Summer - the Fourth Approaches

 "Wild Rose (Rosa blanda) with two Metallic Green Sweat Bee species" - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison 

Each morning here the wild roses along our hillside driveway are really showy from the house...I decided this morning to take the camera and tripod down to see if there were any photos presenting possibilities.

I'm fairly confident these are "Rosa blanda" as they are really very smooth and un-barbed on the flowering stems...further down on the base stem they are very barbed. 

 

The roses were being visited by Bumble Bees and Metallic Green Sweat Bees. Which one these two are, I am less sure of. But they are most likely female Texas Striped Sweat Bees - Agapostemon texanus or Bicolored Striped Sweat Bees - Agapostemon virescens, as the females present totally metallic green - both thorax and abdomen. However, they could also be Metallic Green Sweat Bees (Augochloropsis metallica)...another common native bee where both males and females are primarily shiny, metallic green overall.

 

But I'm at least confident of the Wild Rose in the photo! If I could live another 3/4 of a century, I think I could manage to be a fair amateur entomologist too!

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Who doesn't love Butterfly Milkweed?!! This is one engaging native wildflower in the pastures here in SE O'Brien County, IA. One of the most recognized milkweed family (Asclepias) member. 

 

Often adopted for the domestic garden, this milkweed will grow in nearly any soil type. Those found here are generally on the gravel slopes and return year after year. 

 

From what I have observed over time is they tend to thrive when they aren't overly crowded by a higher canopy. 

 

We have found this is a good "ambassador" plant for the prairie "uninitiated". When we first came to our little spot many years back, a particular neighbor didn't seem approving of us letting the pastures return to their native state...once a few of the Butterfly Milkweed started to return, some interest was peaked and casual interested conversations became more frequent.

 

You can observe the Asclepias tuberosa in the pastures here in a short "A Prairie Moment" video at the following link - 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG2lJ223zIY

Thank you for visiting my Blog - Happy Fourth of July to everyone out there...please remember to be good to one another - we are all in this together!

Back to the Drawing Board

"Wild Rose" 

color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

I'm getting impatient for spring and the prairie to bloom again.  Its silly because we haven't had a terrible winter at all, but its April and the ditches are still drifted with snow and the days haven't been typical April days yet...and yes, I'm spoiled.  So I'll suck it up and pretend its actually warm and rosie out!

I haven't been working with the color pencils this winter...I've had some eye issues that haven't been helpful but Georgie got me a nice large magnifying light on a stand and it now sits next to my chair in the house, where I do all my drawing and "close" work.  A few weeks back I finally decided to start something...once I get into a place of inactivity, I tend to get stuck in a rut and just spin my wheels.  Well I finally got the metaphoric winch out and pulled myself back behind the drawing board again.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this on the blog before, but I don't generally "draw" in the studio - it just takes too long and I wouldn't be able to get anything done out here!  Instead I usually sit in the house in the evening and converse with Georgie while doing so during the evening hours.  The studio is for painting, framing, working on photo files, doing "business" and paying bills.  

There is an exhibit coming up fairly soon at Arts on Grand and the theme is "Iowa's Natural Heritage".  The exhibit is being sponsored by the Wild Rose Casino so I thought "What the heck", do a Wild Rose. Iowa's Natural Heritage runs from May 7th through June 1st, and will have artists and photographers celebrating what is "natural" to Iowa...its flora and fauna and landscape.  

I am having some difficulty identifying this particular rose since there is more than one type found in our state.  "Wild" Rose is simply a "common" name given to all of them. I am leaning toward this rose to be the Rosa arkansana, maybe because it is the most common one here in NW Iowa. I will have to study this plant more when it is in bloom this summer again...it grows along our gravel hillside driveway.''

Now, back to the drawing board!