u/CopperSnowflake

In Northern Minnesota. Owners don't think it has flowers (odd considering it had fruit pods). No thorns.

I have found a volunteer oak tree. Do you think it's desirable or rare enough to dig it out and offer it up? I think it's Quercus rubra - Northern Red Oak. I've got squirrels so it is likely an acorn tree.

Anyone ever seen a Lewis mock orange older or bigger than this? It's so heavy it is breaking at the base and falling over.

At first I thought these were black soldier fly pupae but, after checking my outdoor pile I see absolutely none of the eating larvae. These pupae seem to be dirt colored. They move a bit. They seem deep in the bottom of the pile. What do you think they are?

USDA zone 8/9, west coast, USA

Outdoor pile

I wanted to share this interesting find. What is here in the middle of the pic is *vertically* growing tree roots going into where my pile was (kind of is). The black material is the desirable black humus that formed naturally.

Pile description: outdoor, urban, cylinder of chicken wire, no turning, 100% leaves. Pretty much 100% neglected. USDA Zone 8/9 climate. Picture taken in September.

Tree: absolutely massive magnolia tree.

I put this out here just to prove composting can be SO EASY. Literally do nothing and you can get humus at the bottom of the pile.

I found a very cleaned, white partial deer skull on a trip. I brought it home and left it outside on my patio staircase. There was no goo on it at all, very clean, just bone.

So it disappeared. I have a completely fenced yard but it has a gate gap that a cat can get through. In my neighborhood there are coyote, raccoon, oppossum, cats, squirrels. I do not think a dog could get in here. Why would any animal move an entire skull? What did it do with it? I have other bones in my garden and they aren't fussed with. What do you think happened?

What do you think this weirdo is? My guess is a Lunaria (honesty) mutant. I did put those seeds in here but others, too. Hasn't gone past the cotyledon stage. It's next to a cosmo for scale.

I have forgotten what these are and there have been no flowers. What plant are they? I do see a white line down the blade but that seems to be on crocus and on star of Bethlehem.

So cute

Trifolium subterraneum (?)

I have a shady area of my "lawn" that has a completely bonkers clover patch. When it started it looked like someone dropped 500 seeds in one area. I thought that my kids had collected clover flowers and then dumped them with their dump truck. But... I don't have this anywhere for them to find. Is this how this weed grows? It's just one extremely dense mat right away?

Other info... under a maple tree. No fertilizer or sprays in use. My neighbor grows clover, but it doesn't look dense like this (it looks sparse, tall enough to mow). I don't see it anywhere else in my garden or in my neighborhood.