Posted on 05/01/2026 6:24:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Thank you! I bought the boric acid and apple juice, so this afternoon, I made up 5 “baits” and set them around in various places. I hope it works. I think I get stung by at least one yellow jacket or wasp EVERY year once I get back outside.
I have an epi pen, if I ever get really bad. So far, taking immediate action with washing the area, and immediately taking the Benadryl/Pepcid AC combo has been good enough. I still get swollen from the sting, but it hasn’t affected my breathing…yet.
Every time I get stung, the reaction gets faster. This time I could feel myself getting anxious right away. I had to tell myself to calm down, which amazingly worked, once I got the emergency part taken care of.
I look forward to seeing if this boric acid trick works. I need for it to be successful. I can’t work outside if there are too many wasps/yellow jackets around.
Well... CRAP. I came in from a couple minor tasks B4 dark, to find that one of those Windows updates one can’t avoid, that apparently mostly installs different “looks” and so on — Freaking MicroSoft can never leave what works just fine, alone — has tonight killed one of my most useful programs: IrfanView, which is a very nifty image file viewer and editor, and also runs my scanner.
None of the fixes at the FAQ page on the IrfanView website help. In fact, the same error pops up if I try to run the installation (setup.exe) file to try to reinstall IrfanView.
So, I’ve emailed the people at the IrfanView website, and hopefully they will respond and will know what to do. :-(
Damn MicroSoft...
I don’t react well to stings either, not anaphylaxis, but I do have Epi-Pens as well.
But when I go outside, I really cover up. I double layer with leggings and a turtle neck, and then the outer layer is old sweat pants and a hoodie that have been sprayed with usually Sawyer’s for the permectrin, and often Deet.
I need to make some of that mix up as well. I’ve just been delayed by needing to collect the cans.
Yes, some of our eggshells go back to our chickens too. I don’t crush them to powder, though, just to little bits that are maybe 1/8” across — that does generate some fine material too...
Maybe you can ask a friend or neighbor for help in finding them. I only set out 5 cans, one in each area where I work, and where I see the wasps and yellow jackets. We don’t drink soda, but hubby has beer in cans sometimes, and I drink sparkling water from cans, so we have plenty.
I should pay closer attention to what I’m wearing. When I’ve been stung, I’ve had on bright colors. I’m almost always stung on my arm or hands.
Diana, as you are fond of saying: “SCORE!!”
I made it to the Country Corner Market yesterday just as it was starting to sprinkle. It was obvious they had new plants .... lots of them.
First stop: veggies, looking for jalapenos. No luck, but that’s ok since I have 3 plants from the Farm Bureau.
Second stop: herbs, just to see what they had. What I found, tucked in the back of some other plants, were the cutest, sweetest, healthiest little lavender plants. They are English Lavender (lavandula angustifolia), 2” pots, $2.99 each. I grabbed 2 to replace the really expensive ($20/pot) Hidcote lavender that died last year/over the winter.
Next was looking for lantana & they had lots! Not only that, but the 4” pots were 3 for $10! I got 3 and these are the colors:
Bloomify Mango
https://www.ballfloraplant.com/Products/Details/?phid=036908083003120
Little Lucky Red
https://www.gardenia.net/plant/lantana-little-lucky-red
Little Lucky Hot Pink (might be the one I had last year)
https://www.ballfloraplant.com/Products/Details/?phid=036906551004112
When I checked out, the young guy at the cash register came around to carry my plants, which was very nice of him. As we walked to the car, he exclaimed “Wow, does this lavender smell GOOD! I may have to get some of these myself and they’re so bushy & healthy looking!” As small as they are, they really do smell great.
Last stop: Walmart to see if they had any new jalapenos & pick up some asparagus. There were only the same ‘ratty’ jalapenos; however, I noticed 3 Shishito pepper plants. After hearing all about them on the garden thread (before last year, I was clueless on shishitos, believe it or not), I decided to buy one & give it a try. I picked the best of the 3 and it looks pretty good.
Today, I need to get some big bags of potting soil. The pots where the lantanas will go are filled with regular ‘dirt’ mom scraped together years ago. I’ll probably have to chisel it out of the pots. I put some potting soil in the hole I made for my one plant last year, but I want to do it “right” this year. The hummers & butterflies should be very happy (me too!) with all of this lantana.
I still have to research the jalapenos I bought the other day & see exactly what I have.
Mr mm drinks sparkling water and so does our son. When we visit him I can always get a bunch.
Right now it’s a rainy couple days but then it’s supposed to get really hot, so I’m thinking come Sat it would be a good time to put them out, when they’re going to be really active.
I’ve found gardening gloves with long sleeves, up to the elbows. Maybe something like that would help.
Good idea! I’ll look for those.
I love lantana because it always reminds me of my childhood. I would pretend they were wedding bouquets for my little dolls. They do better in the ground for me here, or maybe I’ve never given them enough room in a planter.
I haven’t been “shopping” for flowers yet. There’s just too much going on. However…tomorrow there’s a native sale going on at our landscaper’s place. I hope to find one or two more hidden gems. Then I need to go to the garden centers, too. Maybe I’ll do the garden centers in the morning and the landscaper sale in the afternoon.
Oh, rats, I just remembered we have a meeting with a lawyer to update our wills. I’ll just have to stay on top of things, and fit in the fun stuff when I can.
Lantana is a Butterfly Magnet! Glad you could find all those colors.
I’m going to give up on growing all that Lavender - my raised bed soil is going to be too ‘rich’ for them - they won’t be happy there. If I find some in the near future, I’ll grow them in Terra Cotta pots which they will like much better.
My Broccoli is just about big enough to go in - will do that this weekend. Soil is still not warm enough to sow bean seeds, though.
