Weekly Garden Thread - May 13-19, 2023 [Beneficial Insects Edition]

May 13, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.

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[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Wrong episode of Growingagreenerworld.com about Mason Bees
It should be Episode #503

[Bon of Babble]

We are starting to heat up here in So Cal -haven't seen many Monarch butterflies yet even though I have a lot of milkweed in bloom in the front and back - bees have returned, though, and I caution everyone heating to the far back of my yard to be careful.

I have my own super bloom of California poppies going on - they are all volunteers:

This is my George Burns rose.

And Trumpeter. I had the tree trimmers cut back my eucalyptus trees so this would bloom.

And this beautiful iris, that I got as a rhizome from a friend and decided to come up in my rock garden.

I caught someone stealing flowers - and I think succulents - from my median yesterday and ran out as fast as I could with my dogs - I told her NOT to do that, some had already been pulled up. I planted those for the neighborhood, not for her to come and take. She was apologetic, but I know things have been stolen out of there before.

One of my neighbors had a thief go through his front gate, into his gated yard and cut down ALL of his sunflowers last year. All caught on his Ring camera.

[metmom]

I found FIVE ticks on me Thursday evening.

It was freaking mem out and I’m not easily freaked out.

[metmom]

Many herbs flower so you can claim they are ground cover plants.

[metmom]

I ordered some praying mantid egg cases and some assassin beetles. They are on the counter waiting to hatch. I out them in canning jars with tulle covering the jars for air circulation.

I check them a couple times a day, especially the praying mantids which will start eating each other if nothing else is available.

Last year I did the praying mantids and later in the summer, actually saw two full grown ones. I didn’t find any egg cases though but we have lots of property to check.

[metmom]

Considering how much damage the harmful ones do, it’s good there is not a higher percentage of them.

I also planted yarrow, nasturtiums, dill, marigolds, and herbs.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

This has nothing to do with bugs; good or bad, but 'My Most Favorite Day of the Year' is TODAY! Neighbor and all around GOOD KID, (they DO still exist!) just showed up with my 5 bales of straw for garden mulch. Huzzah! So, you know what I'll be doing the rest of the day. Happy, Happy! :)

[FamiliarFace]

Yeah, I’m planning on defending myself if they decided to cite me. There are nicer people on the board now, so I hope it will be just fine.

[FamiliarFace]

I love the volunteer poppies! Wish I had native plants that pretty that would pop up here.

That people are stealing flowers and plants is just terrible. I’ve never heard of such a thing.

[Qiviut]

I think being noisy is what a lot of people don’t like. Depending on how bad your tick problem is, I would be tempted to give them a try if you can work out “housing” until they are used to your place.

If you can luck on to some chainlink dog run panels (yes, some people do sell them at a price you’re willing to pay), they make excellent chicken runs. My SIL & niece both use them. They just put in a metal post where they need stability & zip tie the panels together.

You could also use cattle panels - just run some chicken wire around the bottom so they can’t get out while small.

My SIL let’s her chickens out in the yard (they go every where, woods, field near coop, etc). They are supervised & guarded because she lost 2 & almost a 3rd to a fox marauding in broad daylight. There are zero ticks wherever the chickens have been. One of the funniest things I’ve seen - one hen found a worm snake - as soon as she picked it up (dangling out of both sides of her beak), the other chickens were after it. She had to run to keep it away from them & couldn’t stop to eat it. Around & around the coop they went. I think she finally broke for the woods & gulped it down before the other hens caught up.

Well, there go my mowing plans ... raining, light shower that has the grass wet. Of course, the rain started after I watered everything!

[Blurb2350]

My sister lives in Palm Springs. Cactus theft is a huge problem, with fat golden barrel cacti being the favorite. A landscaping crew will plant them, and another crew will come along and dig them up and resell them. Similar problems plague construction sites.

[daniel1212]

Thanks for posting. This weeks adventure was that of getting 2nd degree (at least) burns on two fingers. The Woven Polypropylene ground cover that a preacher brother gave me is nice, but after I put all my seedlings in on 4-11,12 then I needed to make holes in the fabric for the plants.

So after the wind died down in late afternoon I was using a propane torch to make the holes, lifting up the fabric and burning, which worked well. However, this stuff is very flammable and not easily extinguished, and out of sight sight a hole I just made was still burning, and growing fast. I noticed it quickly, thank God, and scooped up some dirt to put it out, but then realized some of the polypropylene fabric stuck to a couple fingers! I tried to brush it off and sprayed them with a water bottle I had by the side. But while that worked, an area on my thumb on one hand and little finger in the others were badly burned, which put my out of action for the night.

Cool water brought temp relief, and keeping hands raised for a couple hours.

Back in the garden this AM, though thumb is rather disabled. And a another brother in Christ and wife just showed up with a small Apple tree, praise God. Where to put it? Parking lot is to the left until the brown compost bin, so it looks like it must go in after that, though sun (facing SW) decreases due to buildings. May I abide in the Lord Jesus and bear more fruit better.

[BipolarBob]

I was one bale short of straw this year so I went to Lowes. $11.00/bale!

[Ellendra]

There are nematodes that will hunt and kill ticks. You can order them online.

[MomwithHope]

This is our second year with Mason bees. We are in west Michigan. First year a success and they are already filling up the house again. I followed a youtube and sewed a see through cloth bag. Chiffon or something like it. Stored the house in the barn. They said use the bag so mites don’t get in and eat the larva. I took it out of the barn this spring. The bag was full of bees and I thought they were dead. But no once I got it outside in the sun I could see they were crawling around. Over 50 bees from just a small house. I hung the bag on a fence post inside out and they eventually all flew away.

[Qiviut]

Zinnia bed went in this morning, including the Canary Birds. I put them on the end so I can keep an eye on them & harvest easily.

[MomwithHope]

I have watched YouTubes about mason bees for years. The reason they are better pollinators than honey bees is they do a “plop belly flop” landing on the flower center, covering their whole belly with pollen.

[Sacajaweau]

I felt one bite me on my belly when I lived in Va.. I gently removed him, placed in a plastic bag and put a circle around the bite with a marker. One guy at work was practically paralized.

[FamiliarFace]

Does anyone have advice for planting garlic? I have some cloves from the store that started sprouting, so while I realize they may not produce anything because they are from the store, I figured why not give it a shot?

Do they do best in the ground or are pots ok? How deeply do I plant them? How far apart? I’m presuming they need full sun.

I’m probably going to be doing less planting this year than previously. Money is tight, and our only daughter is getting married so there’s a lot going in that direction. We are trying to help out several family members, too, so I can’t afford to do as much as I would like to. Mostly just herbs and a few hanging baskets for color. It is what it is.

[Alas Babylon!]

Well, the heat is on!

This week in South Alabama the heat and humidity of the Deep South has arrived!

My lettuce and spinach really took on the urge to flower and get bitter.

This year has been such a treat, though. So much bounty in this little space! I've picked several 2-3 pound romaine heads and very large Boston Bibbs this year. I've been eating lettuce like a rabbit.

The Napa cabbage heads are about ready. I should probably pick them today or tomorrow as hotter weather is coming.

Here's a picture of the bed today:

BTW, this is a 12 feet by 4 feet, 1 foot high bed I got at Amazon for a $79+ dollars. A very good deal, so I just bought two more. Amazon Land Guard raised bed

I highly reccomend it! It is very sturdy, and metal is strong and braces well. That one dent up front is where I dropped a sledgehammer on it! I put up bamboo stakes at the corners and halfway outside of the bed so I could cover it in anti-deer netting, if needed.