Our Missouri Yard – October 2025

We don’t have many leaves falling so I am still mowing the parts of the yard that are grass. I will stop mowing the back when our neighbor’s oak starts dropping leaves – participating in ‘leave the leaves’ for a second year and hoping to preserve some overwintering moths/butterflies.

I bought two new additions for my yard from Ozark Soul: Rubekia laciniata (common names: sochan, golden glow, and cutleaf coneflower) and Asimina triloba (common name pawpaw). The leaves of the first are edible; I will use it along with violet leaves for ‘greens’ next spring and early summer. The pawpaw will take years to produce fruit; I have some seeds in pots that I am sprouting to add to the ‘patch’ so there will be at least two trees eventually. Both plants are small so I have them marked with yard sculptures!

The Missouri Evening Primrose next to my mailbox is blooming profusely although not producing seed; I suspect that perhaps insects are not finding it.  There is a tiny prickly pear cactus growing with it which I am monitoring.

Pollinators are enjoying two types of late blooming plants in my yard: goldenrod and what I think is Symphyotrichum pilosum (white heath aster) which came up in a bare spot at the edge of my driveway, and I mowed around it. Both plants are full of insects…at least two kinds of bumblebees even on cool mornings!

My husband and I realized we had waited too late to plant our new native plant garden in our front yard so we will get the bed created sometime over the next few months then plant the garden in the spring after the last frost.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 11, 2025

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.

What Makes Bruises Change Color Over Time? - What appears as a red or purplish skin contusion in the beginning, slowly transitions to green, yellow, and finally brown, before disappearing entirely. What are the mechanisms that produce this bouquet of bruise colors?

Scientists finally explain the real reason pregnant women get morning sickness - According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 80% of early-stage pregnant mothers experience some nausea, vomiting and aversions to certain foods and smells. A unique mix of inflammatory responses function to prevent the mother's body from rejecting the fetus, alongside adaptive behavioral mechanisms, like nausea, that encourage the mother to avoid foods that are potentially harmful, especially in the first and second trimesters when the fetus is most vulnerable.

This company is turning empty offices across America into farms - Area 2 Farms is a three-year-old company based in Arlington, Virginia, that’s taking the concept of indoor farming to unusual spaces. Its first farm, in Arlington, grows dozens of varieties of crops (including lettuce, spinach, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and mushrooms, as well as more niche items like amaranth microgreens and purple shamrock) in a low-slung brick building tucked between a dog day care and a car repair shop. The goal is to eventually build indoor farms within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population.

Bird Soaring Below a Total Solar Eclipse Wins 2025 Bird Photographer of the Year – Some beautiful…some thought provoking.

In Her Final Interview, Jane Goodall Issued Urgent Call to Protect the Planet - “We need to protect this planet and think about the future,” she told The Wall Street Journal. “Because if we don’t, that’s the end of our species. Humans are not exempt from extinction.”

Leaf Layer Safari: How to Spot Hidden Moth Cocoons in Your Backyard - This autumn, instead of raking, try exploring. Step carefully, look closely, and you may discover a miniature safari happening right under your feet.

Scientists Studied the Genes of a Woman Who Lived 117 Years - The findings point to a combination of genetic luck and lifestyle choices.

The Secret Apartment Atop the Eiffel Tower - Around 1,000 feet above Paris’ streets perches Gustave Eiffel’s apartment, complete with a bathroom, a kitchen, and wax sculptures of Eiffel, his daughter, and Thomas Edison. At the very top of the tower, Eiffel allotted himself a 1,075 square foot private office, and with it the best view in Paris. After all, he had footed three-quarters of the bill.

Winter Transforms the Mississippi River Delta - The Mississippi River’s watershed drains 41 percent of the United States (spanning all or part of 31 states) and reaches into two Canadian provinces. Its nutrient-rich waters support fertile agricultural lands along its shores and throughout the deltaic basin. The river also plays a role in the U.S. economy by providing transportation shipping routes. To maintain these functions, engineers have implemented channelization to help maintain navigable shipping lanes and, in recent decades, launched sediment diversion projects aimed at returning vital sediments to the wetlands.

How to future-proof your knees - After back pain, throbbing aches in the knees are the most cited musculoskeletal ailment in older adults. The post shows five quick, home-based exercises which will all help.

Butterfly House – August 2025

So many things to see in the Botanical Garden and the Roston Native Butterfly House this month. There are plenty of native plants in bloom in the rain garden on the walk between the Botanical Center and the house….but I just take a quick look since I want a few minutes to get things cleaned up before turning the sign to ‘open.’

