Garden update
Sad time in the potted garden. The grasshoppers have moved in and taken out most of my sweet potatoes, basil and over half eaten the rest of my stuff. Over a hundred basil plants I was growing for sale. They got half of my elderflower before I knew what hit me. Nolo bait is being eaten but not fast enough.
I am so thankful I did not invest dozens of hours on the big garden in addition to the time I already lost. So 😔 and mad

Oh NOOO! I am so sorry, Kim! I hope you'll be able to save some.

I have something eating the leaves of my squash and pumpkins, looks like the work of groundhogs or rabbits.

That's sad, but umm (from my experience), if you wait too late to sell, this sort of thing happens. That's essentially what I'm finding with the plants for Donna that I keep having to hold. Grasshoppers, slugs, every sort of plague is descending on them, and they were gorgeous two weeks ago. If only I had gotten rid of them on schedule.

Danny a friend of mine got her parents (both are in a nursing home now) house emptied via craigslist and next door neighbors posts.

She posted everything thing is free money wise, but one had to carry the same amount of items out to the dumpster.

It helped her out tremendously.

Moni

The main problem is..I don't live there and I can't spend extended time there (things to water and pets to care for at home). So...I can't do things on other people's schedules.
Actually, I haven't managed to FIND a dumpster..they're all reserved/in use it seems? To me that means the trash companies need to buy more ;)

Danny
The basil etc that got eaten were for a sale in 2 weeks.
Tomatoes past their prime didn’t get touched.

I don't recall grasshoppers eating much on tomatoes (if at all), probably toxic to them. Rather surprised the oils in the basil didn't dissuade the grasshoppers, but apparently not.

Not at all. I have 6 different types and they completely stripped them

HJ, have you thought about getting another dog for Josi? I know we got Shadow just a couple days after Tigger passed, but our boys were acting out of sorts with her gone.

I got to enjoy my first cherry tomato, and it was delicious. Now for the rest to ripen. Cucumbers have tons of blossoms, as do the peppers. My sister in law's pumpkins & watermelons are doing a lot better than last year, so maybe we'll get one or two fruits from them. If it just wasn't so dang hot, all would be ideal.

I had my first cherry tomatoes this week too, Jen. A bit later than normal....but so worth the wait. I wasted a Sungold on someone who doesn't like cherry tomatoes only he didn't tell me that until he put it in his mouth and then spit it out!

My cherry tomato plants have issues, though.

What cucumbers do you have growing, Jen? Variety I mean.

About another dog....probably not. Actually, absolutely not. She would love a companion, but I don't have it in me. I love dogs, but I'm more of a cat person.

I've said that after these two--including Kane--I won't have dogs any longer. That might not be true. I miss Percy. He was my dog that would ride with me in cars, hang out with me in the front yard. I didn't have to worry about him running off.

I just don't have time or energy to train/introduce another dog. Our house is full besides. It's a small house and we have the 3 cats and the 1 dog now.

Then...the cats. Two of my cats don't do well with change. They are unhappy that Josi is with us inside more. They are unhappy with the bathroom remodel. (It's all getting better, though.)

I tried to arrange playdates with a neighbor's dog weeks ago. She was usually walking her dogs when we walked ours. I really like her. She was excited about the playdates....but then disappeared. Not literally. But I never see her or the dogs...not even in the backyard. She has a history of "disappearing" from time to time. I really like her. Maybe it's a bipolar thing.

If Josi would listen better, I would take her to dog parks.

I think she will just be an indoor dog now. For the most part. She is happier to be near us...hang out with us. She always slept indoors and came inside when the weather wasn't good. But, now she'll just stay in unless we're outside. I think that will help a lot.

The garden looks mostly good.

The corn is beginning to tassel, small beans are forming. The noodle beans and pole beans are climbing. Peppers are producing. It's all good.

The flowers look mostly good too--the pansies and violas are fading fast. And I am excited about a couple of the trees/bushes that are coming back. I hesitate to talk about those because they're not natives...and I don't want to feel judged. ;) Or rather, no one is interested in discussing those any longer.

I sure wish the coral honeysuckle from Dawn would make flowers! It's really spreading and shading the chicken pen now. Super happy about that.

Kim, I am so, so sorry that you have had such terrible luck with your gardening endeavors. It's so upsetting.

Amy, spider mites. UGH! I hate those things. I would be happy for them to skip my garden this year.

I tied up SG paste tomatoes tonight and watered the pea patch where Rick just sowed the seed a couple of days ago.

That's about all the gardening I did today.

And I'm an idiot. I had a strong desire last night to give Baby (the bantam Easter Egger) a couple of our own eggs to sit on. I have 6 chicks coming in about 3 weeks. But, I have 4 broodies. Let's just say all 9 chicks hatch/survive...what am I supposed to do with 33 chickens! Especially if we hatch out boys. I don't know what my problem is, but I have one.

HJ
I am not on the native train yet. I do understand some of it but not all. I am more into edibles right now.

Y’all it has been rough but what is it about gardeners that keep hoping lol even when it’s obvious it is not working.

Actually, (you may find this humorous), but most things that I bought this spring, I bought for the purpose of being a native foragable/edible.
The rudbeckia is apparently the best of pot herb greens (harvestable anytime during the growing season). Ground plum (well that's obvious), but it seems like I need another to get fruit. Passionflower (fruit which I LOVE), my raspberries, blueberries, viburnums, serviceberries, black chokecherry, water parsnip, goldenrod (tea), mountain mint (tea).

I'd like to get hold of some groundnut (apios) next year..though it might be a bit unmanageable. I'll have to research that.

It's not all for the birds...err pollinators, I want some too. I also want to have at least a little emergency supplies if I had to. I forage from my weeds (chickweed, polk, cleavers, clover, plantain, dock).

I'm basically lazy, so I prefer things I don't need to replant every year. That's lots of work, look at all you guys have invested in starting your own tomatoes (lol).

Megan, you brought the mystery bendigo moon/sungold right? This is what it produced. I thought bendigo were cherries?

