u/lostinthelegs

Just found these incredible plants growing under some cherry trees in the back, shaded corner of the dog's yard. Have never seen anything like it, iNaturalist says it's a clammy ground cherry. What a stunning plant. I'm going to try transplanting a couple to a different portion where I don't have to worry about dogs peeing on them. There are at least 30 individual plants & they all look remarkably healthy! I've lived here for about 2 years & have scoured every corner of the property in that short time to ID all the plants, yet I still get unexpected surprises!

I love this little guy. Does anyone know of any other black leafed cultivars? They're my favorite.

Hello! I got my beautiful winged sumac a couple of years ago when I ordered a trio of staghorn sumacs from TN Nursery. Of course I was disappointed at the time as these guys aren't really native locally to where I am, but it's doing quite well. Also, turns out I have staghorn sumac growing on the property, so it all works out. I got especially excited this year as it's flowering!

I know these guys have 2 sexes, & I would like to get a "mate" for my plant so I can have some drupes. A friend who is about 30 miles from here has several clonal colonies but neither of us can tell which sex is which to save our lives. Does anyone have pictures of what both look like? Is it too early to tell on my beauty?

First 2 pictures are from early last year, last 3 pictures are from this year. Between these pictures, about a year ago, a large portion of the maple tree fell in a storm (nearly hitting my bedroom)! However, the raspberry continues! As does the Virginia creeper. The maple is..hanging in there. This year the raspberry fruited & they were inexplicably sweeter & larger than the other wild raspberry canes growing in the ground...but I'm certain this isn't a cultivated variety, it otherwise looks & behaves just like its ground-dwelling brethren.

First picture of a freshly molted dog day cicada, Neotibicen canicularis. I've gotten them as nymphs and older imagos, so this was a nice find.

I think this beauty must be witchgrass, Panicum capillare, right? I'm having great luck with volunteer native grasses & sedges this year. Hopefully I can help it dominate the invasive grasses growing in my chickens' yard.

They're gonna be bummed out when it gets too cold for them to be on the porch.

These are my big brown bat mommas! A few weeks ago we found a baby in the basement & I drove 6 hours to bring him to a rehabber! The rehabber informed me that he was a big brown bat, a male baby. Last I heard, he's doing quite well & growing quickly with his adoptive family. The other orphaned babies she had were all girls, he was the first male of the season!

Since then, I've been spending a lot of time watching these guys. They've been coming here since before I moved in (it's a duplex, I rent) but I never really paid them any mind beyond yelling at them, "be quiet, guys!" when I was trying to sleep! Their colony is right outside my window & they can get very squeaky.

I guess since putting a "name to the face," (knowing what species they are & reading about them) I've found I really enjoy my big brown bat family. From what I've read, I guess this must be a maternity colony. They're my girls. I've been working on building up a native planted yard, & I really want to focus on host plants that support moth species for the mommas. I'd also like to put up houses for them in the boxelders that surround this property...it would probably be good to convince them to move out, right? I think I would miss them, though!

I've really grown to love them. You know they usually only have 1 baby a year? & they can live over a decade! I think it was easy for me to think of them as flying mice, with short, fast lives. I mean, I always knew they were important, but thinking about how complex their little bat societies are, seeing my baby bat all emaciated & still calling for help in the basement, his mom answering but unable to get to him, it awakened a deeper bat appreciation in me. I wish there was a way I could tell her that he's okay, he's hundreds of miles away but has a whole new population of big brown bats to contribute to- once he's ready to fledge, that is.

Now every night when I hear them chittering I say, "good luck tonight, ladies!"

I was feeding plants, I have several beds all around the house, when a vehicle pulled up to my steps. An older woman got out, proceeded up the steps, & stared at the beds on my entry. I stepped around the house & greeted her, she didn't say anything, so I tried again & asked if there was anything I could help her with. The lady then asked if my landlord planted my garden, I declined & introduced myself, telling her that I did.

The woman proceeded to say she knew a landscaper who could clean it up for cheap, & that she knew my landlord didn't like to maintain it. Once again, I tried to get her name, ask if she lived nearby, & she just blew me off. I got kinda pissed, like, my landlord let's me do whatever I want with property & it's great! I'm happy with my garden.

Yes, our front steps are definitely overgrown, & the beds are rather weedy & chaotic, but they're colorful & fun. I finally remembered that I don't have to put on my customer service accent & told her, "miss, I'm happy with my garden. If there's nothing you need help with, please leave," & she muttered about just trying to be a helpful neighbor!

It was very rude, & initially I was feeling bad about it, but I've talked myself out of it & reminded myself that that lady doesn't matter. My family loves the plants. My mom's side of the duplex has the impatiens (mom rents one side, brother & I rent the other side), my side has the heucheras (my favorite). I planted both. The front lengths are very much works in progress...but they'll be beautiful one day!

NY Zone 4b, great lakes region - I'm finally fencing off the corner of the yard my chickens are in from the dogs, so I can get to planting without fear of the dogs pissing & trampling on everything! My chickens are not free range, they're in a run most of the time. Every day to every few days (depending on my schedule), I let them loose in the yard to graze. The yard is fenced in, about 2 acres, & the corner I'm separating from the dogs is about a 1/5th of it. It's full sun, entirely fill. Nothing but sand & sun, baby! & ragweed, so much fucking ragweed.

