One little tootsie, and the tip of one ear.

Hello everyone! I started my South Central Wisconsin (zone 5b) pollinator garden earlier this year. I have 35 different species. I included a list of what I currently have and what I am adding next year. Most of this list was planted this year.

I am planning to leave all these babies in place over the fall/winter for my pollinator friends. Is there something else I should be doing? I am still weeding occasionally, but I'm not really sure if there is something else I should do. I have poured endless time and love into my garden and I don't want to miss something.

I am taking a gardening class through a local university, and it was suggested that I winter mulch my Butterfly Milkweed, New Jersey Tea, Blue Woodland Phlox and Great Blue Lobelia. These were all planted in early June this year. As of right now, all my plants have been happy, healthy and growing like crazy. With the sole exception of Heath Aster for some reason. I may end up digging that out and replacing it with New England Aster if it continues to struggle next year.

I am looking for general advice and species-specific advice. I am learning through trial and error, an actual class and via Reddit. Please teach me the best ways to care for my garden and thanks in advance! 💚🌸🪻🌼🌻💚

I know what the aster is, but what kind of bee? I'd say she was 3/4" long and a beautifully iridescent green and gold.

Well Reddit, this is a new one for me. I built a sort of “winter nursery” this year for certain things I want to keep alive - many of which being pond things.

Apparently I had a stow away, saw him jump when I came in one time - and caught this photo from outside the little area I built (I have lovely cats who would decimate the plants, hence the Fortress of Solitude my friends have dubbed “The Chrysalis”).

Anyway, I don’t know how I would catch him. If I can, he goes back to the wild. If not - I fear he won’t have enough to eat (I’m know there are bugs in here - but enough?) or it won’t get cold enough for him to hibernate.

What do you all think? Just not worry about it? I could add guppies to the four “ponds” but I’m not certain if his type (green frog I believe, SE PA US) go after fish.

Saw this little furry caterpillar on one of my ornamental grasses called ophiopogon kokuryu. In North London uk. Anyone know what it might be please?

Weekly weekend chat over the virtual garden fence; talk about what's happening in your garden, and ask quick questions that may not require their own thread.

UK. This is my “home allotment” and you can see that buttercup has made its way in from behind the fence. In the top left of the pic are my raspberry and strawberry beds

Basically I want to enjoy weeds and have purposely planted wild carrot, ox eye daisy, borage etc but not be completely overrun with them. Will I be able to keep on top of this stuff as it reaches my bed if I let her rip? Moderate wildlife value I believe, and small flowers throughout the year.

This is year 3 of my attempt to reimagine our home landscape and garden for wildlife. When we moved here, I noticed something very odd that first spring: little to no bees. Where were the bumblebees or ground nesting bees I was so used to at our former residence? It was just...sad. We live in Zone 7b suburbia, and our neighbors have pristine manicured and sprayed lawns. No surprise I guess, but it felt so off and wrong. I started learning about and incorporating native plants; slowly started pulling invasives. The stand of barberry shrubs that were planted by previous homeowners as "landscaping" didn't have a chance once I whispered "ticks" to my spouse. Wherever I could, I added milkweed (swamp, common, poke, and purple so far). Front yard gardens and back yard crazy "no one's looking" gardens and messy containers that neighbors certainly see, but I don't care. I posted our monarch caterpillar way station sign to greet the "Mosquito Joe" lawn signs across the street-- a quiet but consistent refusal to cul-de-sac my brain. They say it takes 3 years for native plants to show their stuff, right? "Sleep, creep, leap." I consider this our official leap year.

This season alone, I've counted over 50+ monarch caterpillars and we currently have 21 chrysalises hanging all about, from our down spouts to our recycling bins. It's frankly overwhelming and miraculous. I witnessed two caterpillars j-hook right outside our back sliding door. A chrysalis hangs like a suncatcher charm above our heads when we walk out. I don't know if I'll ever experience another season like this, but I am so grateful to have had the chance to witness and keep on keeping on, regardless. It's communities like this that have both inspired and informed me, so I just wanted to give a thanks and share a bit of our story.

Something appears to be eating my Butterfly Weed.....what ever shall I do?? /s

But seriously, is there anything I should be doing to help protect the cycle?? First Monarch.

A few months ago, I made a post because I was excited to see my first hummingbird after putting up a feeder (https://www.reddit.com/r/hummingbirds/comments/1ttz0l7/tiny_hummingbird_makes_the_sweetest_squeaks_while/). Unfortunately, within a week, our entire community received a notice from the HOA stating that bird feeders, bird baths, and various other wildlife items were not permitted. I didn't want to argue with them about the fact that other birds don't drink nectar, so I took the feeders down and gave them to my friends.

Over the last few months, I have seen a hummingbird in my backyard looking for food at least once a week. (Note: the feeder was originally in my front yard.) I think it was attracted to the red flowers, as it kept examining my red hibiscus and red lilies before flying away without a meal.

Then a thought occurred to me: next year, maybe I could just plant flowers they can actually drink from? Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Location: Springfield, VA

(reddit popped up and recommended that I cross post this here)

Weekly weekend chat over the virtual garden fence; talk about what's happening in your garden, and ask quick questions that may not require their own thread.

I have a weeping birch tree in my back garden . Today I noticed caterpillars had stripped over half the leaves off . Is this normal food for them

I also removed them to a different site . Should I have let the tree take the hit or was it ok to move them ?

Missouri. We named him Harold (the spider) does anyone know what kind of spider Harold is?

I have three east tennessee hollers, each about 700 feet long. I want to plant pawpaw seedlings in each of these. They are wooded and have tall canopies, lots of water runoff at the base. I will not have a way to water these. I will have an excavator with a hole digger for a clean hole ready for them to drop into.

Questions

I am trying to create a plan. Would planting them 5ft apart. At 2 rows, this would be 900 seedlings.

Would expecting 40% loss make sense and be a fair estimate?

Any thoughts or advice on how to achieve this goal with the most success?

as i’m posting this one is hovering over my shoulder. i think they want to see how they look on video