HJ, I can understand not wanting another dog. I feel that way about cats. Ours do well with all these dogs coming through, but they can get cranky.

While I see the benefits of natives, I'm not quite on the purist kick. I can see how planting things that are bred for our region are easier to care for, but there are too many non natives that I could never get rid of all of them. When we move, I'd like to include a lot of natives, but will still have to have my non natives.

Amy, I will have fingers crossed that this account stuff is wrapped up finally. As you know, I went through about the same thing. Danny, I hope you can get yours dealt with sooner. What IS the deal with the containers! I'll say there aren't enough in town! Any other towns anywhere near?

Suzanne brought me a beautiful heavy oversized coffee mug with butterflies on it. I poured coffee a half hour ago, and it's still too hot to drink. THAT is a stout good cup! I'm going to begin going to the garden every Friday, as that's when they're having summer "school" for the kids--they set aside an hour or more for the kids in the playground and garden. It's fun to be with them. I had quite volunteering during the first year of Covid, as it was indoors. But now with me being outside, it works great.

So what's next for you, Kim? I'll be hoping for the best. Herbs were a great idea, until the grasshoppers happened.

I was looking out at the gardens today, watching butterflies and noting how much the 9-bark shrub has grown since we put it in there a year ago. It makes me think of Dawn, because she encouraged me not to cut it back, but to wait a year. At any rate, I noticed that there were 5-6 tall weeds/plants that had sprung up--VERY tall. . . they were 6-7 feet tall. So I walked out to look, and they were verbena bonariensis! There are some further back in that bed and some out in the shop bed, but nowhere near as tall as these. And these weren't scraggly because of stretching for sun--they were big sturdy ones, like on steroids. Crazy. But cool.

I get to meet with the osteo surgeon 2 weeks from today. It has been a long long time getting here. My hope is that a steroid shot will get me through until late fall, so that I can garden. My new doc doesn't think they'll go for that, but we'll see--I've not been able to garden much for over a year now--and if I have hip surgery now, it'll be no gardening at all for a while. So.

33 sounds like a good number of chickens, HJ. LOLOL . You're workin your way up to full-scale chicken farmer! I am envious. I miss fresh eggs so much. AND I finally finally planted PEPH peas!!! My first. At Lincoln, not here. (I was so proud of myself. Afterward, I told John I'd planted them and he said he'd never been a real big fan of black-eyed peas. I laughed so hard. But told him what you all have said, so this will be a first for them and me. Just found out he was born in Dec. of 68 same as my Russ. He wants to keep the focus of the school garden on pollinators and natives, so that's what we'll do there (along with a sizeable number of herbs). But he's hoping the organization can acquire more property so we can grow enough food to really help people. Right now, there's simply not enough garden space for that.

I have a coral honeysuckle from her too, HJ--It was too shady where I planted it, in one of the deck beds. But now it's getting big enough finally that it will have morning sun until about 2-3 pm, so maybe finally this year or next it will have blooms.

Lori was just recommending rat-tailed radishes. Sounds like a good fall veggie to grow. I'm on it. I'm pulling out lettuces this week from the containers and adding agapanthus plants.

Friends, I don't plan on being a native plant Nazi, so let's just move on. (Agapanthus are NOT native, by the way, nor are most of the veggies we grow.). I AM interested in helping the birds and butterflies and so hope I can get back to gardening like usual this summer. Of course, bringing in the butterflies (and thus helping the bird population too) requires planting butterfly host plants, which I'm trying to get more of. We have a big advantage, however, with our forest of oaks, probably the single best host of all. The big butterflies are slower in arriving this year--probably because of the weather--although there are lots of skippers, bees, and other pollinators out there.

Our young lawnmower man comes out here on his zero turn mower and has our entire yard mowed in about 45 minutes.. That is HUGE. But after he left yesterday GDW and I were talking. We think we might go get one. Yes, they're expensive, but so is paying the . young man. We're kind of excited about it now and I'll be researching..

I am also excited to add buckeyes, fringe tree, clethra, and many other beautiful shrubs and understory trees, especially at Lincoln, since it's nearly a blank slate (other than the existing raised beds).

Have a good day, all, I'm off to school.

It's chicken math H/J. Honestly we won't judge you! We love you! I have the pool row for non natives that I love. I know from experience pollinators will go to those flowers. The natives is where they propagate. I'm seriously considering dedicating another bed for flowers. I'm not physically able to do much any more. I don't feel the need to grow it all.

Ron saw the first squash bugs last night. I showed him a picture of a squash vine borer so he'd know what to look for. He wants to grow pepo squash. He can fight them.

He said he needed to make a chicken wire cage to keep the birds off the Chard. I told him the birds aren't eating the Chard, the caterpillars are eating the Chard and the birds are eating the caterpillars. It's like living with OK Garden Net on FB. The hard part is he doesn't believe what I say, he only believes it if it comes from someone else. Marriage.

Tell me Danny, how do you eat rudbeckia? I'm always interested in foraging info, though I don't DO it. But I happen to have 2 rudbeckias planted! Someone in my wildcrafting group mentioned eating redbud seed pods! I have eaten maple seeds, but until this year didn't have a Redbud! I planted a tiny ground plum which may have been crowded out by cilantro. (Swallowtails don't lay on cilantro do they? Too bad, I have a lot.) Also, edibility of viburnum? The older I get the more a perennial garden appeals to me.

it's funny, Ron pulled what he thought was pinto beans out of the freezer this week as a meal for me. Well, it was black eyed peas (he LIKES black eyed peas.) Nope. I'll eat as a side dish, but not as my only option.

Hip surgery. You will probably have a month of PT. Seems like home health came to work with me for a couple of weeks. The hard part for you will be the don'ts. Don't sit with the leg at more than a 90° angle (low furniture is a b**ch), don't line dance (don't cross your leg over the center line) don't bend down at more than a 90° angle. There may be more, but I have forgotten them. My doctor said any one of these alone not so bad, but combining 2 of them is a nono. You will have to discuss gardening with him. I used the 5 gallon bucket. But already having artificial knee I couldn't kneel. Maybe you can use a kneeling bench with handles to help you get up.

