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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI)

@jbtheexplorer.bsky.social

510 followers 70 following 1.4K posts

Wisconsin Native Plant Gardener🦋 (more than 3000 sq. ft.!), Habitat Enthusiast🌿, Casual Nature Photographer, Hiker, Gamer, Motorsports fan, Plane watcher. Using Bluesky to document the nature in my yard and elsewhere. Please plant #NativePlants

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · Sep 9

I cant even believe it!

I've waited at least 25 years to see another one of these! I kept telling myself this was going to be the year and I can't believe it actually was! 😍

Yellow garden spider. Seen during today's prairie walk.

#yellowgardenspider #spider #prairie #prairierestoration 🕷️

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 1h

Drummond's aster growing along my driveway in my native woodland strip.

#nativeplants #nativegarden

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 16h

Just saw one today and had the thought that it could be the last of the year. I hadn't really been seeing many anymore.

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 1d

This morning's adventure.

#hiking #autumn #fall #nature #fallcolors #prairie

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 1d

A visit to the "hidden cascade". The name is a bit of an oversell, but that's the nickname I gave it. It looks pretty cool in late winter when there's a good flow. It dries up in summer and will stay that way until we get a lot of rain or snow.

#hiking #nature #Wisconsin

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 1d

Nope, nothing.

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 1d

I just found Symphyotrichum sericeum seeds that I bought 8 years ago and forgot about. 😅 I wonder what the germination rate will be after 8 years. Maybe I'll just scatter them on soil this winter and see if anything ever comes of them.

#nativeplants

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 1d

Just a reminder: Don't cut your stems to the ground! Bees need them! I do cut stems back a bit, but I leave them standing around 1' to 2' tall. In spring, bees will lay eggs in them. I took these photos a few years back on a warm spring day.

#nativeplants #bees #nativegarden #pollinators

A small carpenter bee realizing that the hollow stem it was intending on entering is already occupied.

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 2d

Twin Otter diving down at about 4500fpm after dropping some skydivers over the airport.

#aircraft #planes #aviation #wisconsin

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 2d

Many years ago I was sitting at a picnic table in a state park in a quiet area when a family of three sandhill cranes walked up near me. It was amazing and slightly concerning all at once. But I'll never forget it!

..oh, I just found an old photo from that day.

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 2d

It might be fun, although I think I'd prefer a ride in an aircraft.

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 3d

A little virtual hot air ballooning in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Fun seeing part of the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest from the air, even in a video game!

A screenshot taken while I was flying a hot air balloon in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 3d

Along with my native Plains sunflowers, my non-native Mexican sunflowers are also still blooming. Looking at the forecast, I don't think they'll be done any time soon.

#plants #garden #gardening #bloomscrolling

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 4d

Also, the goldfinches are absolutely feasting on plains sunflower seeds!

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 4d

The asters are pretty much done blooming now but plains sunflower continues on!

#nativeplants #nativegarden #sunflower #autumn #wisconsin #bloomscrolling

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 5d

One year ago. What an incredible experience! Still hoping we get another show like this but I know it's increasingly less likely as we get further away from solar maximum.

#northerlights #auroraborealis #wisconsin

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 5d

Still thinking about last weekend.

#aircraft #planes #aviation #KBUUFlyin #Wisconsin

Reposted by JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI)

Patrick @watchinthesky.bsky.social · 6d

Is it #Arachtober? I was just wondering if I’d see any big orb web weavers, Fall has been a good opportunity. This big, possibly gravid, Banded Garden spider is tending to its web. A print of one of these photos will go up on the office door at work for #Halloween 🎃 🕷️ #arachnids

The backside view of a large banded garden spider that made a web in our yard.

The front side view of a large banded garden spider that made a web in our yard. All of its long legs are banded with black and yellow.

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JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 6d

Photos from this morning's hike.

#hiking #wisconsin #prairie #birds

Swamp sparrow perched on indian grass in a prairie.

Dark seedheads from gray-headed coneflower dotting the prairie.

A view of the 13-acre prairie restoration, looking east.

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 7d

So much bird activity lately! Lots of swamp sparrows and dark-eyed juncos seen during this morning's hike.

#hiking #nature #wisconsin

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 7d

Nice to see this wild ginger doing good in an undisclosed location. Who knows how it got here. Probably not me. Probably just the wind carried it here and shoved it in the ground.

#nativeplants #guerrillagardening

Wild ginger growing in an area that doesn't have many other native plants.

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 7d

🎶 This land is your land, this land is my land. 🎶

A sign was painted, said private property, but on the back side, it didn't say nothing. This land was made for you and me.

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 7d

youtu.be/lfLKHY52ERc?...

Dr. Jane Goodall’s Final Message To The World | Famous Last Words | Netflix

YouTube video by Still Watching Netflix

youtu.be

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 7d

UPS Airlines' McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying over the prairie on its way into Milwaukee.

#aircraft #planes #aviation

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 7d

That's my plan too. I did morning hikes all spring and then shifted to evening in summer. Seems like it's almost time to shift back.

JBtheExplorer🎃 | Native Plant Gardener (WI) @jbtheexplorer.bsky.social · 7d

Some woodland sounds about 10 minutes after sunset.