Yesterday, we worked like mad to get the yard work done. We are expecting severe weather today and tomorrow. If you were to look at a map of Oklahoma at the National Weather Service, half of it from central Oklahoma to the Texas Panhandle is yellow to denote a "slight" but increased chance of severe weather, such as baseball sized hail, 70 mph gusts/winds, and possible tornadoes.
So yesterday, we had a 5 minute dinner of nachos, and then got the mowers out to trim the front yard and parts of the pasture and backyard. It took a little longer because I had let the grass grow in some areas that contained blooming flowers.
The flowers are spent now, except for clumps of yarrow that I left standing with wine cups. So we mowed those other areas down.
But when we finished at dusk, we saw something the backyard we hadn't seen in 2 years. 1 lone, little brown bat swooping on the mosquitoes and crane flies in the backyard. We were so excited we went and got the kids to have a look too.
The Black Locusts are on their last leg, bloom-wise. For the last week, the perfume from those flowers had been overwhelming. Behind our house, there are some that appear to be claimed by various bumble bees and E. Carpenter Bees. The drones have these aerial fights all around the area.
These tree's blooms are too high off the ground for me to reach without a ladder. So my best guess is that other solitary bees that we saw on the sand plums are now there too. Dandelions have slowly built their numbers back up.
The Heather has still not made a come back here. I saw some 40 mi away on a hiking trail, and it was stunted even for this small flower. I still wonder if the roots which are shallow, hadn't been killed by the drought last year, literally cooked in the dirt.
Clover blooms have been weak. Given all the rain, that is surprising.
In the garden, the tomatoes are 2 1/2 feet tall, with multiple blooms on them. The potatoes are also already blooming. The onions are very tall and the greens on them thick.
The Dog Roses are already blooming, but the nectar is not yet flowing. You can tell because they have not released their scent yet. Dog Roses usually do not bloom until May and often at least 10 days or more into May.
The Indian Paintbrush is out, and fleabane, which seems right on time. Tube False dandelions have been blooming now for 2 weeks. They also usually do not show up until May. Evening and Toothed Primrose are also blooming [another May flower]. Yarrow is just starting to put flower buds out. It will be blooming in another day or two if the hail doesn't beat it down.
I have also seen Cream Wild Indigo in bloom, but most of it seems to only have buds. Only a few clumps were blooming.
The past week has been cool and mostly cloudy with a lot of rain. Mushrooms are popping up everywhere, and with only one bat, I can say that the mosquitoes are fierce. As far as fungi go: I have seen cedar apple rust clumps, http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/...
I have also seen puffballs and some other mushrooms that I have not yet identified.
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/...
I have not seen any dragon flies or damsel flies yet. Not at my house and not at any of the ponds or lakes we normally visit. I know a lot of people like to use mosquito dunks in their ponds to control mosquitoes. I have been told those kill dragon and damsel fly larva as well. So heads up.
I will spend the rest of the day, cleaning house, and cleaning and preparing the storm shelter. I want to make sure no spiders have taken up residence down there, and check the supplies for freshness.
9:08 AM PT: Check this story out: Storm dumps Waist High Hail in Texas
http://www.cbsnews.com/...
We had a similar storm, I think it was 2 yrs ago. It had a double hail core which is unusual in itself. It dumped 6 inches of hail and totally destroyed my garden.
The small hail wasn't bad enough, it was so deep, that it shocked the plants, with the sustained cold because it took a long while for it to melt.
Now whenever possible, I cover my tomatoes and peppers with milk cartons or other items to keep the hail off but also to make sure it doesn't bury them.
The storm left so much hail in its wake that workers had to use snow plows to clear the piles from the road.
"It was crazy," National Weather Service Meteorologist Justyn Jackson said about the strange storm, which hit Wednesday afternoon. The hail was "real small" but there was a lot of it in a concentrated area, accumulating 2- to 4-feet deep, he said.
It's more like sleet.
9:10 AM PT: It looks like tomorrow's moderate risk has been raised to high risk for tornadoes
http://www.cbsnews.com/...