Sometimes we find butterflies that have died overnight. I took a picture of one before we put it in the small bin we keep for butterflies that have succumbed. Another morning I found the 4 parts of a cecropia moth’s wings scattered on the floor; maybe a mouse ate the body during the night?

I like to see butterflies getting nectar from flowers…but sometimes it is enough to see them ‘resting.’ There are often fresh zinnias for the butterflies – freshly cut from the Master Gardener area of the Botanical Gardens. And there is always something blooming in the house itself. I like the Zen of the place when there aren’t many people but there is always the magic of a child’s wonder seeing a butterfly in a way they haven’t before.

The caterpillar that was ‘new to me’ this month was a Zebra Swallowtail…large enough to make its chrysalis – picked up off the floor when it was trying to leave the plant!

The moths are easily photographed because they are not very active during the day. The Luna moth is my favorite….but the Polyphemus is beautiful too. They, along with the Cecropia, have large caterpillars that are always interesting to visitors.

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2025

July was a great month to be outdoors – even though it was very hot…plenty to celebrate.

Rescuing a large cecropia caterpillar from the trash. One of my morning shifts at the Butterfly House started with quite a surprise….finding a cecropia caterpillar in the trash while I was cleaning up before opening. I celebrated that I happened to look down before I threw in the messy paper towel…and could easily return the caterpillar to the table display.

Luna caterpillars making cocoons. I celebrated when my 40 or so Luna Moth caterpillars started making their cocoons. When they were all large caterpillars, it was challenging to keep them sufficiently supplied with sweet gum leaves.

More and more cocoons…and then I took the last 4 Luna caterpillars to the Butterfly House. I celebrated some quite days with only rustlings from the pupa inside the cocoons.

The first Luna Moths emerging. The first moths started to emerge…3 males in one day! I celebrated that so many of the cocoons seem viable too…so many more of these beautiful moths will be emerging soon.

A late afternoon barbeque picnic and evening mothing. I celebrated with a great meal with fellow Butterfly House docents…and then seeing how lights and sheets in the evening attract moths.

Dayl ilies at the Botanical. I celebrate the profusion of color and form of the day lilies every year about this time.

Finding S. Fred Prince’s The rainbow in the grass; wildflowers of the Marvel Cave Ozark. I was doing my usual look at botanical books for next month and happened upon this beautiful one from the early 1900s about the wildflowers in the Branson MO area….close to where I live!

Seeing cattle egrets. As I drove north from Dallas, I saw a flock of cattle egrets flying over the highway. It must be a good year for producing young.

Lake Springfield Boathouse Garden. My husband and I always enjoy the plantings around the building…and the walk down toward the field of wildflowers. We went early enough in the day that it wasn’t too hot.

Sunflowers at the assisted living home. My sister planted sunflowers in a big pot (and some of the seeds must have spilled because several plants are growing in the soil next to the pot). I celebrated that they are thriving and the memory that my niece brought a sunflower seedling in a cup home from kindergarten, and my mother propagated them along the alley for years. That niece is getting ready to have her second child soon.

Moths at Busiek (vicarious)

My son-in-law took some of his students to Busiek State Fores and Wildlife Area after dark earlier this month and sent pictures of moths (and other insects) they found there. It was a great vicarious experience!

It was an opportunity for me to check the bug identification powers of my iPhone Photos app as well. It provided an id for most of them: Waved Sphinx, Elephant Beetle (obviously not correct…it should have left this one as ‘bug’, the app might have been confused with having two insects in close proximity in the image), Darapsa Myron (Virginia creeper sphinx or Green grapevine sphinx).

Prionoxystus robinae (Carpenterworm moth or Locust borer), Haploa, Cicindela (tiger beetle).

Conchylodes ovulalis (zebra conchylodes moth), Hypagyrtis unipunctata, mating Malacosoma americana (eastern tent caterpillar).

There were a couple of Luna Moths – these are ones I am familiar with and can identify without help!

The comments in parentheses above are from my attempt to verify the id made by my iPhone Photos app. It made a reasonable id except for the one image where there were two insects which the app couldn’t separate well.

There were three that the app identified as ‘bug.’ I used the SEEK app and a little more research to tentatively identify: grape leaffholder moth and two Anna tiger moths.

A Hand-book to the Order Lepidoptera

William Forsell Kirby was an English Entomologist that authored a 5-volume Handbook to the Order Lepidoptera in 1896 and 1897. I am featuring the 1st volume as this week’s ‘book of the week’ because I was so pleased to find it. I had somehow browsed the other 4 volumes back in 2016! Enjoy the 4 sample images….and follow the link to see many more.

A hand-book to the order Lepidoptera - volume 1

The links to the other 4 volumes are: two, three, four, five.