So far I'm growing staghorn sumac "Tiger Eyes," 2 of them, the chickens LOVE these. I keep the plants caged right now to protect them from the dogs, but when I uncage them to weed around them, the chickens swarm under them. They don't eat the foliage, they just like the shelter the leaves provide. I also have 3 fragrant sumacs "grow low," 1 shining sumac, & 3 elderberries (2 canadensis & 1 racemosa). They aren't into the elderberries but I'm assuming once they grow out a bit they'll like them.

Plants I'm adding for sure are:

- Highbush & low bush blueberries

- junipers

- blueberries (high & low bush)

- pink muhly grass

I know I want lots of grasses & sedges, but I don't know a lot about them. Mostly I like pink muhly grass because there's a field of it nearby, but surely there are more grasses than that for me to add! The main thing I'm looking for is cover, not food so much, but it wouldn't hurt. My birds love mulch beds (contains crickets & spiders) so ideally most of the area will be mulched with some paths between plantings. I want it PACKED in this little corner. I want to fit as many plants as possible!

As I said before, my birds aren't free range, so I don't need to worry about these plants being destroyed or the bug denizens being devastated by my raptors. They'll eat em' when they're out, but they're tiny show bantams that aren't particularly bright or good hunters like other breeds are.

I have other places that I grow my wildflowers, so I'm not particularly interested in them as they usually grow upright & not in a way that provides good shelter. Their seeds are well liked, though.

What native plants do you all find that your chickens like the most? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

...and they're all just fine. I've been so busy with work, hiking, & outdoor gardening this time of the year that I'm neglecting the hell out of these things. Down to once a month maintenance since the start of spring. These things keep me going during winter when I'm stuck inside & SAD gets bad, I hover over them every day if there's snow out.

I'm currently going through and tidying them up, removing spent blooms, filling their reservoirs. They're all bone dry. There are a few that are a bit droopy, but otherwise everyone is happy & healthy, most are blooming like madmen. Honestly, I think they might be happier when I neglect them vs when I fuss over them. I love them so much.

I was cleaning up a long neglected portion of our side of the duplex, preparing to mow down it all & smother it, when I noticed not one but TWO clumps of what looks to be blunt broom sedge! I'm a sucker for sedges, & these guys almost look like they were planted on purpose. I doubt they were, given the only landscaping on this property were two false cypress planted directly next to the house. I'm so excited, this was a species I was planning on buying! You can see the 2 clumps in the first pic, they're the lighter/yellowy plants amongst the boxelders.

My brother took his litter to the vet for their first set of vaccines earlier this week. They did amazing, everyone was very social & happy. Clean bill of health, of course. Forklift, my puppy, is the shyest of the puppies & slowest to warm up to strangers, but she didn't even complain when the vets handled her.

Forklift (mine) & her sister have boundless energy.

"Echibeckia," a hybrid between Rudbeckia & Echinacea was in our deliveries today. Every single one had at least one fasciated bloom! Some plants were completely fasciated. I do think it's cool from a horticultural perspective as hybrids can give us so much information on genes & evolution, & of course allows for some fantastic agricultural solutions. These guys though? Hmmmmm.... they're not attractive for landscaping & they aren't beneficial to the ecosystem. What's the point?

This is (what I believe to be) my beautiful black walnut sapling. It was growing directly next to the house, it's about a year old. I should have removed it last year, before it got so big, but I just kept forgetting. Finally, remembered to cut it down only because I was planting a hydrangea & realized it would interfere. After looking at it, though, I think it's just too handsome of a sapling to cut & toss. It's so perfectly straight, the bark is such a pleasing shade.

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I dug it up, got about 2 feet worth of tap root, stuck it in a pot with potting mix, seasoned the roots with a mycorrhizae + fertilizer mix & kept it watered for a couple weeks to see if it would survive. It defoliated initially, but has budded out again, seems like it might recover. I planted it in a full sun location in my backyard, about 150 ft from the house. I mulched around it after this picture, (& don't worry, I didn't volcano it).

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The yard is fenced in, about an acre, we're on a hill with extremely effective drainage (I've never seen a puddle on this property), the topsoil is predominantly sand/fill, pretty acidic. I've put an additional fence around it to protect it from my brother's dogs.

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My plan right now is to water it & whisper words of encouragement daily. I really want it to succeed, I know transplants often don't go well, especially when a taproot is involved & I chose the middle of summer. But, o wise arborists of reddit, is there anything else I can do to support it? Would physical support such as a steak be advantageous? Or does it need emotional support, in the form of fertilizer?

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Thank you!

I'm dyslexic & struggle with her handwriting. The first part I've got:

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I'm not mad at you. I love you to. I knew your dad had something to do with it. I know are __ __ me __ . I get that (?).

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Then I can see she's talking about time, & I completely lose track of the words. I can pick out a few like, "just 2 weeks," but not much else until, "Love always, Grandma," &, "PS you should have kept the ck (check?) for (?)"

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Thank you for any help!

Mine is for sure is "Inferno The Orange!" It's got nice, tough petals & looks great with my chicken planter. There are so many absolutely gorgeous petunia varieties!

Arlo the Cuban tree frog