@blueasterstudio.bsky.social

Nature-inspired art and gifts by David and Jennie. Bloomington, Indiana. blueasterstudio.com

Did our first big garlic mustard pull in the new yard this week end. It's easy to pull but luckily it's not a terrible infestation! The vinca and wintercreeper on the other hand...

Jennie and David with large handfuls of garlic mustard plants

One of the many reasons to leave the garden a little messy...the mourning cloak butterfly overwinters as an adult in brush piles, tree bark or other crevices in the garden. It is one of the earliest butterflies to emerge and announce the arrival of Spring in many areas of North America! 🐡🎨🦋🐞

A hand holding an illustrated sticker of a brown butterfly with yellow-trimmed wings and a line of blue spots along the yellow trim.

There are tiny blue tits in my plum tree, spinning nimbly around the branches, hanging upside down then bouncing cutely up, hunting for aphids and other bugs. Sweet blue heads and butter-yellow bellies, so small I could fit them in my mouth and also, somehow, they are dinosaurs.

We keep hearing that armadillos have established populations in our neck of the woods but still haven't laid eyes on one... Maybe they're shunning us for making this sticker? We thought it was funny

An oval sticker with an armadillo in cowboy gear and the text Boot Scute n Boogie

We keep hearing that armadillos have established populations in our neck of the woods but still haven't laid eyes on one... Maybe they're shunning us for making this sticker? We thought it was funny

An oval sticker with an armadillo in cowboy gear and the text Boot Scute n Boogie

We've found that our new yard is absolutely packed with spring wildflowers! Even with some problem plants—mainly vinca and winter creeper— trout lilies, spring beauties, Dutchman's breeches, and cutleaf toothwort are popping up in abundance.

Small pink and white five-petaled spring beautiesSmall white cutleaf toothwort flowers The elaborately lobed, almost feathery leaf of Dutchman's breeches The spotty brown and green blade-like leaves of trout lilies