XOXO have a good weekend.

Rudbeckia laciniata, you just harvest tender young growth. Nothing to it.
Yeah, redbuds are like peas..if you pick young and tender.
You do realize that cranberries are viburnums, right ? :) They're all edible.
I like black eyed peas too, but prefer the cowpeas (crowders) of that group.

So how does one move a loveseat/small couch that one can't lift and there is no help available? Someone suggested a dolly, but I don't see it on such a big piece (a fridge..yes).

Hire someone?

Whoops, cranberries are vaccinium...which also includes blueberries. But still all viburnum berries are edible. Think I got confused because one of the common names of viburnum opulus is european cranberry.

In the past, I wasn't sure if I was a dog or cat person--I like both. And I think it depended on the individual animal that was in my life which determined my thinking that I was either a dog or cat person.

Now, I'm pretty sure I am a cat person. But, I love a dog that I can bond with...and still sort of long for that. It's hard to tell a cat to "load up" when you drive somewhere. lol.

I'm sorry you're dealing with the hip stuff, Nancy. What is the recovery time on a surgery like that?

I hope we both get blooms soon, Nancy! This plant just sort of sat there the first year and last year it started spreading slowly and now it is over-taking the chicken pen...which is what I want. I want a natural shade "cloth". Blooms would make it so much prettier, though. Maybe next year is the year.

And you know, radishes haven't been so easy for me. They grow, but aren't wonderful tasting. Except a certain daikon radish that I bought off a seed rack and planted in the fall. It was actually sweet. I've grown other daikon radishes and they aren't/weren't this tasty. I'm pretty sure it was a Burpee seed. Maybe because it was planted in the fall? Maybe the soil in that particular bed. I don't know.

Nancy, I want the same thing and I am not talking about you in particular. It's just that I have a couple of trees that I have wanted for a long time--a chaste tree and a Chinese Pistache. I don't dare ask questions about them on FB groups because I'll be preached at about them not being native and how they are destroying our environment. Stuff like that. But I do have questions about them. The ice storm in October broke my CP--I had finally kept a tree alive in the front yard for over a year and it broke....one little limb remained and I decided to leave it and see what would happen. It looked ridiculous. But, now it's filling in nicely and I'm so excited about it. The chaste took a hit in February but it has started coming back from the base and slowly the old branches are sprouting leaves. I think I'll leave it until the fall or until next year to start pruning it again. I would like for it to look more tree-like rather than bush. That is the direction it was going until the polar vortex.

When we plant additional trees, I will try to keep them native. Maybe because I have a decent amount of space, I can have both native and a couple of non native. I get confused because henbit and clover and such aren't native either, from what I understand. So, are they harmful? And the chaste tree does attract insects, although I don't really want hornworms eating on them. Butterflies and bees love it. I'm not sure about the CP.

I also love my first "grown up" flower--my hydrangea. But, I did plant an oakleaf hydrangea last year, which I understand is native.

We have a pecan tree on the property and I suppose it's a native variety. It was one that an animal planted long before we moved here. We have a few other trees around the property but I can't identify them.

There's an oak coming up in a strawberry bed. I plan to move it in October once I find a suitable place. I don't know what kind of oak, but it's a free oak.

I've always wanted a big oak tree. I'll never live to see it in its glory....but I still want one.

There's a song by Cernunnos Rising called King of the Forest. It's about an oak tree, but an English oak--an Old English Oak. I like it so much

Hopefully my oak tree in the strawberry bed is a good one for Oklahoma.

Chicken math is gonna get me, Amy! And I'm sorry the squash pest have shown up at your house! Boo!

Danny, do you have a neighbor that can help?

PEPH are my favorite cowpea.

Okay...I've gotta go to my "Real ID" appointment now.

Don't give up on oak trees getting large in your lifetime, it does depend on species and locations, but I planted a 5 gallon willow oak in 2001 I think and it was 35 feet when I moved away in 2011.
No, unfortunately, I live in a city, where I never know my neighbors (got acquainted with one, who moved), most are Hispanic and not really that social with white boys like me. And in the last year, only one of my surrounding neighbors are the same as last year..fast turn over. And with regards to neighbors near Dad's house..well I never lived there...I don't know anyone.
There's apparently 3 kinds of dollies, there's one for furniture, I'll give that a whirl when I rent a uhaul van.

Haha, HJ. I just happened to take a pic of Lincoln's chaste trees this morning (Vitex). They all came back from the roots, but only a very few existing branches had leaves. So after discussing, John cut them way back. They look fine now, huh?

PS: We want ours at the school to be bushes, to form a sort of hedge between the playground side and the garden site.

Does that mean not more acute than a 90-degree angle, so no 45 degree angles, or does that mean no 180-degree angles? Recliners are good, right? My friend in Wyoming said she slept in her recliner for a month. A good guy friend just had the surgery. He was walking after a month of PT but nearly two months out still occasionally uses a cane. Blach. BUT, he said he was almost totally pain free. Yay, like the sound of that!

Okay guys. Check out the verbena bonariensis on steroids.

I was out watching butterflies this afternoon after I got home. They're beginning to show up in larger numbers--several fritillaries, a few yellow tiger swallowtails, lots and lots of skippers, orange sulphurs, clouded sulphurs, little blues--lots and lots of bees--love that anise hyssop. What a great plant it is for the pollinators--especially bees. None of the bees are honey bees. All natives--and other pollinators--the wasps, flies. Very busy place all of a sudden. We're not seeing as much activity at the school yet, but I'm sure it will begin soon.

I have to pick up a few more veggies for there. I planted a bunch of beans, but I'm not sure John's watering--need to ask him. Meanwhile, I got 3 flats of multi-colored petunias and a flat of half little Chili chili ornamental peppers and half black sweet potato vines. We have these shallow beds at Lincoln that are waist high on legs. The petunias will be pretty i those to see from the road. Okay--off to fix dinner.

