Volunteer sun flower. Guess it came from the bird seed!
[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/3621001650_ee0b618c14.jpg[/img]
Also, patch of lavender yarrow is very nice this year.
[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/3620183251_790282cbf0.jpg[/img]
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hendi_alex
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applestar
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Looking good! The lavender yarrow looks really sweet. I have white ones and magenta pink ones. Sunflower and yarrow really attract bees and beneficial insects don't they?
We were walking by our yarrow patch and my 7 yr old came to a dead stop. To her, the yarrow flowers were just under her nose (these grew really tall this year). Stooping to see what she was looking at, we observed 6 or 7 different insects: 2 pairs of mating long legged flies, a spider, a honeybee with full pollen baskets, a plume moth, a baby praying mantis, syrphid fly, what looked like carpet bug. She immediately went back inside, got a piece of paper and camped there to draw them. She also added a mosquito and a mosquito hawk, as well as an ant to her drawings. After we came back inside, we looked them up in reference books and on-line and labeled them. Lovin' it.
We were walking by our yarrow patch and my 7 yr old came to a dead stop. To her, the yarrow flowers were just under her nose (these grew really tall this year). Stooping to see what she was looking at, we observed 6 or 7 different insects: 2 pairs of mating long legged flies, a spider, a honeybee with full pollen baskets, a plume moth, a baby praying mantis, syrphid fly, what looked like carpet bug. She immediately went back inside, got a piece of paper and camped there to draw them. She also added a mosquito and a mosquito hawk, as well as an ant to her drawings. After we came back inside, we looked them up in reference books and on-line and labeled them. Lovin' it.
Last edited by applestar on Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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hendi_alex
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That is the kind of education that a child carries with them for the rest of his/her life. No amount of book or classroom education, will ever come close that kind of parent, child, and nature interaction. And yes, it only takes a small patch to experience so many different creatures. Quite easy to be humbled when walking and watching very closely.
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The Helpful Gardener
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True. Stumping around the woods with my mom behind her childhood home has always stuck with me, a tie to the land that passes hand to hand from generation to generation, a tie that is slipping in our day and age. You are doing vital work, AS. We should all be so lucky...
Nice post Alex... always happy to see good bugs in good gardens...
HG
Nice post Alex... always happy to see good bugs in good gardens...
HG
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hendi_alex
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A friend of ours visited today, to spend time and to walk the yard and garden area. She has a small lot in a neighborhood in Columbia. Has done away with the grass and has a wonderfully diverse, natuaralized area, with many host plants for butterflies. She favors native species as the main selections for her planting. Today she said that some neighbors have complained and want her to have to move the yard back to mostly grass that can be cut, so that her yard can look 'nice' like the rest of the neighborhood yards.
I told her that she should contact Clemson extension or what ever agency certifies yards that are designed to be wildlife friendly with native plants, and seek certification. Then if the complainers persist, call the local TV station. It would seem to me that the complainers could very easily be made to appear shallow and silly. This manicured yard notion that is maintained with a constant input of chemical soup, and a constant supply of energy for mowing, trimming, and edging is a sad commentary on our society with its cookie cutter houses that are placed in clear cut developments where every yard is supposed to have a uniform, sanitary appearance.
I told her that she should contact Clemson extension or what ever agency certifies yards that are designed to be wildlife friendly with native plants, and seek certification. Then if the complainers persist, call the local TV station. It would seem to me that the complainers could very easily be made to appear shallow and silly. This manicured yard notion that is maintained with a constant input of chemical soup, and a constant supply of energy for mowing, trimming, and edging is a sad commentary on our society with its cookie cutter houses that are placed in clear cut developments where every yard is supposed to have a uniform, sanitary appearance.
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The Helpful Gardener
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Good approach, Alex. A [url=https://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/create.cfm?CFID=10574248&CFTOKEN=5689d8b1e1286c31-5A241E9E-5056-A868-A0AAF72DC8594C27]NWF Backyard Habitat Certification[/url] would go a long way towards quieting some folks... other it might not...
There is a cultural divide between those who garden for nature and those who want to impose a rigid vision of "correctness" that is not found in Nature or sustained in a natural way. HOAs and town edicts woefully out of step with BMPs are a problem all over this nation; rainbarrels outlawed as "diversion", mowing mandates shorter than sustainable growth for meadow or prairie (still the best carbon sink on the planet; better than forest even) laundry line laws that engender further CO2 pollution. Some towns and cities are starting to see the light, but far too many are mired in a past we can no longer afford. A landscape must be functional as well as aesthetic, and you can do both if you put your mind to it... but you have to shift your mindset first...
HG
There is a cultural divide between those who garden for nature and those who want to impose a rigid vision of "correctness" that is not found in Nature or sustained in a natural way. HOAs and town edicts woefully out of step with BMPs are a problem all over this nation; rainbarrels outlawed as "diversion", mowing mandates shorter than sustainable growth for meadow or prairie (still the best carbon sink on the planet; better than forest even) laundry line laws that engender further CO2 pollution. Some towns and cities are starting to see the light, but far too many are mired in a past we can no longer afford. A landscape must be functional as well as aesthetic, and you can do both if you put your mind to it... but you have to shift your mindset first...
HG
The three of you continue to inspire me! It has been a pleasure to have more time to spend with my hands in the soil, since I retired...this forum has been a great source of information and a wonderful place to interact.
Applestar and Alex it is always a pleasure to see and read about your love of gardening and interaction with nature!
Scott, you impress me with your knowledge of gardening and attitude toward life.
I am slowly decreasing the amount of lawn in our yard! It is enjoyable to wake up to the birds singing, spot the occasional butterfly (hopefully we'll see more soon), and share the experiences with my grandchildren. Applestar, your children are quite fortunate
I am pleased to say that my grandchildren have parents who view nature as you do!I do believe that attitudes are shifting...Colchester (Scott...I think we live in the same town!) is attempting to become certified as a Community Wildllife Habitat. I have been a bit lax myself
I still need a water source!Hopefully, Alex, your friend will be able to certify her property! I so admire the more natural front yards! I love to walk by one of the homes on our street at this time of year...there are always perennials blooming!
Happy Gardening
Cookie cutter houses-Yeah thats where we live.No yard space-Send notices if the light pole starts to fade-Mailbox needs painting.IT SUCKS.Bet they don't know I have green beans growing over the fence into neighbors yard.Wait till the strawberries go into the front yard,And the new flower bed thats goin in.Cant tell me what I can and cant grow 
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wingdesigner
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The Helpful Gardener
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Yea Wing, that was [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0EjNAEXMuw]Dave Mizejewski[/url]from NWF; I had the pleasure of working with Dave a few times including plant selection for [url=https://www.abnativeplants.com/]American Beauties[/url] and even a street festival in NYC once. Nice guy... great outfit. I especially enjoyed time spent with their naturalists. Dave is not just a talking head; he knows his business... shame his show isn't on, but the demographic that would really like Dave doesn't stay indoors too much; sort of a tough fit...
And Earl, I know what you mean. I'me reminded of Burl Ives doing a song [url=https://ingeb.org/songs/littlebo.html]Little Boxes[/url]; he got it too. Some sheeple like it that way...
If you ain't the lead dog, the view never changes
HG
And Earl, I know what you mean. I'me reminded of Burl Ives doing a song [url=https://ingeb.org/songs/littlebo.html]Little Boxes[/url]; he got it too. Some sheeple like it that way...
If you ain't the lead dog, the view never changes
HG
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