Gardening

[altagirl]

And there is an Oenothera and Bee Balm. And Greek Oregano and whatever this little blue flowering guy is...



And in the park strip I added Origanium X Amethyst Falls which might have the best smelling and cutest leaves ever.
And these little guys have survived the winter in the park strip, yay.

 

[shadoj]

@altagirl Love the selection for pollinators! The fireweed cultivar looks gorgeous. What hummingbirds do you get in your area? Also, what is the cute plant in the rock?

Saw my first ruby-throat hummingbird yesterday evening, and this morning, along with 2 species of queen bumblebees (including my fave endangered rusty-patch). Everything's starting to pop with the rain, warmth, and today's sunshine.

I have tomorrow off work (seasonal job), so that means a couple hours of battling bird-planted invasives if I muster up the energy. On top of my other job (computer stuff), of course. Oof.

My fingernails may never be truly clean again until ski season (if you don't count paint, anyhow).

 

[altagirl]

@altagirl Love the selection for pollinators! The fireweed cultivar looks gorgeous. What hummingbirds do you get in your area? Also, what is the cute plant in the rock?

Saw my first ruby-throat hummingbird yesterday evening, and this morning, along with 2 species of queen bumblebees (including my fave endangered rusty-patch). Everything's starting to pop with the rain, warmth, and today's sunshine.

I have tomorrow off work (seasonal job), so that means a couple hours of battling bird-planted invasives if I muster up the energy. On top of my other job (computer stuff), of course. Oof.

My fingernails may never be truly clean again until ski season (if you don't count paint, anyhow).

Thanks! I definitely look for things that are both drought tolerant and pollinator friendly. The one in the rock planter is Moroccan Pincushion Flower. https://conservationgardenpark.org/plants/1778/moroccan-pincushion-flower

And we get mostly Black-chinned and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, with a few Calliopes and Rufous Hummingbirds in late summer. Right now i just seem to have Black-chinned.

 

[altagirl]

My first hummingbird visitor that I saw this year (about a week ago). I just had put some annual salvia in a pot on the deck for them until my perennials bloom.

 

[altagirl]

@altagirl Love the selection for pollinators! The fireweed cultivar looks gorgeous. What hummingbirds do you get in your area? Also, what is the cute plant in the rock?

Saw my first ruby-throat hummingbird yesterday evening, and this morning, along with 2 species of queen bumblebees (including my fave endangered rusty-patch). Everything's starting to pop with the rain, warmth, and today's sunshine.

I have tomorrow off work (seasonal job), so that means a couple hours of battling bird-planted invasives if I muster up the energy. On top of my other job (computer stuff), of course. Oof.

My fingernails may never be truly clean again until ski season (if you don't count paint, anyhow).

I love trying to get photos of my pollinators too but they are not the most cooperative sometimes. I had a bumblebee nest a couple of years ago under my pine trees that my dog was digging at and I piled up some loosely spaced bricks around it with a little roof so the dogs can't mess with it. If course now it's hard for me to see if they are using their little safe haven but I hope so.

 

[newboots]

I got a mini-tour of the local garden for teenagers to work in our city. It's got a name (green something) but I forget, and it's located next to my volunteer work with Mutual Aid food distribution. Another volunteer and I were talking and started (half-consciously) pulling weeds out from the edge of the garden (just outside the fence) and the coordinator saw us and came out to invite us inside. They grow food and pollinator plants, and give starts out to local gardeners (without publicizing it - they don't make THAT many starts). Their garlic is huge and thriving, and she explained that they have been replanting from the same garlic that has been grown in Beacon for 8 years, and every year it is better acclimatized and grows stronger. (I have grown garlic, but earlier this year I wasn't sure what these alliums were, since they seemed way too big for garlic this time of year!).

They use compost, mulch with straw, and cover the paths with wood chips. It's a wonderful garden (you should see the strawberries!) and so good for the kids.

 

[shadoj]

I'm really behind on my computer forums...
In the interim, enjoy:



Black and Gold Bumblebee (Bombus auricomus) on Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis). Native lupines are the obligate plant host of the federally-endangered Karner blue butterfly larvae, though the Wisconsin fragmented pockets don't quite reach the Twin Cities, MN, area quite yet. The glowy silvery plant is Prairie Sage, (Artemisia ludoviciana).

 

[WaterGirl]

not really gardening, but some Eastern Sierra yellows....