No 45° angles. It also means don't bend over and touch your toes. Mom did that, made me crazy, and she dislocated her hip more than once. Recliners are fine. I slept in mine for years before surgeries. Now I have a hospital style bed. So sitting on a low couch with knees crossed very bad. As I said, no more line dancing. ;)

These horrible insert bad word monsters took out so many things I can’t keep up. How could I forgot how bad they are here. It doesn’t help that most of this property is 3’ high weeds. I more and weedeat around my area and a little further but this is 3 acres. My cord won’t reach lol.
Danny I am game to learn more about natives. I am in north central Texas shhhhh don’t tell. As far as perennials I am zone 8 b.
Can’t remember who asked what’s next for me my garden. Slowly watch it be eaten.
They have started on the Iris. Finished off the cucumber plants today. I might try to fashion a tunnel with row cover for my stuff I can’t lose. Like trees

LOLOL. Shucks. Recliners, here I come. But not til November, I hope. Just lots of drugs til then.

Danny I wish there were a way we could all help you. Is there? Send muscle men? Fresh out. Send money? Would $10 help? lol Probably not. Hey, you said you just signed back up with Wild Ones. Get them to help! Offer them plants in exchange for labor.

Advice welcome. I need to buy pavers for the big center bed at school. I need to measure it first--I think it's 35-40 in diameter. I'm going to cut it into thirds and have pavers running from the center to the outside--so at the most, probably 50 pavers since there will be space between each. I'll be able to calculate more precisely after I measure it. But what I wanted to ask you is, do you that that will work okay? The idea is to put a definite walking path through it so we're not just wandering willynilly. I'm planning to get round 12" ones.

Jennifer, I had a Siamese cat--got him for Christmas when I was 15. Chipper. He liked to play fetch, and when I'd pat my chest, he'd leap up and I'd catch him there. He LOVED to go on car rides. I'd open the front door and ask him if he wanted to go, and he'd race out to the car. My 23 yr old Kitty also liked to go in the car. I'd get her harness, and she LOVED her red harness. She'd prance around like she was royalty. And that was the sign she got to go in the car. She'd race out, I'd open the pickup door, and she'd leap in. She liked to perch on the seat with her paws on the window ledge. I was always a dog AND cat lover.

Take a picture of your oak. We'll be able to tell you what it is.

I remember Dawn warning you that training a chaste tree into a tree shape might not be easy. I agree with her, their natural inclination is to be bushy. But many have done it successfully, so good luck.

It occurred to me Jen, when you mentioned having to have nonnative plants you love. Perhaps it's easier for me to give them up, because when I moved from Mpls to here, I had to forget about growing at least half of the plants I adored up there. I actually went through a regular mourning period. And so now when I realize a plant (out in the beds, not in containers) isn't contributing to Ma Nature one little bit, but just taking up space that COULD be valuable real estate for one who IS, makes it pretty easy to get rid of. I have a whole big list because of all the mistakes I made when I first got here. HERE, not at Lincoln.

I let the kids pick onions today at Lincoln. There were only 9 or so kids today who weren't involved in other activities, but they were so excited about picking their onion. I asked each one as he or she was about to pick if there was anyone at their house who liked onions and who cooked with onions. I told them if there wasn't, they could give their onion to someone else. But they all solemnly swore there was. You'd have thought they won the lottery! What a hoot! Then they all wanted to pick flowers again. (I made the BAD mistake last week of letting them.) I made a sad face and said, "Here's the deal. . . we want butterflies, right?" "RIGHT!" "Well then, here's the thing. We are going to have a whole BUNCH of caterpillars--you know what happens then, right? " "RIGHT! THEY TURN INTO BUTTERFLIES!" "Right. And guess what--those butterflies need those flowers for food--if they don't have them, they might not survive. SO How about if we don't pick any flowers until all the butterflies have had them for their food?" "YES!!!" So very fun. SO very fun. And I've known several, if not most, for going on 3 years now, so they are dear to me.

Garry hasn't been doing with me lately--he usually only goes when there's actual work we need him for. I'll have to dream up something. LOL

Sweet dreams, all.

Two PSes. First--Larry?????? Are Madge and you okay? Lynn? Marleigh? Regina? The rest of y'all?

2: Are y'all seeing lightning bugs? We weren't seeing hardly any. . . . and I don't know if I mentioned this big ole obnoxious yard light right above our garden/car port. It's BIG AND BRIGHT and I have HATED it, because I couldn't see the stars. Then read about light pollution and read about how lights were screwing up lightning bugs. So I found out I could have the electric company turn it off (and it cost something like $10-15 a month and I hated it. Duh.) So that was a done deal. Now it's very dark out there (we do have motion lights on the garage). I just walked out and it's lightning bugapalooza fireworks show--astounding and fabulous! How wonderful!

HJ, I just realized I didn't answer you. I'm growing Ruby Wallace, greek, and borneo jungle cucumbers.

Nancy, I don't see you as the militant type. I mean, you are as far as your own property and wanting to eliminate as many non natives as you can. But that's your choice. I've never seen you go after someone else for choosing non natives. And I've learned a lot from your posts, so I hope you keep sharing what you find with us.

One thing I've noticed, some of the most vocal about natives are also the most vocal about plantain, mullein, dandelion, henbit, & other "our native bees need them!" weeds. And to answer your question, they may be non natives, but that doesn't automatically make them bad. You can have non natives that aren't invasive.

I am militant as far as my own property, but not overall, . . . LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

I can be militant and I don't apologize for it. I'm not trying to be offensive. I consider it educational, believe it or not, I learn by writing them. It helps to reflect. I don't say rip up everything and replace with natives, but I do say that your plantings will be more interesting and of more value if they are mostly natives. They also won't be contributing to being a problem invasive and if properly sited, will thrive with little attention from you. Native pollinators have co-evolved for millions of years with native plants and there are relationships we simply don't know about yet.

