Category Archives: Wildlife Pond

Wrapping Up The Year

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From winter through the spring, 2021 was filled with lots of activity and color in the garden.

2021 was quite a year for me in the garden. I started a blog, to keep track of all of my adventures. We put in a wildlife pond, a new pollinator bed, built two more raised beds, filled the deck to bursting with pots, and I planted more seeds than ever. I added quite a few native plants to the yard, tried winter sowing, started growing a few exotic (for Central Ohio!) plants like pineapples and a banana tree, and I’ve stuffed every available surface indoors with potted plants.

The yard saw quite a few visitors this year, everything from dragonflies and bees, to hawks and cats. Our birdfeeder collection multiplied (much to the delight of the local sparrow population), and the compost pile has continued to grow, then break down, only to grow again.

Recently, our lemon tree has started forming flowers for the first time! I’m so excited at the prospect of lemons.

Our raised beds had a productive year. Things kicked off with asparagus and lettuce in the springtime, then the herbs, garlic, shallots, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, and green beans from the summer into fall.

2021 was a warm year, and a wet one, too. According to the local weatherman, who keeps track of these sort of things, this will have been our 7th warmest year since 1879. Just this month, which has been unusually warm, we tied our record for the 3rd warmest December since 1878. We’ve spent a few days with the windows open this week, which has never happened before at this time of year. Our hellebores are budding already (which usually doesn’t happen until March or April) and while most of the perennials dies back last month when we had a bit of snow, the yard is looking pretty green.

I made a few ceramic tiles this fall, with impressions of ferns and leaves from the garden.

Despite the temperatures and rainfall, the garden seemed mostly happy this year. I only watered the pots and raised beds with veggies and annuals- all the plants and trees out in the flower beds were left up to their own devices. I put in a lot of natives, which grow very deep roots that can withstand the summer heat. And I tend not to plant perennials that require much in the way of fussing.

When not gardening, I spent some time crafting up artwork and gifts for friends and family, inspired by, and borrowing from the garden itself. I made up some beeswax candles with bits of dried lavender from the flowers beds. I also dried up a bunch of herbs, like thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, bay leaves, parsley, fennel, and dill, some of which ended up in mixes for friends. Finally, I made up some little clay tiles and pendants, which I “printed” with impressions of ferns and other plants around the yard. I painted them, and shipped them off for some one-of-a-kind art for friends. They turned out rather nicely, if I do say so myself, and I hope to make up some more.

The lavender candles, mid-wax-pouring

I’m really looking forward to the next gardening season. This winter, I’ll be working on my Master Gardener certification, and soon, it will be time to start sowing seeds again. I’ve already been pouring over the seed catalogues as they arrive, and may have already purchased my body weight in seeds… I’m excited to see which new (to me) plants, flowers, and trees catch my eye and end up in the garden this coming year.

As pandemic life continues, and things in the world feel uncertain, I hope that your garden is still bringing you peace and joy. While those seed catalogues pour in, and you find yourself deep into springtime daydreams, may 2022 find you safe and healthy. Happy gardening!

Summer and fall were filled with flowers and treats for the pollinators and I to enjoy!

Tales From The Monarchs

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There’s quite a lot blooming in the garden, like these lettuce flowers, coral honeysuckle, goldenrod, new england aster, black-eyed susan’s, blanketflowers, cranesbill, autumn joy sedum, sea oats, and sunflowers

Lately, I feel like I’ve almost been more excited by the visitors we’ve had in the garden than the plants and trees that live there all the time. Maybe that’s because it’s been too hot to really enjoy the yard for more than the five minute bursts I’ve had, racing out to harvest tomatoes before retreating into the sweet sanctuary of the air conditioning. It feels like it’s been months since I’ve been able to sit outside, and properly experience everything that’s growing. I miss lizarding out on the deck.

The entire summer has felt blazing hot and miserable with very few breaks. I’m not handling the weather terribly well, though, a little warm air shouldn’t make me complain when so much of the country is battling devastating wildfires and hurricanes. Even the tornadoes that we usually see haven’t occurred here this year, which is odd, now that I think about it. And, while we’ve had some flooding and drought conditions, our crops and plants are mostly hanging in there.

Our loofah vines are starting to flower. I planted the seeds back in June, and the vines grew very quickly. The flowers, once pollinated, will start growing loofahs, that I’ll dry and be able to use in the shower. Score!

Anyway, enough wallowing. As I mentioned, we’ve had quite a lot of wildlife visiting and moving into the garden lately. All but one of the monarch butterflies, which I didn’t expect to see until just about now, have already hatched. We’ve had an even mix of males and females, and I was able to release them all, happy and healthy. They will likely go off to make the next generation of monarchs, and that group may be the one that starts the migration back south before fall temperatures drop off here in Ohio this fall.

