How a yard entry is written

A journal line is three facts and a picture. The date is the day the photograph was made. The plant or beetle is named with a common name and, when known, the Latin from a UF/IFAS page. Weather is what the yard did that afternoon — rain, dry wind, a freeze warning — not a mood.

Caption

Write only what is in the frame. A lady beetle on a pentas is a lady beetle on a pentas. It is not a harvest, a sanctuary, or a proof that the yard is winning. If the insect cannot be named past “lady beetle,” stop at that.

Empty wells

A missing photograph is an empty well. Do not borrow a stock garden and caption it as this yard. Future entries will fill the catalog when files exist.

Sources beside the note

Link the insect or plant to the live paper: Lady beetles of Florida, Gardening Solutions. The journal does not replace Extension.