CarolineScott said:T
I planned a hummingbird garden strip,but did not get it done.
Next year-?

We gardeners are such a hopeful bunch!! (but then, anyone that plants a tiny seed and thinks they might actually get a flower, has to be!!)

I can't say that I completely avoid the chemicalized nursery plants, but I don't do it often. I believe in reducing lawn to a bare minimum because grass requires water and chemicals to maintain. I use no chemical pesticides in my garden except in very dire circumstances (none whatsoever so far this year, only once last year). Manure is my only fertilizer, and I only water newly-planted things or if it is really hot and dry for an extended period of time. I also plant bee and butterfly magnets, and many other native plants. I am rewarded with lots of activity in my yard. The only critters I don't want are the rabbits and gophers, but I guess you have to take the good with the bad

One addendum to my post....I once jokingly threatened to get a gun and shoot the rabbits, and crittergarden freaked out
It's great to have such a passionate advocate for the environment. I am an aging flower child and my contemporaries raised the issue long ago. I wish we had made more progress then; many of the things we predicted have, unfortunately, come to pass. We have to keep trying!

foraygardengirl said:I once jokingly threatened to get a gun and shoot the rabbits, and crittergarden freaked out

I'd be freaked out also.

Glad you were joking.

foraygardengirl said:One addendum to my post....I once jokingly threatened to get a gun and shoot the rabbits, and crittergarden freaked out

Did I seem to "freak out"??? Really???
I just get a little preachy on the subject of a) the environment in general and b) critters and c) good healthy plants marked for killing instead of passing along.


The Millennials are picking up where we exhausted out. I am SO happy with these green younguns! And their elders are less resistant than ours were. Their elders are US!!

http://www.spokesman.com/stori...

Great action in Spokane
Critter, I was just funning you a little I support bring true to your cause , and I assure you that I have personally never been known to keep my mouth shut even when I should
I do hope the kids will keep up the fight!

Yay for Spokane!

Oh my goodness. I wish that would happen here. All we see on TV is yard rage with neighbours trying to kill each other if one has farm animals.

I knew you were funning me!

I'm incurable, critter

S'ok, so am I!!

Gleni said:Oh my goodness. I wish that would happen here. All we see on TV is yard rage with neighbours trying to kill each other if one has farm animals.

Interesting... a small town near me (they're really all small towns near me) has a recent controversy with residents being able to keep a few chickens. One person wrote a letter to the editor complaining about how "if you have chickens to lay eggs you have to have roosters and the roosters are noisy..." One of the rare times I've been tempted to respond, but (1) it isn't even the "nearest" town to where I live, and (2) I try to keep a low profile

However, I haven't heard of any homicides involving keeping of farm animals... I always knew Australia was a pretty rough place, Glen!!

SongofJoy said:http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/jun/17/spokane-city-council-aims-to-protect-honeybees/

Pics of Ivy in front yard as Ann requested several days ago- @flaflwrgrl

mowed not too long ago (an attempt to hold the mosquito population down)





Ivy climbing a pine tree. Note the face in the tree!


a colony of Downy Skullcap borders the ivy

Very pretty especially with the Downy Skullcap!! Are ivies a particular favorite of mosquitoes?

I think they like perpetually covered a/o shaded areas for daytime sleep, dampness under there too; just a theory.

In my experience that's exactly where mosquitoes love to hang out & why.

Pretty J & thank you. What a great face in the pine.

That Downy Scullcap is really healthy & very pretty.

Oh I am among my people here.

I've been beating this drum for so so so many years, and my drum beater is plumb wore out. But I always get a boost when I see the "replace your lawn with garden" movement, and the "plant for the butterflies" movement, etc.

I'd love a link or reference about the neonicotinized plants that remain harmful -- I have only just recently heard of that. I bet that's why plants at places like Lowes "feel" dead to me.

Anyway. I did just see two cabbage whites, just the other day, and there are a few honeybees around, and a few lightening bugs here also. We are at a brink but I have to conclude it is a turning point; the resilience of this Earth is beyond what we know, and I don't despair.

to all of you.