It’s such a joy to meet them when they break free of their chrysalises. It usually takes a few hours for the butterflies wings to fully stretch out and dry, and then they will fly off to the woods. We have quite a few late summer flowers around for them to enjoy, natives like new england aster and goldenrod, and other perennials like autumn joy sedum. Most of the garden is still blooming away, but it’s important to have plants that bloom into fall for the monarchs and other pollinators.

Marcus the Monarch hatched last Friday, and spent some time on the sedum before flying off in pursuit of lady monarchs.

A visitor that I’ve enjoyed a little less have been the squash bugs on our pumpkin vines. The bugs look a little like stink bugs once they’ve grown up, and they will take out squash, pumpkins, and cucumber vines if left unchecked. The bugs usually arrive in June, and will spend the summer on the underside of squash plant leaves, where they will lay tiny little brown eggs, which hatch in around 10 days.

Once the bugs hatch, they start munching on the plant leaves, sucking out the sap, which causes the leaves to yellow, brown, and then die. While the babies, called nymphs, will die after a frost, the adult squash bugs are able to shelter and make it through the winter temperatures, to lay the next years generation of villains.

On the left are some squash bug eggs on the underside of a dead pumpkin leaf. The right picture shows a group of the little nymphs, munching on the pumpkins before I let forth a battle cry and started spraying them with soapy water.

So, they aren’t great guests to have around. Fortunately, they are very easy to spot, and take care of, without having to resort to pesticides which would also kill off the good bugs that eat them and, of course, would cover your yummy veggies in poison. If you do happen to spot some on your plants, remove any dead or dying leaves and other debris. And a simple spray bottle, filled with liquid dish soap and water will kill the bugs on contact. Now, your plants will be free of squash bugs and squeaky clean.

The monarchs chrysalis is actually clear, so when they are about ready to hatch, it’s really easy to tell!

Out in the rest of the garden, I managed to spot a little black swallowtail caterpillar on the carrot leaves. I moved it into the butterfly house with some fennel and the monarch chrysalises. I was so excited to spot this one- usually by this time of year, I don’t see many swallowtails floating around the yard, but they’ve been out and about more now than earlier this summer. The carrot crop I planted was the swallowtails favorite crop to lay eggs on this year. I’ll have to plant more again next year, for the butterflies, and for us. Those carrots were quite tasty!

Our newest black swallowtail caterpillar

Next to the raised beds, the wildlife pond is still doing its thing. I introduced you to Stanley the Frog in my last post, and now, we have a second frog, that we’re naming Stan Lee. (The names are a play on a 30 Rock reference that’s so obscure it’s hardly worth mentioning). Anyway, Stanley and Stan Lee hang out together on the rocks around the pond in the late afternoons, and are helping control the local mosquito population. I hear them singing ballads in the evenings. While they hop into the water, hiding under the plants and brush nearly every time I try to take a picture, I’m hoping to identify their species. They look an awful lot like northern green frogs, but they don’t sound like them. I’m stumped, but determined to figure out what they are!

We’re supposed to have some more rain in the coming week, with slightly cooler weather. I hope to get outside a bit to do a little work. A few beds could do with some weeding, and I’d like to pick up some stone to finish edging our newest bed in the front yard. I also have a few more seeds I’d like to start: some prairie dropseed grass for said front bed, as well as some purple prairie clover. Hopefully life cooperates!

Happy gardening!

The female monarchs, especially, are super vibrant and colorful. I feel lucky that we’ve been able to help this group of butterflies safely make it to adulthood.

Freezers: Not Just for Ice Cream

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Our calendula and marigolds, autumn joy sedum, lantanas, zinnias, coral honeysuckle, and nasturtiums continue to bring the color this year.

August carries on. The heat probably won’t really break until mid-October here, and the humidity makes just standing outside an unpleasant experience. Last week was filled with rain, sheets of it would come down every day. At least I didn’t have to water at all. And rain at this time of year usually makes for pretty autumn color from the trees come fall.

The cicadas are out in full force, screeching over the hum of the grasshoppers and crickets. This time of year is tough, for me. I really love autumn, and it feels so far away on these endless hot days. Summertime is probably my least favorite season, which is probably a weird thing for a gardener to say. I think I like fall and springtime best, though. I like the changing- the new life in spring after winters long, cold days where everything is finally wake up again. Then, in fall, where all the colors change and the air feels so crisp and cool. I like the feeling that a big shift is on the way.

