monarch egg clings to the underside of a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A tiny monarch egg clings to the underside of a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 7:33 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

Native Bee, Native Flower, Sunny California

Just a day in the life of a native bee on a native flower in native California. Svastra obliqua expurgata, also called "the sunflower bee," absolutely loves Coreoposis californica, sometimes called tickseed. If you were a plant, would you...

A female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, heads for a Coreopsis. Both are natives to  California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, heads for a Coreopsis. Both are natives to California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, heads for a Coreopsis. Both are natives to California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Start here...the sunflower bee,  Svastra obliqua expurgata, begins to forage.  (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Start here...the sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, begins to forage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Start here...the sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, begins to forage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Clockwise works for this sunflower bee,  Svastra obliqua expurgata.  (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Clockwise works for this sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Clockwise works for this sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Well, hello, there! The sunflower bee, Svastra, looks up at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Well, hello, there! The sunflower bee, Svastra, looks up at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Well, hello, there! The sunflower bee, Svastra, looks up at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Friday, July 14, 2023 at 4:11 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources

Decisions, Decisions! The Katydid or the Bee?

So here's this crab spider stalking a katydid nymph foraging on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Dinner awaits! Suddenly a native bee, Melissodes agilis, lands next to the katydid and begins to sip some nectar. Decisions, decisions! Do...

A crab spider is about to nail a katydid nymph when a longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, appears on the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A crab spider is about to nail a katydid nymph when a longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, appears on the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A crab spider is about to nail a katydid nymph when a longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, appears on the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, continues to forage under the watchful eye of the crab spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, continues to forage under the watchful eye of the crab spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, continues to forage under the watchful eye of the crab spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The longhorned bee turns aways from the crab spider, still unaware of the danger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The longhorned bee turns aways from the crab spider, still unaware of the danger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The longhorned bee turns aways from the crab spider, still unaware of the danger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The crab spider hauls the struggling katydid nymph over the side of the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The crab spider hauls the struggling katydid nymph over the side of the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The crab spider hauls the struggling katydid nymph over the side of the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Friday, May 12, 2023 at 9:04 AM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Yard & Garden

Pollination Ecologist Neal Williams: The Importance of Native Bees

Did you know that California is home to more than 1600 species of undomesticated bees—most of them native—that populate and pollinate our gardens, fields, and urban green spaces?--Source: California Bees and Blooms, a Guide for Gardeners and...

A squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, pollinating a squash. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, pollinating a squash. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, pollinating a squash. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This native bee is the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, emerging from a foxglove. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This native bee is the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, emerging from a foxglove. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This native bee is the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, emerging from a foxglove. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, foraging on a seaside daisy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, foraging on a seaside daisy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, foraging on a seaside daisy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A native leafcutter bee, Megachile fidelis, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A native leafcutter bee, Megachile fidelis, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A native leafcutter bee, Megachile fidelis, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Friday, May 5, 2023 at 5:16 PM
Focus Area Tags: Economic Development, Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

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