Regarding those common weed (plantain, dandelion, henbit), I eat those weeds, but I would prefer they weren't the majority of our lawns (though they *are* better than turf grass which really doesn't given anything back to the environment). Exotic grass lawns are awful, require much watering, chemical maintenance, etc. The best thing I can do is make some use of the weeds (non-natives) and eat them! :)

Our native bees need natives, not exotic weeds. However, most people (and I don't blame them), don't want native mustards and other early blooming native plants that provide early flowering foods. The henbits are less offensive to the average eye than allowing a mustard that may reach 1.5 feet by time its seeds are fully ripe to mature. The more common early flowering nectar/pollen producers are small trees and shrubs, but most people also don't want a woodland in the front yard. So you could say the small weeds (which may have came to America purposefully as pot herbs, or may have stowed away in hay or something) are compromises.

The food source of most of the pollinator insects primarily includes pollen (protein) and nectar (carbohydrates). Most collect pollen bundles to rear their young, because sugar is energy not the building blocks of cells. Of course, there's a few that collect insects (like spiders for dirtdauber wasps) to raise their next brood. Those insects are dependent upon foliage (ultimately) to be there for food/habitat.

It's all about proper habitat. Did you realize that 80% of our food sources are pollinated by native bees? There's such specialization in flowers, that honeybees (from Asia) can't pollinate many things, and are poor pollinators on others. Even where honeybees are native, there are plants that are not adapted to honeybee pollinator. And with honeybee colony collapse, I see a lot less honeybees than I used to. For instance, honeybees can't reach most tube shaped flowers (think blueberries for instance), bumblebees are adapted for those. Tomatoes also are primarily pollinated by bumblebees and carpenter bees. You get the idea. Right off, I can't think of a food crop that's primarily pollinated by hummingbirds, but there's certainly flowering plants that are (I think morning glories may be one, so that would mean sweet potatoes with their long funnel shaped flowers would be hummingbird dependent for natural breeding.) So...proper habitat is important, because the pollinators mostly dig burrows in soil to raise their next generation, but some also exploit hollow stemmed plants, or old wood as brood locations. I believe (but do not know for certain) that none of our native bees live more than a year, thus we must always have more. Bees are probably 100x more proficient at pollination than moths or butterflies.

Certain flies (like the syrphid flies (flower flies), which are bee mimics) are also important pollinator species. And in some species, their larva eat aphids, that sounds like a deal right? Get rid of pests and get pollinators? :)

Obviously there are important relationships (probably most of which we don't know about), but one that is known is that yuccas will only produce seedpods when visited by the yucca moth. There's probably a lot of that that we just haven't discovered yet. I would really hate to discover that my favorite food (whatever it be) is primarily pollinated by a now extinct insects and is now dying out unless people with artist's brushes hand pollinate it (imagine what *that* would do to food costs).
I say this because I see it. All my winterberry holly berries didn't set this year, because Noah's flood was in progress all season and there were no pollinators. There's not many now, though I'm starting to see a *few* small bees and syrphid flies and the 2nd wave of bumblebees have finally emerged (the workers).

Good writing. I'm off to Lincoln. John has some high school kids there, so we're going to visit and have fun.

Danny I'm thinking about stealing that! Very nice! I'm not militant about anything but privet, Bradford pears and wisteria. All of which are, or have been, here. We've never been able to kill privet As much as I hate it!). Took out the pears a couple of years ago and Ron took out the wisteria this year. There is honeysuckle in the back corner, but it comes through the fence from the yard behind us.

People are SOOO aware of dying honey bees and totally clueless about native bees. I keep seeing posts about Morgan Freeman creating a ranch for bees and Angelina with bees crawling on her face. Good for them, who's going to stand up for natives? (I've read you can pet a bumble bee...any one up for it?) I suppose I was clueless until Nancy told me about Doug Tallamy and gave me his book.

And of course you can't easily BUY natives. If the box stores have them they're cultivars. I think this is what frustrates me the most. People just want to buy something for their property. If non natives are pushed on them, that's what they get.

Will my native asters bloom this year (from seed?) Was weeding out there earlier. Is blankety blank crabgrass native? There's a lot of purslane in my garden this year. It's not native, but it's edible, so I'm leaving it. Never cared for the taste of hen bit raw. Do you cook it Danny? Chick weed is acceptable.

I'm going to lose this post if I don't submit. Too much going on. TTFN.

Oh, I pet bumblebees all the time..they don't even notice if you don't smash them down. I had read many times that carpenter bees don't sting...I found that's WRONG when I actually caught one. Still it wasn't as bad as a wasp. I recently learned (zoom presentation) that dirt daubers while relunctant to sting, can and will if abused.

Yes, specialist nurseries are the only go-to place. I'm lucky in that I know pretty much every speciality nursery in 150 miles. I kinda hate big box stores now....their effect on economy of local shops, etc.

As to native asters, it depends...usually not from my experience, but I read they do (lol). Crabgrass, I don't know..but I suspect it's an European.

I love purslane..even fresh to nibble. It cooks well too (stirfry, soups, wilted salads, etc).
I'm not all that partial to henbit raw either, it needs at least blanching or wilting for me to eat it. Yeah, chickweed (early in season) is pretty good. Dandelion is pretty good wilted with a stronger flavored salad dressing (like raspberry vinegrette).

Amy, I would totally pet a bumble bee!

Speaking of bees, there's at least one tiny bee variety that is very busy in my garden this morning. I didn't see the bigger ones today. But, did see a lot of butterflies (moths?) all over the place....they were especially loving on the coneflowers. I'm sure those echinacea will be full of caterpillars soon.

I have been thrilled to see the wild echinacea all over the ditch/fence line of the property across from our neighborhood. For awhile, people were spraying the fence line....but they've neglected to do that for a couple of years. Maybe that's why the echinacea are so plentiful there.

The one thing that is absent is the swallowtail. I left a huge patch of parsley and dill for them. Nothing. The wasps are busy in that area too, so I wonder if they are getting them before I see them....