The wildlife pond has been surprisingly easy to maintain. I haven’t had to add any water, and the bubbler is keeping it all moving around. I don’t touch the space at all, other than weeding as needed.

But, for now, it is definitely still summertime. Our monarch caterpillars have all finally made their lime-green and gold chrysalises. We could have our first hatching this upcoming weekend, though it will probably be next week before we see butterflies. The rest of the life on the deck seems to be thriving still. We have one last baby pumpkin ripening on the vine, and all the flowers are doing well. The other day, I saw a gorgeous tiger swallowtail hopping from zinnia to zinnia and enjoying the lantanas. It was looking a little beat up, but still flying fine. I checked the dill and fennel for eggs, but the butterfly was either a male, or it just didn’t have any eggs to lay. (Usually, you’re able to identify the gender of a swallowtail by their markings, but this one was missing pieces in the spots where I would normally do that).

I also saw a hummingbird on the deck yesterday. They’ve been all over our nasturtiums this year, as well as the zinnias. I’m definitely going to be growing zinnias from seed again next year- they’ve been a wildlife magnet this season.

This tiger swallowtail was a treat to watch!

Out in the yard, I’ve been continuing to harvest tomatoes, peppers, and green beans daily. The freezer is filling up with veggies, and the Family Canning Day for our salsa has been scheduled for the fall. It’s been a great year for tomatoes so far. I don’t want to jinx myself, but even with the extreme heat, I haven’t had any issues so far with blossom end rot like in years past. We seem to have had pretty steady rains, and when we haven’t, I’ve been keeping up with the watering and fertilizing. We’ll probably have at least another month/month and a half before there’s even a chance of frost, which is plenty of time for me to have to TETRIS the freezer contents to make everything fit.

The wildlife pond doesn’t have a lot blooming at the moment, but there’s lots of happy plants around the water. I see birds stop by every so often, and there’s usually a dragonfly or two hovering around the rocks. This past week, I had a huge surprise: a frog was sunning itself on the rock edge! When I put in the pond, my goal was to help attract wildlife to the area. I was so hoping for a frog, but the closest water to our house is a creek, some 100 yards away. I wasn’t sure any would find their way through the field, where the hawks and neighborhood cats hunt, to my little fenced-in water feature. But, this one made it. The husband named it Stanley, and Stanley likes to hide in the brush swimming all day. In the afternoon, Stanley sun bathes on the rocks, warming up and maybe grabbing a bite to eat. I hope Stanley tells its friends and they all have lots of lots of little froggo babies.

Stanley the Frog, soaking up some rays on the rocks around the pond.

Around the pond, I managed to do some weeding last week. Our original shade garden was looking extremely scruffy and there were SIX rogue tomato plants growing beside the compost bin. I removed them (seriously, I can barely keep up with all the tomatoes I planted on purpose) to inside the compost pile, and cleaned up the space.

The black-eyed susan’s in the front yard are looking extra gorgeous in their second year. Just beyond them is the new native plant bed.

In the rest of the beds, the mid-late summer plants are really starting to flower and come in, like the new england aster, black-eyed susan’s, and goldenrod. I do really enjoy these plants that stretch into autumn, giving the pollinators the extra boost they need for their flights south or to overwinter in the yard here. The swamp milkweed, which flowered earlier this year, is seeding already. The seed pods unfurl, revealing a bunch of dark brown seeds on tiny wisps of silky fluff that fly on the wind to carry the seeds to new homes. I collect most of mine to plant out the following year.

It’s easy to remove the seeds, and to get them to grow. The seeds just require the winter cold to break their dormancy and to open up their tough outer shells. You can either do this by placing them in the fridge, or simply planting them in the ground in late fall, the winter, or early spring. Last winter, I grew a bunch in milk jugs on the porch, using a process called winter sowing. It works shockingly well, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to grow native seeds in their spaces (if you have winter temperatures where you garden).

The milkweed starts looking pretty scruffy by this time of year. You can see the columns of brown seeds in the newly-opened pods, and a gaggle of tiny, yellow aphids, which usually haunt the milkweed in July and August. A few visits from a ladybug or a praying mantis will clear them right up!

Well, that’s all the news I have this week. Hopefully, Stanley will have a buddy soon, and we’ll see some more rain so I don’t have to get back to my watering schedule. I imagine I’ll see some more wildlife around the yard this week while harvesting herbs and veggies, and I might try making up a little flower arrangement. I don’t pick our flowers too often, but I always enjoy seeing them on the table when I do manage to put together a bouquet. I also have some dark purple pokeberries to harvest for use in dye projects later this year. Our poor freezer is going to be stuffed to the gills…

Happy gardening!