On the Milkweed

Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus)

Orange Spotted Lady Beetle (Brachiacantha ursina)

St. John's Wort

St. John's wort is becoming more prominent in the 2009 planting square. In a one year old uncut area this mass of yellow would be bird's-foot trefoil, but in the fifth year after cutting, trefoil is rare and the perennial St. John's wort is common. I just learned from the wikipeadia article that this invasive plant is considered poisonous to livestock.

Mid July Insects

A Long Horned Beetle (Clytus ruricola)

Canada Thistle Bud Weevil(Larinus planus)

A Syrphid (Toxomerus marginatus)

A Flesh Fly on Canada Thistle (Family Sarcophagidae)

There is only one large clump of Canada Thistles in the 2009 planting area. It has been growing in size over the past couple of years and is now large enough to dissuade me from attempting to pass through it. It is interesting how slowly the area is changing from year to year. I can identify the goldenrod and aster clumps coming back that I photographed last fall even though they don't yet have flowers on them. Even the different patches of grass are relatively static from year to year. Things can change quickly, like the disappearance of birds-foot trefoil between the first and second year, but more often the change occurs by the growth or decline of an existing patch of plants.