Amy...your post made me think...maybe passionate people--even militant people--could turn that passion towards nurseries and suppliers. Because, like you said, people will buy what is available at nurseries. It is wise to educate people for sure...but not everyone will see/read/hear the education because they're not in gardening types of groups. BUT, if the nurseries had the natives, that's what people would buy. Most people want to do right...so if a nursery advertised "Native Plant--it's beautiful and will feed the bees and yadda, yadda, yadda"...many people would purchase that one. Or even advertise..."if you like "this" (insert non native), try this instead because...yadda, yadda, yadda. "

It will take people who have time to do that, though. It would be a campaign. And then people would need to stop spraying and dusting everything every 5 minutes.

I'm dealing with some of that with my Mom. Part of it is HOA requirements.

I was happy to see a bloom on the roselle--a non native. Super excited to try roselle tea and jam.

There's a sweet little colony of teeny tiny toads around the roselle. They're not much bigger than my thumb nail.

A winterberry holly--I need a couple of those in my life and on my property. Hopefully my cats won't poison themselves. Finbar is really the only one who goes outdoors.

Our PEPH peas are starting to pop up. Rick planted them after digging the potatoes. We still have so many peas from last year. I need to open up a jar at least once a week. I ate them last night with the homemade chow chow. I already need to make more of it because people like it. It was fun to make because all the veggies came from our garden (except the red pepper): cabbage, green tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, green sweet peppers....

Maybe I'll make more tomorrow.

Looks like it's time to begin regular watering. Hoping for rain on Monday but they continue to lower our chances. If we get none, I'll spend Monday doing some major watering, I guess. Wait, no I won't. I have work on Monday and something that night too.

Nancy, have fun visiting at the school today.

I need to get myself to the grocery store.

The dragonflies have showed up to the garden too! (edited to say that). They're so cool looking....oh and the lightning bugs.

Happy Father's Day to the all the Dads!

Haha, Amy and Danny. I have a hard enough time eating the alien greens we're used to--but will give the aforementioned ones a try. I suppose they're tastiest when picked young? I told some lady on FB we had no purslane on our property and she said that was impossible--everyone did. LOL I assured her I knew what it looked like and no, we did not. But you actually buy it, don't you, Amy? I COULD do that.

Amy--Garry said to ask Ron about zero turn mowers. I told him I was sure Ron had no idea. Do any of you?

I didn't stay long at the garden, but it was so beautiful and peaceful in the early morning. Just lovely. And lovely visiting. I see my most recently planted seeds beginning to pop up.

John loves chow chow, HJ, so I'll see if we can't get some made this fall.

Echinacea are a nectar flower we all should have. Most sites don't include it as a host plant, though. A couple said it hosted the silvery checkerspot.

My dad made dandelion wine for a few years--but especially enjoyed making chokecherry wine. GDW and I have talked about making elderberry wine. Maybe.

I spent most of today reading, also. One gets to do that when one is retired and too gimped up to be outside gardening. LOL. Now we're going to go out to dinner.

I have no purslane...it doesn't tolerate soggy soils.
I had a visit with Donna...sent her thirsty plants back to Edmond with her. Unfortunately she brought me some more to plant/water. Darn us plant traders.
I actually lost that darn hardy blue ageratum weed (conoclinium coelinestrum I think?)...how does one lose that..it normally takes over. So she bought me one of those. Nice late pollinator plant. And an oxalis violacea (nice native but weed for most). Also a number of small aucuba japonica (golddust plant)..not native, but I've always kinda wanted one. Oh, and a switch grass..not sure how well it will transplant this time of year.

We ate at AQ Chicken (which is always fantastic) and I made a delicious (if I do say so myself) banana hazelnut bread. I'm happy and full.

Tulsa Audubon has been promoting native plants for...20 years...? Maybe longer. They have an annual garden tour for natives. Gradually these things are becoming mainstream.

I did more weeding in the native bed. There's a hole in the ground. I wondered if "somebody" was going to come out and be mad at me. The only thing on my milkweed was what I think we a tiny praying mantis. If he gets bigger he will be relocated to Ron's squash. The Liatris is blooming. Something yellow is about to, but I don't think I found the label. That purple stoksia Daisy may have died for lack of water.

I have purchased domesticated purslane. The leaves are bigger and they tend to be more upright. But the ones this year are the regular weed. Yellow flowers. Low to the ground. Good in salads.

I'm sure that Ron would love a zero turn mower, but I don't know that he knows anything about them.

Have a good father's day.

Hahaha, Amy--I think I already mentioned zero turns on FB, maybe not. Well, if I want to taste purslane, guess I'll have to order it like you did. Our liatris at school is very close, but no cigar quite yet. Did I ever give you any of the tataricus aster? I could spare one or two.

Hazel I wish I could have chickens. Sometimes I wonder if it would be worth it to fight city hall over it... but then I get a wild idea of going on a LONG bike tour and would be gone for weeks/month... and would not be able to keep the chickens anyway.

Nancy I get the native part, but withing reason.... aka, I will also still have some non native plants.

What I don't get is how come NO bees visit my moonflowers this year. I have found them on the lambs-ear... and no, never looked in to if either is native. They are also on Oregano. It was buzzing there this morning.

I am just aware, without bees we won't have food.

That scares me.

Because of Dawn I have flowers in my veggie garden. Prolly not enough... and don't know which ones I should plant.

Amy I get the perennials. Always have. Never had the funds to buy annuals.

Danny I have purslane coming up all over right now. Last year I let it grow, and added it to my evening salad meals. So glad it is back. Guess I need to try it cooked now too.

Yes, please tell about the henbit. I tried it... no fan here. How do you prepare/eat it?

Nancy I ordered a couple of books you talked about earlier... a year or two ago... didn't get to much out of them.. now, I guess I should read Doug Tallamy's book.

Both, no, all three, Nancy, Danny and Amy keep tossing names about that I google search in image option to see, if it is something I have, but am not aware of it's name... and most time I do have it. :)

My Liatris is almost ready to bloom too... and I could give all of you some purslane... :) It's quite nicely growing near my red veined sorrel

I better post this, before I loose it...

Moni

Nancy, Tom has a zero turn. What are Garry's questions? Tom likes it. I know that.

