Tessera

Jules in the Garden

@juliwils.bsky.social

Cat-less cat-lady 🐾 Alliteration aficionado ✒️ Mother of two littles ❤️ All-round nature lover 🐝🦋🪶 On a journey to grow/plant native species that support the pollinators 🌿🌻

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2d ago

A new sighting in the garden this morning: a viceroy butterfly on a purple coneflower #pinkmon #nativeplants

A burnt orange butterfly with black and white markings almost resembles a monarch except for the distinctive horizontal stripe on the lower wings. The butterfly stayed in the garden for many minutes, swaying in the wind while foraging for nectar from several different native plants in my garden

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 3d ago

A touch of whimsy for #stunday #bees #nativeplants

A close-up of a bee that is completely covered in granules of pollen. One back leg is raised. The bee crawls across the center of a purple coneflower in a last moment of sunshine before the sun set a few days ago

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 4d ago

Some of the winged things that I've seen this week #nativeplants #invertebrates #sixonsaturday

A male monarch butterfly takes refuge from heavy winds on the lavender pink blooms of a wild teasel; a far away shot of a butterfly (with brown wings and cream and tan markings) forages on the dusky pink flowers of Joe pye weed; a green and burgundy hummingbird clearwing moth visits a red bee balm, proboscis sticking out; a vivid red dragonfly rests on a glossy green leaf; an almost entirely black bee, save for blondish leg hairs , is nestled in the tubular flowers of a wild bergamot; and a red admiral butterfly with tattered wings paused close to me on the spiky center of a purple coneflower

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 6d ago

Baby/dill #gardening #yellowthursday

A close-up of a recently hatched black swallowtail caterpillar, which is mostly black and spiky looking, with a white band in the middle and rings of orangey brown. The caterpillar rests in the center of an umbel of tiny yellow dill flowers

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 7d ago

The first time I ever saw a hawk moth, I thought I was hallucinating the impossible offspring of a bumblebee and a hummingbird #moths #redwed #nativeplants

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · last wk.

A tiny predator lies in wait on #tinyflowertuesday #bugsky #nativeplants

An image of a bug with a very textured brown body (resembling dried plant matter) and smooth, bright green legs which blend into the unopened green buds of a flowering plant. This ambush bug has orange-yellow eyes, one of which appears to be turned towards the camera while it rests on the center of a Virginia mountain mint flowerhead

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · last wk.

Swamp milkweed: It feeds pollinators Its flowers are gorgeous And its scent is intoxicating She's got it all: style *and* substance #pinkmon #nativeplants #invertebrates

Green branching stems topped with small canopies of pink star-shaped flowers grow at the edge of a stream (not pictured) On the edge of a main stem rests a large yellow, white, and black striped caterpillar, whose head is partially obscured by a long, pointed milkweed leaf. The scent of the flowers is what I can only describe as musky vanilla

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · last wk.

I have dozens of carrots, at least ten parsley plants, seven dills, three bronze fennels And one swallowtail butterfly egg #herbs #gardening #invertebrates

A close-up of bright green feathery leaves. Near the tip of one of these leaves, in approximately the center of the image, rests a tiny round yellow egg

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

I call it a tea garden, short for "tea garden that will probably be just another pollinator garden because I'll rarely remember to harvest things on time (thanks ADHD) but at least it's a pretty garden" #sixonsaturday #bloomscrolling

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

When all is quiet, save for the hum of the insects and the distant bird calls #nativeplants #flowersonfriday

A part view of a garden, sporadically illuminated by the rising morning sun. Tall purple coneflower stand in the foreground, with drooping pinkish lavender petals and spiky centers. Bicoloured blanketflower lean at the bottom left, with mostly red center and turning to yellow at the tips of the petals. The flowers in behind are blurry but are in other shades of lavender pink, yellow or white. Species include dotted mint, Virginia mountain mint, wild bergamot, lanceleaf coreopsis, white coneflower, black eyed Susan, swamp and common milkweed (which have not flowered this year), and tall blades of little bluestem. The garden is edged with fallen branches, supported by river rock. Larger branches and rocks rest in the middle of the garden providing both habitat and textural interest

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

Sometimes when you stare at the flowers something stares back #nativeplants

A close-up of a large grasshopper with a greenish tan body and dark brown eyes and markings. The grasshopper straddles two frilly flowerheads of a Virginia mountain mint, surrounded by the narrow pointed dull green leaves of the plant

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

Herons and flowers and wasps, oh my! There was much to see at a restored wetland yesterday (We also saw plenty of dragonflies, hover flies and bees, as well as crayfish, frogs and a large turtle) #nativeplants #bloomscrolling

A tall bird with grayish blue feathers (great blue heron) stands in a shallow creek, surrounded by aquatic arrow-shaped plants and thick fallen branches, with a grassy shoreline in the background

Two native plants grow together at a water's edge

In the foreground, bunches of narrow green cones are surrounded by purplish blue flowers at the base. In the background, rounded clusters of light pink buds grow at the tip of tall stems of Joe pye weed. The leaves of the plant are broad with pointed tips and finely toothed edges

A large, long wasp with an orange-red body and legs with black iridescent wings and black at the bottom of the abdomen (great golden digger wasp) forages from the pink opening buds of a swamp milkweed

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

I've seen so many new-to-me insects in my garden this year Like this dragonfly that I spotted earlier this week What a stunner! #flowers #invertebrates

A dragonfly with four wings that are amber coloured with brown markings. The abdomen, obscured by the wings, is also amber in colour with brown along the sides. This was my first time seeing this dragonfly but in reading up on things, this appears to be a female Halloween pennant perched on a spike of mostly closed pink veronica flowers

