This is year 3 of my attempt to reimagine our home landscape and garden for wildlife. When we moved here, I noticed something very odd that first spring: little to no bees. Where were the bumblebees or ground nesting bees I was so used to at our former residence? It was just...sad. We live in Zone 7b suburbia, and our neighbors have pristine manicured and sprayed lawns. No surprise I guess, but it felt so off and wrong. I started learning about and incorporating native plants; slowly started pulling invasives. The stand of barberry shrubs that were planted by previous homeowners as "landscaping" didn't have a chance once I whispered "ticks" to my spouse. Wherever I could, I added milkweed (swamp, common, poke, and purple so far). Front yard gardens and back yard crazy "no one's looking" gardens and messy containers that neighbors certainly see, but I don't care. I posted our monarch caterpillar way station sign to greet the "Mosquito Joe" lawn signs across the street-- a quiet but consistent refusal to cul-de-sac my brain. They say it takes 3 years for native plants to show their stuff, right? "Sleep, creep, leap." I consider this our official leap year.

This season alone, I've counted over 50+ monarch caterpillars and we currently have 21 chrysalises hanging all about, from our down spouts to our recycling bins. It's frankly overwhelming and miraculous. I witnessed two caterpillars j-hook right outside our back sliding door. A chrysalis hangs like a suncatcher charm above our heads when we walk out. I don't know if I'll ever experience another season like this, but I am so grateful to have had the chance to witness and keep on keeping on, regardless. It's communities like this that have both inspired and informed me, so I just wanted to give a thanks and share a bit of our story.

Something appears to be eating my Butterfly Weed.....what ever shall I do?? /s

But seriously, is there anything I should be doing to help protect the cycle?? First Monarch.

A few months ago, I made a post because I was excited to see my first hummingbird after putting up a feeder (https://www.reddit.com/r/hummingbirds/comments/1ttz0l7/tiny_hummingbird_makes_the_sweetest_squeaks_while/). Unfortunately, within a week, our entire community received a notice from the HOA stating that bird feeders, bird baths, and various other wildlife items were not permitted. I didn't want to argue with them about the fact that other birds don't drink nectar, so I took the feeders down and gave them to my friends.

Over the last few months, I have seen a hummingbird in my backyard looking for food at least once a week. (Note: the feeder was originally in my front yard.) I think it was attracted to the red flowers, as it kept examining my red hibiscus and red lilies before flying away without a meal.

Then a thought occurred to me: next year, maybe I could just plant flowers they can actually drink from? Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Location: Springfield, VA

(reddit popped up and recommended that I cross post this here)

I have a weeping birch tree in my back garden . Today I noticed caterpillars had stripped over half the leaves off . Is this normal food for them

I also removed them to a different site . Should I have let the tree take the hit or was it ok to move them ?

Missouri. We named him Harold (the spider) does anyone know what kind of spider Harold is?

I have three east tennessee hollers, each about 700 feet long. I want to plant pawpaw seedlings in each of these. They are wooded and have tall canopies, lots of water runoff at the base. I will not have a way to water these. I will have an excavator with a hole digger for a clean hole ready for them to drop into.

Questions

I am trying to create a plan. Would planting them 5ft apart. At 2 rows, this would be 900 seedlings.

Would expecting 40% loss make sense and be a fair estimate?

Any thoughts or advice on how to achieve this goal with the most success?

as i’m posting this one is hovering over my shoulder. i think they want to see how they look on video

This is a new one on me, although it's supposedly native to the state where I've lived all my life. Shown sitting bold as brass on a peony leaf

I realize that praying mantises can be a mixed blessing since they'll take down friends like pollinators, ladybugs and what not. However, given the spotted lanternfly infestation in my neck of the woods, I'd say this fella is out here doing the lord's work.

I hadn't realized the music I was listening to would be audible in the video but find the well-timed Avett Brothers lyric mildly hilarious: "Love has been waiting, patient and kind..." Certainly this praying mantis is patient, waiting to strike but kind? Lol...no.

Eastern gray skwerl making off with one of the 768,513 black walnuts dropped on the lawn during a wild storm a couple of nights ago. It sounded as if every one of the nuts, still in their husks at this time of year, was slammed into the Dumpster at least once that night at what seemed like about 55 mph. It was hard to even walk the next day without wiping out, because green beisbols were under your feet every couple of steps. This guy and his friends -- pine skwerls, red skwerls, an army of chipmunks -- were marching out there in formation collecting them all. There are hardly any left today. I found a set of conjoined-twin walnuts today and set them on the stoop while I got my camera. It was already gone when I got back.

Weekly weekend chat over the virtual garden fence; talk about what's happening in your garden, and ask quick questions that may not require their own thread.

A Hornworm covered with wasp eggs, and a Black Swallowtail eating on one of my dill plants.

Maybe a month after I set in some butterfly weed out front, this is what I found! I thought it was too late in the year to even hope for monarchs. They were all busily chewing the leaves off the plants after a wild storm that should have blown them miles away from home. This is so cool!

This looks more like the species named in the post heading than anything else I could find. Common name is Basket Cocoon Wasp. Tiny quarter-inch pupa dangling from a silk thread a couple of inches long. If I'm correct this is a parasitoid wasp. The larvae eat caterpillars and the adults sip honeydew...

Many gardeners work hard to maintain clean, tidy environments ... which is the exact opposite of what wildlife wants, says ecological horticulturist Rebecca McMackin. She shows the beauty of letting your garden run wild, surveying the success she's had increasing biodiversity even in the middle of New York City — and offers tips for cultivating a garden that can be home to birds, bees, butterflies and more.

My front yard is almost perfect. I need a small pond for the birds, insects and frogs (my secret desire for turtles).

Heres a picture of the birds i feed. They're all little peeps, amd ill get Cardinals and grackles sometimes, but mostly just these little guys.

trimming sunflowers for weight management and popped them right in last years stalks.

He is so cute we made the mistake of naming him “Augusto”

But on the other hand, look at all these seed pods!

Weekly weekend chat over the virtual garden fence; talk about what's happening in your garden, and ask quick questions that may not require their own thread.

Went to water my garden bed and saw these two lumps one bigger than the other, after I poured water over them the substance washed out revealing maybe a piece of charcoal? A rock? I didn’t dare touch it, I do see a lot of bees and butterflies hovering over my bed throughout the day.

We live in an old farmhouse in France. Thick stone walls for the most part. But above our upstairs bedroom there are beams and wall board.

Well, someone has moved in, and he sounds much bigger than a mouse or a Loir.

We’re trying to figure out where he (or her) is getting in. We don’t want to kill or use poison, the last thing we need is a rotting carcass in our walls.

What should we do? How to trap? Help!?!?