Foster Son Mick comes down for the weekend next weekend, to light a fire under Beau and that porch project. Mom & friend Kathy will help me get the tomatoes and peppers in later that next week.
Since the porch planters have been knocked over twice already by Midnight, I’m going to re-use that soil elsewhere. I get the other puppy, ‘Grover,’ on Saturday morning. We’ll see how Midnight does with him - she can be a little bit of a snot (like her sister Arikara, who grew out of that!) so if she’s mean to Grover, she’s going into a kennel. Mama don’t mess around when it comes to bad manners! Of course, Beau will be gone all weekend to his County Conservation Conference in Green Bay, so I am in charge of EVERYTHING around here - why not throw in a new PUPPY as well? ;)
Beau went to the hospital this morning for Mohs surgery on his handsome nose. I hope they don’t mess him up too badly. He may end up with two black eyes, which happens sometimes when they’re working on your face. My cancer was behind my right ear; his is front and center. :(
There goes our stream of income from his modeling career, LOL! He’ll just look more ‘rugged.’ Maybe he can be the next Marlboro Man, sans the smoking? ;)
Orioles are eating me out of jelly at a fast pace. No Hummers as of yet...
Last year, on the clearance shelf at Walmart, there were some lantanas for $2.00 - I picked one of the better ones, brought it home & planted it in a large pot. It did great - bloomed profusely & stayed a nice, compact shape. It was really pretty & I hope to have similar luck with the ones I just bought.
2025 Lantana:
P.S. FOUR DAYS coming up of 80+ degree weather, then back down to the high 60’s. Rain on and off.
The greenhouse will be well over 100 degrees, so I’ll be moving things OUT during those days next week.
Those are beautiful! I love the pop of color they add, and they’re fairly easy to care for.
Right now on my list of annuals to look for will be impatiens, New Guinea impatiens, lantana, lobelia, scaveola, bougainvillea, cleome, Pentas, browallia, waterfall salvia, and geraniums.
Judging by the way yellow jackets gather around open soda cans or cups at picnics we have @ Pounds Hollow (Shawnee National Forest Lake with a large CCC Shelter that the Forest Service often fails to de-wasp / de-jacket), soda works well too - including soda that has gone flat. If we are going to be there until dusk (usually — it’s a good fishing lake) I wet a piece of used paper towel or napkin and lay it flat on the end of the picnic table we are at, about a yard away. “Bugs”*, meet flyswatter. Pretty soon, just about all of them are dead. Toss the dead off in the bushes.
A flyswatter is on the “essential gear” of our camping / outings supplies list!
Anyway, for here at home and around the garden, between all the Sam’s Cola that wifey drinks (it really is bad for her) and all the litterbugs’ cans that end up in our ditches, I have no shortage of used soda cans for boric acid based poison stations. :-)
There is a lot of argument about using Borax instead (it is NOT the same thing), but it seems to work well / similarly for us. Borax is the active ingredient in Terro.
Note that protein based bait may be better than sweet or fruity baits, as you won’t kill as many pollinators, and yellow jackets are attracted to proteins - one reason they like trash cans at picnic spots so well. It will usually smell worse after a day or so, however. :-(
Interesting info. on Borax here:
I’ll have to keep stopping by our Wal-Mart’s garden center. The WM veggies and herbs section is quite small compared to Menard’s and Lowes. Whether or not anyone has Shishito pepper plants may be up to the local Bonnies people, or, in the case of Menards, their local “generic” supplier that provides most of their 6-packs...
The pest control guy in that video suggested that the boric acid will be taken back to the nest where it will help kill off the Queen. I hope he’s right.
Side note: I used to drink Coke nearly every day. Then one day my doctor really emphasized how bad it was for bones and I already have osteoporosis running in the family. So I quit cold turkey about 5 years ago and switched to lightly flavored sparkling water. I also take calcium every day to try to keep my bones from deteriorating. I don’t miss the Coke, not even a bit, and I recently had a sip of it. I wasn’t used to it at all and thought it was horrible. So good luck to your wife! Don’t nag her; just help her see that she can find other options that will be appealing. I can’t believe I was so addicted to it, but I totally was. I’m glad that’s over!
The Orioles have fairly skipped my place. My jelly feeders have been untouched except for the Gray Catbird. The hummies are here, but just two of them so far that I can tell.
There’s an indigo bunting out there somewhere. I can hear him/her singing and calling, but never see what at the feeders. I guess there are plenty of bugs out there.
I’ve had a Veery come visit my meditation garden every day for 3 days in a row. I don’t think he’ll stay but you never know.
You’ll love the shishitos. If in a container they love a lot of water.
Mom & I had a big discussion this morning about her flowers at the Old House. She wants her iris, plus daffodils & tulip bulbs. I think I have her convinced to just buy new - the labor involved in digging up bulbs (ground is rock hard), cleaning & storing them is just not worth it, IMO. If she buys new bulbs, she can pick her colors, etc
My vision is to make a raised bed to go under the windows on the shop. Hyacinths would be to the front, then daffodils, then tulips with tall iris in the back. Hopefully, the hyacinth & daffodils will keep the deer off the tulips & iris!
I have 16’ fence boards at the Old House. They are treated, but since I won’t be planting anything edible in that raised bed, I don’t have to worry about treated wood. I will have to cut them in 8’ lengths to fit in the trailer. I’ve built several raised beds for this place, so I know what to do. Mom has agreed to get decent topsoil from the garden center where I got my last 2 loads. I might be able to get by with one load, but 2 would certainly do it.
Yet another project to add to the list! It’s mid-50’s right now & very windy so quite chilly. The temps will rise (humidity somewhat too) & it should be 90 by Sunday. We are all wanting warm(er) weather, but it would be ok if the 90’s & humidity waited until July.
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