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Gardening

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
And there is an Oenothera and Bee Balm. And Greek Oregano and whatever this little blue flowering guy is...20220510_081926.jpg
20220510_081946.jpg


And in the park strip I added Origanium X Amethyst Falls which might have the best smelling and cutest leaves ever. 20220510_082232.jpg
And these little guys have survived the winter in the park strip, yay.
20220510_082238.jpg
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
@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

Moderator
Staff member
@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

Moderator
Staff member
@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

Angel Diva
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

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

KIMG0582.jpg

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).
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
Yo! Gardening divas! I know you're out there poking around your flowers, waiting for the snow, running for your life from angry yellowjackets (!) Show me your fall flowers :smile:

Here's my workplace; nearly all native (99% regional) plants. It's nice right now.
retail_nursery.jpg

Have some nodding onions (Allium cernuum) in my garden, for the fun of it:
allium_cernuum.jpg

So many photos. Not enough time to peruse until winter... and then I get too busy skiing!!!
Get out there and get dirty before it's too cold ;)
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
@altagirl Your hummingbirds are amazing! Love the nectar drop spray. May I use a couple photos for watercolor practice reference?

The Wasatch Fire looks wonderful! Can't wait to see it fill in more next year. Nice addition for the pollinators :smile:
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
@altagirl Your hummingbirds are amazing! Love the nectar drop spray. May I use a couple photos for watercolor practice reference?

The Wasatch Fire looks wonderful! Can't wait to see it fill in more next year. Nice addition for the pollinators :smile:
Of course!

And me too. And it's actually nice that it blooms so late when other things are done. And it's genuinely not needing much water and loves the heat. The supposedly heat and drought tolerant sedum next to it is almost totally dead. That spot gets afternoon sun and reflects the sun off the beige house siding and concrete behind it so it gets HOT. I will have to find some more for a few other tough spots next year.
 
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altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Once the weather cooled off, I pulled out a big section of grass and put in a drought tolerant/low water pollinator garden. (Sedum, bluebeard, lavender, butterfly weed, non-invasive butterfly bush, etc...) oh, and some all-black pansies for fall. I'd never seen those before.20220926_085549.jpg20220926_084636.jpg20220928_160444.jpg
 
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shadoj

Angel Diva
I pulled out a big section of grass and put in a drought tolerant/low water pollinator garden.
Nice! Those edge stones are lovely, and I like the path to walk through the new garden. Will be fun to see it fill in and which pollinators visit this/next season.

I'll try to post some photos of my autumn garden soon. Just got back from camping and so busy at the nursery! Still plenty of time to plant trees/shrubs/perennials... or so I keep telling myself. Have a few containers in the front yard that I haven't found a spot for, yet. They're all sitting in a ring of hardware cloth because the squirrels are insane right now.

I harvested my first 2 tomatillos today! Not bad for a neglected pot of 2 :smile:
 

Lmk92

Angel Diva
Nice! Those edge stones are lovely, and I like the path to walk through the new garden. Will be fun to see it fill in and which pollinators visit this/next season.

I'll try to post some photos of my autumn garden soon. Just got back from camping and so busy at the nursery! Still plenty of time to plant trees/shrubs/perennials... or so I keep telling myself. Have a few containers in the front yard that I haven't found a spot for, yet. They're all sitting in a ring of hardware cloth because the squirrels are insane right now.

I harvested my first 2 tomatillos today! Not bad for a neglected pot of 2 :smile:
Do you make salsa verde? I grew tomatillos for the first time this year, and made salsa verde for the first time, too! I like a recipe I found at loveandlemons, but am still looking for the best recipe!
 

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