Hoffman Hills Wildflowers

An assortment of wildflowers found at Hoffman Hills Recreation Area.

Grey-headed Coneflower

Lead Plant

Butterfly Weed

Purple Coneflower

Queen Anne’s Lace

Rattlesnake Master

Flowers Blooming around the Farm

I have a wide variety of flowers blooming in my prairies.

Heal-all

Bachelor’s Button

Catchfly

Sweet William

Wild Bergamot

Common Yarrow

Gloriosa Daisies

As I mentioned in an earlier blog I had been growing Black-eyed Susan’s around my well head. At the end of the season I cut them and dumped them in my prairie. Gradually they started growing but in their reincarnation they were growing as Gloriosa Daisies. I have noticed in the last couple of years that many of them seem to now be coming back as Black-eyed Susans.

 

Black-eyed Susan’s

For quite a few years I raised Black-eyed Susan’s in a small areas around my well head. At the end of the season I would cut them down and throw the cuttings out into my prairie area. Gradually they started growing in the prairie and now I have an abundance of them.

 

Female Easter Bluebird Feeding Young

As I mentioned in an earlier blog I placed a Bluebird house right outside my kitchen window in the hopes at a pair of bluebirds would build their nest in it. This is something I do every year when the bluebirds are getting ready to create their second batch of young. They don’t always select my preferred nesting place but this year they did. They have been feeding the young (3) for the past several weeks. I should also mention that I usually place a sumac branch near the house. This provides a perch as well as food while the female is on the nest. Unlike the male the female usually flies directly to the house with food for the young.

Once the female has fed the young she usually flies over to the sumac to take a break. She frequently eats some of the sumac berries. In fact she went through two batch of berries while nesting.

In this photo she was sweating because it was a very hot and humid day.

 

 

 

Male Eastern Bluebird Feeding Young

As I mentioned in an earlier blog I placed a Bluebird house right outside my kitchen window in the hopes at a pair of bluebirds would build their nest in it. This is something I do every year when the bluebirds are getting ready to create their second batch of young. They don’t always select my preferred nesting place but this year they did. They have been feeding the young (3) for the past several weeks. I should also mention that I usually place a sumac branch near the house. This provides a perch as well as food while the female is on the nest. The first pictures show the male bluebird using the perch when he brings food for the young. This morning there was quite a variety. He would almost always fly to the perch before flying to the house.

The fact that he flew from the perch to the house allowed me to get a few photos of him in flight because I could see when he was about to leave the perch.

 

Blooming Grass

 

Hoffman Hills Flowers

A sampling of the flowers blooming in the prairie at Hoffman Hills Recreation Area.

Butterfly Weed

Black-eyed Susan

Milkweed

Red Clover

Showy Tick-trefoil

Hoffman Hills Insects

 

Fritillary

Japanese Beetles

Virginian Ctenucha

Butterfly

Marigolds

I planted quite a few Marigolds this spring. They seem to be the only flower that the Japanese Beetles don’t like.