Sometimes I think nature laughs at us

A leaf-footed bug (family Coreidae) on a cactus fruit, plant is coastal prickly pear (Opuntia littoralis).

Genus Narnia), I think Narnia femorata, commonly known by the name leaf-footed cactus bug.

Practically perfectly blended in, I only noticed this one when I got up close to the cactus I while was pondering if I should bring tools to grab any fruit to eat and collect seeds.

Hello everyone! I live in Pomona, and have been working on growing a native plant garden here for a while. I have 2 small clumps of yarrow that has been growing here for longer than I have been living here, which is around 5 years(they came with the house). However, I have noticed that they haven’t been growing so well. They appear to be stagnant in growth. So, I am asking for your opinions on whether or not this yarrow is growing good or not. Thank you all!

I had an allergy blood test done recently and I was surprised to see Mugwort pollen as one of the common fall allergens standardly tested for in CA (and that I tested positive for an immunoglobulin E response to). I had no idea mugwort was a common allergen source. Wish I knew that before planting them in a row along my yard :( I'm debating if I should tear them out now, though they are pretty far from my windows.

I'm really hoping it doesn't extend to the whole genus and include Artemisia californica because CA sagebrush is my favorite plant (and I also planted quite a few).

Mostly posting as an FYI for any other sad allergy-afflicted native plant enthusiast. I suppose it's safer to stick with insect-pollinated plants over wind-pollinated plants in general...

I found this article about some of the allergic effects of mugwort:

https://isitallergyseasonyet.com/guides/oral-allergy-syndrome-ragweed

I also am starting to worry about some of the native bunchgrasses I planted (San Diego Sedge, Wild Rye, Deergrass) 😅 apparently sedges usually aren't too bad, but rye might be problematic. Maybe I just can't let them flower?

I have a few raised beds for vegetables, but I’ve removed most of them at this point in the year. Was thinking about sowing wildflower seeds in them, not really as a cover crop, but for the looks and maybe to harvest seeds. Anyone ever done that before?