They’re so cute.

Tiny bluets are one of the first native wild flowers to bloom in spring here. Companion planted these with a hackberry tree seedling.

Houstonia pusilla

Here they are again! Arctic sweet coltsfoot (Petasites frigidus) on a warm sunny PNW day. I decided the dog and I should check out the muddy trails to see if anything was finally blooming, and anything was!
#Photography #NativePlants #SeattleWashington #CowenPark #SeattleOlmstedParks

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) near Symphoricarpos orbiculatus and Smilax in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on February 23, 2025

Some of the camera settings I used to make this photo are at: https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2025Feb28_birds_and_cats/2025feb23_junco_IMG_2825c.html

The California native wildflower bed is starting to do things.

I've been seeing both of these species popping up on iNat back in Louisiana, and it's got me daydreaming about spring ephemerals and wondering what I might find and learn here in Oregon as we have our warmest day of the year so far.

I wrote this last year about a little plant and a little butterfly & being surprised by the little things that can just pop up if we let them be here and take the time to appreciate them when they are.

https://daniel.observer/journal/bittercress-and-butterflies

Join us this Saturday for one of the best garden shows in the area! An easy drive from Hamilton and Marion counties! We will bring bare root plants with us, or order ahead by email for pick up in Lebanon! Nativeplantsunlimited.com #indiana #nativeplants #hoosiernews #HoosierMast #nativeplantsunlimited #IndianaWildlifeFederation #hoosierenvironmentalcouncil #IndianaNativePlants #hoosiersocial #indianapolis

Blue phlox - phlox divaricata

Out to spade up the soon-to-be-installed native plant garden

Okay, it’s only four flower plants but it’s a good start

I got to see a Painted Bunting (a new bird for me!) in a small urban park here in Tucson, AZ. It was so colorful it HAD to be my Perpetual Journal art that week!

A member of Friends of Native Trees in Takoma (FONTT) is nurturing a ‘managed wilderness’ in the rocky and compacted soil of his Takoma Park backyard. Slater's plans may inspire you to tackle similar problems in your yard! #nativeplants #gardening
https://fontt.org/2025/03/19/a-blank-canvas-of-a-backyard-inspires-possibility/

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) on buckbrush (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on February 3, 2025

Some of the camera settings I used to make this photo are at: https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2025Feb28_birds_and_cats/2025feb03_cardinal_IMG_2779c.html

( also at: https://1-john-moyer.pixels.com/featured/cardinal-2779-john-moyer.html )

Trilliumaires not Billionaires

Greetings! I've moved instances so now it's time to rewrite an #intro

I love #languages #linguistics and #etymology. I'm hesitant to list what languages I study as my interests tend to shift, but I know a few phrases in some European languages. Speaking is the hardest part of using a language given that darn real-time compilation aspect, so it's safe to say reading is the easiest to get a grasp of. I've really gotten in to #Latin of late thanks to my dealings with learning plant species.

Speaking of which, I'm also really into #NativePlants, #ReWilding and #Permaculture. I've spent over the past 2 years converting my traditional American hellscape of a lawn into a recovering (thriving, even?) ecosystem of native plants. It's not much, but it's work Currently I'm tracking over 110 species I've either transplanted or nurtured. How am I tracking that? Well, I'm also into #SoftwareEngineering

For that project, I just built a simple, local CRUD webapp with some mapping functionality for logging where I plant things, how they're doing and some basic info about them. Outside of work I work on a lot of small projects like the one above, but they've all felt so much more interesting than the work I get paid to do. That's how life goes, I suppose. Anyway, brief list of what I've built: DIY 6 Zone Automated Sprinkler system with ball valves (!) controlled by an ESP32 running ESPHome, A local webapp that (among other things) uses diceware to create unique passwords, A Slack bot for friends that admins a game of Cards Against Humanity, I built a web scraper service for a local nonprofit to better collect municipality permit data, I've gone through 3 iterations of installing 5v LED strips on a bike of mine to stay visible, I've probably written countless automations in #HomeAssistant. One thing remains true for most of my projects: I always end up overengineering the solution lol. It's a double-edged sword, but I'm trying to either embrace it or learn when to avoid it, depending on my mood for that day.

Last, let's talk about reading. I love #SciFi, but primarily #HardSciFi. Anything where there's more focus on the technology being used. Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Greg Egan, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. Always eager to take some book recommendations.

Anyway, I think that's enough of an intro to satisfy the Mastodon.

`Press any key to continue...`

So excited to be on the fantastic podcast The Joe Gardener Show talking about Bad Naturalist and all things ecological restoration, invasive plants, and what it's like to form a connection with the land.

#ecology #ecologicalrestoration #plants #nativeplants #memoir #nonfiction #badnaturalist #bookstodon #books

https://joegardener.com/podcast/bad-naturalist-paula-whyman/

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) on wild Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) vine near oak in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on February 3, 2025

Some of the camera settings I used to make this photo are at: https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2025Feb28_birds_and_cats/2025feb03_cardinal_IMG_2777c.html

( also at https://1-john-moyer.pixels.com/featured/cardinal-2777-john-moyer.html )

Hooray! The shipment for my native plant garden arrived today. I can't wait to get these in the ground.
#gardening #Zone9b #NativePlants