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

In between thunderstorms today, I caught a glimpse of some of the visitors who regularly swarm the veronica #flowers #pollinators #bloomscrolling

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

Most of the native plants out back are either yellow or purplish-pink but right now the great blue lobelias are having a moment #bluetue #nativeplants

A large plant with several thick spikes bear many small two-lipped blue flowers, whose bottom lip has three lobes. The plant started flowering last week and much of each spike has plenty of unopened buds

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

Swooning over pink blooms #pinkmon #pollinators #bloomscrolling

A large wasp with a long red and black coloured abdomen crawls down a spike of Barbie pink veronica/Speedwell flowers

An amber-coloured dragonfly, with black markings on its abdomen and black legs, clings to the green tip of a floral spike of veronica

A small iridescent green bee curls among recently opened pink bloom

Two bees (one near top right, the other bottom left) forage on a large veronica plant, two examples of the many pollinator species swarming this plant in the last week

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

July 19th is my late friend's birthday She and I would hike in a local conservation area to look for wild columbine or just talk Today I walked a lakeside trail and kept her in my thoughts I wish she could've been there, to see all the beautiful things that I saw 🌱 #nativeplants #invertebrates

A tangle of native flowers (long skinny spikes with tiny white flowers, and rounded clusters of dusky pink blossoms) and grasses grow at a water's edge, with many flying insects swarming them

A large dragonfly with a chalky white abdomen and clear wings with dark markings briefly rests in the sun on a large weathered rock

A brown butterfly with curving black lines and tannish markings rests on the blue patterned hat my youngest son was wearing

This butterfly lingered on my son's head for quite a while. My friend didn't get a chance to meet my second son before she died; wishful thinking: she sent this butterfly to say hello for her?

A large damselfly with an iridescent teal body and black wings perched on the edge of a light green leaf

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hello Sunday #stunday #pollinators #bloomscrolling

A bee hangs from the drooping pink flower of a honeywort plant (cerinthe), their head buried in the tubular bloom. The morning sunshine is beginning to break through the shadows created by the layered foliage, highlighting a salmon-coloured zinnia on the left side of the image

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 3w ago

Chiaroscuro #flowers #pollinators #bloomscrolling

A completely black wasp, with a teardrop-shaped abdomen and iridescent wings which hang straight toward the ground, takes in nectar from a spike of bright pink veronica (speedwell)

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 3w ago

Nearly everything is coming into bloom It's hard to tell from this photo but every colour of the rainbow is accounted for #bloomscrolling #flowersonfriday

White spires of Culver's root, partially blooming spikes of great blue lobelia, tall lance-shaped leaves of three obedient plants and spiky-centered purple coneflower are surrounded by a sprawling cerinthe, short clumps of salmon-coloured dwarf zinnias, apricot-peach strawflowers, dusky purple woodland sage,

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 3w ago

The wild bergamot was abuzz this morning #pollinators #nativeplants

A fuzzy yellow and black bee with shiny wings hangs on the edge of a wild bergamot flower head, made up of many long and skinny tubular lavender-pink flowers surrounded by green leaf-like bracts

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 3w ago

A handful of joy for #redwed #gardening

A hand holding close to two dozen raspberries in various shades of red. In the background is a blurry haskap bush and a borage plant

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 3w ago

Topsy-turvy #bluetue #pollinators #bloomscrolling

A shiny green sweat bee curves around deep purple stamens, hanging upside down. The surrounding pointed petals of a borage plant are a medium purplish blue. The branching stems are covered in spiky white hairs

This plant is so popular with the pollinators that I'm unable to get a picture of the flowers without some kind of bee or fly being captured as well

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 3w ago

I noticed today that my swamp milkweed is getting quite tall and is close to blooming Then I spotted several tiny ivory-coloured domes on each plant Hopefully there's enough milkweed for this second round of monarch caterpillars #pinkmon #nativeplants #bloomscrolling

A large cluster of small buds, ranging from green to dusky pink, grows in between a grouping of bright green leaves

Nestled among the buds are three recently laid monarch butterfly eggs, which are off-white domes that come to a soft point with noticeable vertical ridges

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 3w ago

Photo-balmed #pollinators #nativeplants

A photo of the pale purplish pink tubular bloom of a wild bergamot plant is interrupted by a winged intruder flying in from stage right (left side of the image)

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 4w ago

Some of my favourites #gardening #sixonsaturday

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 4w ago

My first ever strawflower #gardening #bloomscrolling

A close-up of a flower head whose rounded, stuff bracts are still closed over its center which contains its flowers

The bracts of this apricot peach strawflower is whitish at its base Ang progresses to a medium coral pink at their tips

Two smaller flowerheads are growing slightly lower down off the main stem

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 4w ago

Generally I'm okay with cicadas But I'm not okay with the jump scares while gardening #bugsky #nativeplants

The empty transparent brown exoskeleton of a cicada still clings to the fuzzy green leaf of a black-eyed Susan

(I never noticed these until I started looking for the changes in my garden after switching to native plants)

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 4w ago

If anyone has tried growing #lavender from seed indoors but was unsuccessful, winter sowing might be the answer I had only a 50% germination rate indoors but probably a 70-80% success rate in my winter jug (I was really behind in potting them up today but they still look good) #flowers #gardening

A view of a pile of almost black potting soil, with a line of many recently separated dwarf munstead lavender seedlings laying on top. Three seedlings have been potted in rusty orange nursery pots (on the left) and a stack of empty pots sits on the right. Everything rests on a red and pink striped potting mat

Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 4w ago

I have many #nativeplants about to bloom for the first time since either growing them from seed or planting nursery starts: Swamp milkweed Wild bergamot Virginia mountain mint Pink obedient plant Spotted Joe-pye weed It seems absurd that I'm as excited as I am yet here were are #flowers