Uh, yeah. The echinacea is a fav of the silvery checkerspots at my house. Those caterpillars will destroy the coneflowers for sure. (They always come back, though. The flowers, I mean.) I think they like all the wild sunflowers too. The burn pile has dozens of sunflowers...and tons of cilantro too. Of course they're all bolting, but MAN! It smells good when there's a breeze and you're walking past the burn pile. We won't burn until the fall.

Chickens definitely require an owner who is mostly home, Moni. I'm a homebody, so it works for me. I DO like to travel every great once in awhile. We hired someone to house sit when we went to DC a few years ago. The last 'big' trip I took was to Colorado. Tom stayed home. And our weekends away are usually covered because Ethan stays home. When he moves, that will change and we'll need to hire help. When we first moved here, we had a neighbor look after our animals. But, we had fewer animals back then--4 chickens, one low maintenance cat and one dog.

But, the eggs are SO good. It's worth the fight. And a lot of people in certain neighborhoods keep them anyways...even if it's not 'allowed'.

Norman allows chickens. AND front yard veggie gardens too. I'll come back with some pictures of one of my favorite in town front yard veggie (and flower) garden.

HJ--what kind of mower is it? When did he get it? Would he recommend his to someone else? Thank you!

Moni--I already DID the "within reason" part! lol I have about 60-70% non-natives in my current yard, including Rose of Sharon, Kerria japonica, 6 miniature crape myrtles, all kinds of re-seeding annuals. But now I have all these new little "treelings" (I think I just made that up!) who need a place to live, and so we'll be taking out the Kerria and Rose of Sharon, for sure. I won't do away with any of the herbs--I adore the herbs! I also adore ornamental peppers. Also, I have a lot of plants on the "edge"--that is, who are native to Mexico. My rationalization for that is that as our growing zones are getting warmer, they're even closer to being true natives. lol These would be the cosmos, zinnias, lantanas. . .

So basically, I'm trying to correct my yard, as HJ said she would probably be doing. Thank God John at Lincoln is on the same page with me, and so he's all about me finding great natives--which is why I've been trying to learn so much, and why I was so excited that Danny knows stuff. And Amy. And Sandra Schwinn, and Lori D, and many others.

I love how all of Dawn's students have been so reverent about growing. She was a good teacher. I see the students on Facebook, and so appreciate their approach. What a legacy. I also have loved all the different life interests of her students, and the various directions the students have gone. Lexi and her flower business, Kim and Jacob and their garden marketing, HJ and her chickens, and now joining labor forces with Rick to go BIGTIME into gardening (which I find admirable, HJ, AND daunting, with the shape I'm in), plus your chickens; Larry, who always is so self-effacing and humble but doesn't just garden--he FARMS. We ALL tend to go off in our own directions. Jen--saving the billions of seeds and arranging seed exchanges; Lisa's flowers; Bruce's mastery, not only of gardening, but patience, administering OGN; Amy's penchant for research just kinda makes me sick (in the same way you having chickens makes me kinda sick--I so wish we could do chickens!). In a jealous kind of way. LOLOL, Amy! But sure glad you're there, you're my friend, and you can fill in the blanks for me! And now we have Danny showing up, who just happens to know a whole lot more than he let on.

This is gonna be a long one. . . like a Dawn-length long one.

For me, this adventure has unfolded rather spontaneously and naturally over the past four years, beginning with my initial interest in wanting to do something for the church's children and thinking a good approach might include butterflies.

I don't mean to be heavy-handed or overbearing. It has become such a part of my life now (kind of like you and your chickens, HJ, or your biking and you, Moni) that I just go on about it as though it's a big part of everyone's life-- and is enchanting for me to learn and grow. I've so much to learn, that's why I was excited that Danny knew so much about natives.

Most well-known wildlife sites ARE bigtime promoting natives--this movement has been growing like crazy in the past 20 years. USDA Forest Service, Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Monarch Watch, North American Butterfly Association, Old Farmers Almanac, even the Bureau of Land Management, to name a few. There IS ongoing work to spread the word, including work as you suggested, Jannifer. The waters are muddied by pesticide and garden products lobbying and many other special interests. I'm not sure where all this will end up. Many countries (and more and more states) have laws mandating native planting, but in the end, it's probably education that will be most effective. We'll see. But things are moving along at a quickening pace--as you suggest--due to the hard work of volunteers and organizations nationwide (and globally for that matter).

I am so excited to see how much our children know. More and more teachers are incorporating things like the importance of saving the birds, bees, insects into their curriculums. It's quite exciting, really. A science teacher from ohe of the schools had a crafts project for our kids that consisted of them making garden "houses" for native bees! (The houses weren't all that good, but at least the kids learned about native bees and places they choose to live.)

The high school ag teacher (a peach of a guy) volunteered, with his students, to come assist in helping in the garden, and they were not only helpful, but a lot of fun. They helped plant stuff and put up the trellises for vining plants, and learned a bit about gardening along the way. We'll be having the butterfly experts out to talk to the kids, and we'll also be contacting the regular schools' teachers to invite them in, too!

I certainly hope I can put off surgery for a few months and get pain management in the meantime so we can finish this garden year. That's up in the air, too. Hell to have one's body get old! I try to remember Moni's advice to keep moving, to exercise, and I'm trying. I kow so many folks my age who are going through the same darned thing.

I value you all and your collective knowledge. I'm blessed to have you all in my life. Thank you.

Nancy (err spoken like a true gardener), wouldn't it be nice to put it off till harvest, and then convalesce when it's winter anyway (and there's nothing to be done in the yard/gardens) (Lol)...course I don't want you to be in pain.

Yes, having just joined (officially) Wild Ones, our last convo/meeting was about planting (*and maintaining*) native garden areas in parks, including one about 5 minutes from my house as a form of 'advertising'. So yeah, 'everyone' realizes the problem (lack of information) and has ideas on how to demonstrate alternatives to folks. I'm excited about it, well except for the maintenance, of course (especially July-September).
Oh, I've gone way beyond reason, I have like 40 pots of things (some waiting to be planted), some still small plants in their germinating pots (planning to plant out in fall when cooler/rainier/less competitive plants). Most are native, but I do have a pot of iranian germander, and european biennial campanula (big...six footers). As you all will recall, I have a muddy challenge in finding things that actually grow in my soggy conditions...till summer when it's hot and dry (argh, the worst of both).

