I have a little rusty looking butterfly I can put with him.

Peggy8b said: Darn.......my secret isn't just mine.

Also... just crop out the mess works very well too!

I mowed my little strips of grass today. It doesn't take long but with all the rain lately I feel accomplished.

Murky said: Also... just crop out the mess works very well too!

Hmmm. I guess I should just start assuming that for every photo I see there is a huge section covered in weeds just outside of the image.

It's official - all your gardens are complete wrecks and mine is actually the neatest and cleanest...

Toedtoes said: Hmmm. I guess I should just start assuming that for every photo I see there is a huge section covered in weeds just outside of the image.

It's official - all your gardens are complete wrecks and mine is actually the neatest and cleanest...

You can definitely assume that with any of my photos

The spring flower show is over.






But the summer flower show is getting ready to begin.

Spring is such a great time of the year. This year my yard is doing so well and has really matured and settled in. There is still so much work that needs to be done but I marvel in what my flowers are giving me in return.

Murky said: Also... just crop out the mess works very well too!

Guilty on that one a time or two, as well. Man, ALL my secrets are out I guess.

It's hard to keep anything secret around here, Peggy!

I have these crazy weeds growing everywhere this year. I didn't really notice them last year. They are hard to pull if they are in regular dirt cause their roots go deep. They are easy to pull from mulch with landscape fabric under it.

Wild lettuce. I have it everywhere as well. Even if you don't get the whole root you'll weaken it enough that alot of them won't come back. Helps if you get ahead of the seeds too.-

Thanks Amanda. I remember somewhere being told that it was wild lettuce. I will do my best to eradicate it from my flower beds.

I also think that's it. I had one plant last year and let it go to seed. Hoped birds could use them. This year, dozens!!!!! And some huge! 4 feet tall.

I finished adding stuff to my composter today. I added a bunch of lawn clippings yesterday and paper/aspen bedding today. I've been adding fruits, veggies, tp rolls, paper bags, and cardboard boxes since I got it, so hopefully it has more carbon than greens. I'm going to have to cover it when it rains though. That 5"+ of rain we got sure made it wet and it has been raining every few days since then. The paper bedding should suck up some of the water at least.

I did notice some... I'm unsure if it's black soldier fly larvae or another fly's larvae... in there. Not too many though. I don't mind their presence though.

Awesome! The thing I love most about composting is that there's no wrong way to do it. Piled, spread, turned, not turned, covered, ignored, sprinkled around, the OM will decompose.

Hi everyone,

Believe it or not, this is gardening related. I was out on a bike ride, and I saw a giant western toad in a canal.

I picked it up and got a picture, only to realize that it was in the process of laying eggs when I picked it up.

I guess you can say it "delivered" into my hand.



Anyway, Western toads are very good pest controllers in my garden, I figured I'd help out my garden and the toad population by hatching these and releasing them when they're grown.

I also found this on one of my brussels sprouts, further proof I need better pest controllers and pest control.

really cool!
Do you have the eggs at home now?
I have a fond memory of tadpoles from childhood. It's been rare for me to find frog eggs these years. We have seen tadpoles now and then (river, ditches by the park)

sallyg said: really cool!
Do you have the eggs at home now?
I have a fond memory of tadpoles from childhood. It's been rare for me to find frog eggs these years. We have seen tadpoles now and then (river, ditches by the park)

Yes. I do have them at home. They usually take about 3 to 10 days to hatch, I think. That's according to research.