Wildflowers, Monarchs, and the Maiden Voyage of the Outdoor Classroom

Wildflowers

Over the past few years my classes have tossed fistfuls of wildflower seed around our campus.

This fall we received a small grant from the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center to purchase seeds from Native American Seed in Junction, Texas. To say this is a banner year for wildflowers is an understatement.

Below are some of the results.

Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja spp.

Texas Bluebonnets

Lupinus texensis

Look closely at the petals on these bluebonnets. The formerly white stripes are now red indicating that they are already pollinated. Bees also notice this and know not to waste any time there.

Texas Bindweed

Convulvus equitans

Prairie Bishop's-Weed

Bifora americana

Looking north. In the foreground is the overflow pond for runoff control. To my knowledge it has never contained any water.

Still facing northward. This is the "wet" pond. It provides habitat needs for a variety on birds and insects, including our purple martin colony. It also filters the water flowing off our parking lots, sidewalks, and road during rain events.

Pink Evening Primrose

Oenothera speciosa

Monarchs

Our milkweed was very late emerging this year. This was the second clump that leafed out and had 5 caterpillars on it yesterday. Today only one remains. Look in the upper left of this picture.

Same caterpillar. Notice how chewed up the milkweed is.

This is the first clump that emerged. It is already recovering from

the ravenous monarch larvae.

A neighboring tropical milkweed plant untouched by caterpillars.

We'll tend to that nut sedge shortly.

Maiden Voyage of the Outdoor Classroom

Chris Brooks' 6th grade Social Studies class reviews African geography.

This classroom was designed and built by former Small cougar and future Eagle Scout, Ryan Parks. It will be dedicated to two outstanding science teachers, Dale Branam and Susan Fillman. Ryan had both of them while at Small.