Petition Against Science Hiatus at Brooklyn Botanic

                                     Native bee at home in this city that doesn't even stop to sleep

In the upside down world that we live in, science is going on a hiatus at Brooklyn Botanic and Flatbush Gardener, (a gardener and blogger) has started a petition along with some others for folks to sign if they perhaps think this is not such a fantastic idea.

For kicks I looked up the definitions of science and hiatus:
Science:
- knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation
-a particular area of scientific study
-a subject that is formally studied
And as a synonym: knowledge.

Hiatus:
-a period in time when something is stopped

In other news, Gateway National Recreation Area has released a draft EIS for their new General Management Plan for folks to comment on, where oddly enough their preferred "alternative" is not the alternative that has been identified by them as environmentally preferable.

"In accordance with the NPS NEPA Director’s Order 12 Handbook, the NPS identifies the
environmentally preferable alternative in its NEPA documents for public review and
comment (NPS 2001, section 4.5 E[9]). The environmentally preferable alternative is the
alternative that causes the least damage to the biological and physical environment and
best protects, preserves, and enhances historical, cultural, and natural resources. The
environmentally preferable alternative is identified upon consideration and weighing by
the Responsible Official of long-term environmental impacts against short-term impacts in
evaluating what is the best protection of these resources. In some situations, such as when
different alternatives impact different resources to different degrees, there may be more
than one environmentally preferable alternative (43 CFR 46.30).

Alternative C has been identified as the environmentally preferable alternative based on
the analysis of impacts, which identified it as least damaging to the biological and physical
environment and best at protecting and enhancing natural and cultural resources."

So what is going on hiatus over at Gateway? Logic?

First Azure Bloom

I managed to catch the first bloom of this Salvia (azurea, for its color) by chance in the last hour of daylight late Tuesday and this plant's botanical name is apt. This picture is a bit tinted from the sunlight, but the flower is indeed blue just like a clear sky.

Where the Echinacea Came Up This Year

Everywhere.

And so of course then, what I had was some to give away.

I Was Chasing a Hummingbird Moth

But wound up with a skipper and a wasp. (The hummingbird moths outwit the smartphone camera's capabilities, with their rapid wing movement.) The wasp, I believe is Monobia quadridens, a returning visitor in the garden. I can't remember when the hummingbird moths were flying at Floyd Bennett last year. But one summer I did see them in July, another mid to late august. This year, this weekend was the first I saw of these clearwing moths that fly by day visiting flowers. It's encouraging to see and then recognize at least a few returning pollinating visitors in the garden.

I think Monobia quadridens wasp with a backful of pollen on Monarda punctata, Floyd Bennett Field

Making Themselves at Home

 In this case, the bees in the plant and the plant in my commmunity garden plot.  I'm hoping the Monarda punctata will be sowing itself around like the echinacea seems to be and that this year isn't just a fluke. Because, I could swear these plants were not in this same place this year as last year. (and for Joe and Martha I think this was true too.) If this really turns out to be a native that likes where it is and is happy to move around and make itself at home, I would be pretty happy.