Kris 6A/Central Corn Plains 8.2.3🌱
@kzgrant
Retired from teaching but not from caring about all our kids’ futures. Hence still fighting battles I thought we won and trying to be less furious and more effective. Native gardening! Cheesehead.
🌱 Update on tomato defense: it works! Harvested an unmolested row that was protected. Directly above it was the green tomato the squirrels chewed on. They never bother with green ones, so I guess they’re mad?
ha! I felt bad for this little guy during the last bout of high 90’s, he was looking in the window so longingly. We put water out and they have fallen birdseed so if they go after my tomatoes it’s game on, buddy!
🌱 Trying out this version of squirrel deflection before encasing the entire plant in chicken wire. If it works it’s much easier on my skin! Wondering about heat and humidity.. any advice is welcome.
🌱 Perfectly lovely places to be. Not this week, though… 100’s real feel and then wildfire smoke.
🌱 Literally a big-ass bee! Is it a type of Carpenter Bee?
🌱 Royal Catchfly looking regal in the golden hour.
🌱 Hey anybody who knows bees, can you help me ID this little guy? I only got one picture so there’s not a lot to go on. It was feeding from a calendula to give you an idea of scale. #nativebee
🌱 You know how you really want to grow a plant but you don’t have the right habitat so you make a fairly huge rain garden and then, a year later, in the immortal words of Ghostbuster Janine Melnitz…..
🌱 Summer soundtrack is here. Percussion section arrives dressed in a pale green ensemble.
🌱😋 It’s garlic harvest season! Garage is going to be too hot so a quick couple of days dry off and down to the basement for these guys.
🌱 Big Swallowtail caterpillar hiding in shade, it is 103 so good move! Did some rescue watering for new plants, topped up water sources for birds and pollinators, and it’s time to head inside.
🌱 Hello babies! Swallowtail caterpillars eating and hopefully not being eaten. No monarch caterpillars yet despite many milkweed plants of various kinds. Hoping…
🌱next up in natives - Hoary Vervain, a pollinator magnet.
🌱 Pale Purple Coneflower is the star of this beautiful early summer day.
🌱 No Swamp Milkweed on the menu tonight, bunnies! Waiting to see what is second favorite….
Sure! I’ve only been growing it for a year but it’s delightful here:Zone 6A. What I’ve observed: Happy in part shade and with foot traffic. A cool season grower so it pops up before clover, imp in early spring mud season with our pets. Grows about 10 in tall here.
🌱 Lawn alternative for a path between 2 gardens- Path Rush. It’s a native, has beautiful blooms and seeds and tolerates foot traffic. Just getting started but looks happy.
🌱Next up in natives- Poke Milkweed, Winged Loosestrife, Swamp Milkweed (if the bunnies let it live), Pale Purple Coneflower
The bizillion seedlings in our rain garden have grown and iNaturalist tells me at least these may be New England Aster! How about yours?