I really am excited by the prospects of plant exchange through the internet though. I've reaccquired canadian anemone (which I got somehow in Oklahoma) by trading with a guy in Michigan. I got some monkeyflowers from him (traded him my mimulus alatus and he traded it's cousin mimulus ringens). Both are native to my area, but I've only seen alatus in the wild once (in a flowing spring). He's growing a florida native coreopsis (which shocked me that it's able to grow in Michigan..though flowering for him is typically first flowers open...frost...dead). I love learning things and figuring out how to make plants tolerably happy. It's fun finding your wants too...I was extremely happy that Donna found oxalis violacea for me, while weeding a commercial strawberry bed, which she brought yesterday. Their weeds->my beds. Yes, technically we should source locally, but sometimes the best you can do when the plants just aren't available...is find them somewhere.
Oh the only thing I have currently on my want list, is acquire false garlic/crow poison (nothoscordum bivalve), and you know...I bet it's along the roads for some of you (hint hint). It's not a big plant, not showy, but it *does* bloom twice a year and since it's ephemeral, doesn't take up much space. I've tried twice to grow it here from seed, but the floodings have happened and the seed has rotted on me. And since it's a 'weed', no one offers plants. And toads, I need more toads (*lol*). I should research what eats slugs, I need to provide habitat for whatever those are!

Crow poison, ROFL! Well, I probably had it in the yard before it was mowed, but I don't know if I could find it with out blooms. Is that the one that is a look alike to non native star of Bethlehem? I have no idea which I have, we always called it crow's poison when I was a kid.

Ha ha ha, Nancy, my research. You research, what word? Harder, deeper, longer? I'm just good at Googling. And my interests go back to when birding was my passion. Many birds are endangered, too. That goes back to when Travis was in kindergarten, so 25 years. I have a little bit of a head start.

Moni, doesn't moonflower bloom at night? Isn't it pollinated by moths? Like hornworm sized moths? Is it datura or a morning glory type? (I've heard both called moon flower. There's also, I was told and I don't remember source, so it could be wrong) wild potatoes that make big white flowers on fence lines. Maybe they're datura. Don't they end up with tubers? I'm not Googling it. I have to say I was disappointed not to see pollinators on my Liatris yesterday.

I had Ron put catnip and mint (sweet?) In his squash beds. I didn't tell him they would seed themselves. I used to have a big catnip plant that spawned others, but he pulled it out. I thought maybe the scent would slow down squash pests.

We are supposed to visit friends today at a gathering in Tulsa and there is so much to do here and we'll be tired then. Sigh, in my case being old means I have no energy and hate going out in public clothes and shoes.

You probably do Amy, I had lots in Chelsea. It's grasslike and more allium like than SOB, but kinda sorta?

And you'd be surprised how nasty folks can get that (oh, I'm an admin on a plant id group btw) when I suggest that they could have answered their question with a google query versus waste lots of other people's time by being lazy...umm yeah. And wow does the fur fly....I really prefer people to try to help themselves before trying to leech help off the community. If they doubt the validity, then I'd prefer them to phrase it something like, 'Well Google said this, but I'd like to hear what others have to say.', versus an equivalent that translates to 'waah waaah, I'm helpless, help me, help me, help me.' (Sorry, it does get old on FB). So, oh my yes, Google can answer lots of questions and it's really fast (lol).

Yes, I am sure that moonflowers (and there are several genuses called that) are all either nocturnal moth or bat pollinated. Many cacti are night bloomers as well. Amy, I think you're referring to ipomea pandurata (this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Ipomoea_pandurata_on_fence.jpg/1024px-Ipomoea_pandurata_on_fence.jpg ) (umm yes, another of my 'I want' plants that I had forgotten), which forms ?tubers? up to 80 lbs or so. It stays open till near noon, so I can't say if it's mostly night pollinated or not, it's pink/purple and most of the night-flowering moonflowers are white, which hints that daytime (color-seeing) critters pollinate it. I had been under the impression that it was sterile (older professor gentleman in Tulsa told me that), and I've never found seeds, but I've seen seeds (rarely) for sale. And since it's fairly widespread, you'd think it has to form seeds on occassion or under special signs of the moon or something. Or maybe those seed sales are in the same sort as 'rare exotic' seed from China? :) I'm not sure...I will have to search hard for a way to own one of these come next spring, now that you reminded me!

Danny, I actually did Google datura and apparently they have thick fleshy roots that might be mistaken for potatoes. There was a pecan grove near here that had the wild potatoes growing on the fence. Wish I could remember who called them that. I think yours is right though. They must have sprayed that fenceline, I haven't seen them recently.

I spend a lot of time in Oklahoma Garden Web and Oklahoma Frugal Gardening on FB, so I feel your pain. I'd be happy if they just read today's posts so we didn't have 3 posts on BER and 6 on squash bugs Every. Single. Day. And please burn the GD crepe myrtles to the ground if they're not leafing out after the freeze! Ummm, I could rant all night so I should stop that. I'm not even an admin. I am an admin on an heirloom tomato group, where they regularly ask what tomato they might be growing?

If I see any crow poison (why isn't it crow's poison? Maybe it refers to the Crow Tribe? I guess that makes sense. I always pictured blackbirds dropping dead in the yard.) I will try to save it for you. You want some of the tiny pink flowers that grow in waterlogged soil?

Wait, it's Sunday? Is there a new thread?

LOL

Amy this is the first year, that I don't have bees waiting for the flowers to open near dark outside. I find it very disturbing.

Moni

I hear you Moni, I am seeing multiples on bumblebees (as of yesterday) finally (you know..when you can see 2 and know they're different bees because you can see 2 at once). Butterflies (other than a pink edged sulphur and a little blue) are non-existent still....