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Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

Finally, how long do the different species bloom? Here's a density plot of the number of weeks in bloom by type. The invasives are clearly bimodal, but the others have a nice distribution with a fat tail

Line plot with density on the y-axis (0 to 0.14) and weeks in bloom on the x-axis (0 to 25). Light blue is invasive, royal blue is native, black is non-native

November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

This graph sums up the number of species blooming in a given week by color and by status (native, non-native, and invasive - I define invasive as a non-native I want to get rid of because they spread too quickly and don't behave)

3 stacked bar charts, with count on the y-axis and Date on the x-axis (ticks at April, July, and October), with Non-native on top, Native in the middle, and Invasive on the bottom. Stacked bars are filled with colors

November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

Here are the individual species and their weeks of appearance and bloom color. We clearly have a good range of start dates, although still not enough early blooms

A tile graph with names on the y-axis, Date on the x-axis (tabs at April, July, and October), and a mix of purple, white, yellow, pink, green, red, and blue lines

November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

I'm declaring the bloom census over for the year, thanks to last night's lake effect snow. Time to play with the data!

Looking out from a porch to a front walk and across a street. Everything has about an inch of snow. Plants can be seen on either side of the walk, sometimes almost covered. Across the street, one tree still has yellow leaves

November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

Solar cats

2 black cats with green eyes on a gray chair with a sunny window to the right. The cat on the left is sitting, looking over its right shoulder. The cat on the right is lying down

November 7, 2025 at 4:20 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

This week's bloom census, mostly stray blossoms:
Violet, catmint, tomato, rose, lavender, hydrangea, hydrangea tree, coneflower, brown-eyed Susan, goldenrod, sky blue aster, calico aster

A pair of sky blue aster blossoms (thin violet petals around a spiky brown core) amid a mix of sedges (long wide green leaves) and brown oak leaves on the edge of a sidewalk

November 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

The remains of 4 large bowls of candy and a small bowl of bouncy balls. We had a big group of undergrads in the neighborhood, and good for them!

Now I have to raid 8's stash for my Reece's

A clear bowl from above, showing 4 dumdums, a Twizzler, a rainbow Twizzler, and a few hard candies

November 1, 2025 at 1:56 AM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

This week's bloom census, a few still hanging on:
Violet, tomato, rose, rosy sedge, hydrangea, coneflower, lady's thumb, brown-eyed Susan, tomatillo, hydrangea tree, swithchgrass, goldenrod, white snakeroot, sky blue aster, calico aster

Very sad looking brown-eyed Susan flowers, with 3-4 yellow petals still clinging to a dark center, among a mix of brown stems and dead heads and a few green leaves

October 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

For your Monday. You can't hear the purr, but it was loud and happy

Black cat head from slightly above, looking left, with a pink string across the top of the head and along the nose

Black cat head looking slightly right, eyes wide and whiskers forward, with a pink string over the head and in front of the left ear

October 20, 2025 at 1:56 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

This week's bloom census, all continuing:
Violet, rose, hydrangea, coneflower, lady's thumb, plantain, white clover, brown-eyed Susan, whorled mountain mint, hydrangea tree, Joe Pye weed, swithchgrass, Drummond's aster, goldenrod, white snakeroot, calico aster, sky blue aster

Sky Blue aster- thin blue petals around a yellow fuzzy center on a long green streak with long green leaves. In the background, rain chain, tomatillos, and dried leaves

October 20, 2025 at 1:54 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

Waning super moon still shining on IGB this fine autumn morning

Moon just barely shining in a clear blue sky, seen through a gap in the red blob statue in the plaza in front of IGB, with sunlit trees in the distance

October 9, 2025 at 1:41 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

cont.: blue mist flower, showy goldenrod, pannicled aster

Some new aster names, thanks to a handy guide to identifying the white asters of the Midwest (I don't plant them, they volunteer, and iNaturalist was wrong on all of them)

Ramping down now for winter

Joe Pye weed (clusters of pink and white blossoms with tight petals and long white stamens) with a fuzzy bee in the middle

October 6, 2025 at 3:07 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

This week's bloom census, all continuing:
lavender, hydrangea, coneflower, pokeweed, lady's thumb, plantain, brown-eyed susan, whorled mountain mint, Joe Pye weed, tomatillo, hydrangea tree, partridge pea, switchgrass, Drummond's aster, goldenrod, white snakeroot, sky blue aster, calico aster, ...

Asters - white daisy-like flowers with yellow centers amid a range of different green leaves. In the bottom left, some of the leaves are shading to yellow on the edges

October 6, 2025 at 3:07 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

cont: Queen Anne's lace, Missouri ironweed, sunflower, devil's beggartick, white snakeroot, horseweed, smooth blue aster, sky blue aster, false aster

New: blue mist flower, showy goldenrod

Blue mistflower: fuzzy round periwinkle blossoms in a clump on a long green stem with oblate green leaves along it at intervals

Showy goldenrod: yellow star-shaped blossoms clumped along the last 1.5 inches of a green stem, with long stamens sticking out, over mostly bare ground with some dead leaves

September 29, 2025 at 2:20 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

How cool is the work our campus photographer does? Related story: news.illinois.edu/study-identi...

A man leaning against a concrete block wall to the left, wearing a gray shirt over a black t-shirt. Behind his shoulder is a woman in glasses with a green shirt and black blazer, hands in her pockets. Over her shoulder, projected on the wall, is a map of Illinois highlighting 3 regions with red boxes, pictures of the ticks common in those regions, and boxes with the list of diseases those ticks carry

September 22, 2025 at 1:56 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

Some invert predator fun today. Tiger made a good catch when I was feeding them, and 8 noticed this lovely mantis the size of his hand

Looking down on a pink toed tarantula climbing a glass wall, carrying 2 crickets in its mouth parts

A 6-8 inch green praying mantis with a brown under-abdomen on the pale blue siding of a house, front legs extended

September 21, 2025 at 8:48 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

The swamp rose mallow fully bloomed!

Large pink blossom with 5 large petals and a long yellow stamen in front of green leaves

September 16, 2025 at 3:33 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

Cont: partridge pea, swithchgrass, forked aster, goldenrod, queen Anne's lace, garlic chives, sunflower, devils beggartick, white snakeroot, horseweed, smooth blue aster, sky blue aster, false aster

New: swamp rose mallow, American jumpseed

Pink oval bud surrounded by large oval leaves over a background of dried leaves

September 15, 2025 at 2:42 PM

Becky Smith

@rlsdvm.bsky.social

. . . false strawberry, goldenrod, Queen Anne's lace, garlic chives, Missouri ironweed, sunflower, devil's beggartick, white snakeroot, false aster

New: horseweed, smooth blue aster, sky blue aster