For context - I live in Oklahoma and just moved into a new home and in front of my porch has an area for a garden bed and I would love to plant some wild flowers. Does anyone have any recommendations for soil to use ? I know standard miracle grow but they’ve been adding a lot more chemicals lately. If that’s still highly recommended I’ll still use it but wanted to see if there was any other recommendations first! It does currently have tire all over so I will have to completely empty and refill 🫠

Accidentally disturbed this little guy while watering the garden the other day! ID

Hi all

Every few months I like to post one of these welcome threads to say 'Hi' and welcome anyone new to the community :)

If you have any queries about the community or just want to say hi, introduce us to your garden, or have a quick question, please comment here.

If you're not new, feel free to join in anyway! The more the merrier!

Resources and information on gardening for wildlife are in the wiki, and the community rules are here.

Let us know how you found us, always interesting to see how folks find their way here :)

Happy wild gardening :D

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P.S. It's really useful for you to have your rough location in your user flair for the community. This shows beside your username when you post or comment.

Don't be too specific - protect your personal information - but a rough idea of where in the world you are and/or your hardiness zone helps us help you if you need advice on plants or wildlife. Here's how to add user flair New reddit/redesign | Old/Classic/Legacy reddit | Mobile - official app.

I hate seeing robins trying and failing to use my suet feeders (including caged feeders), so I'm looking for solutions that DON'T include ground trays or domed feeders please.

I tried ground trays and it upset my wife and my neighbour by encouraging rats into our gardens.

I also tried the domed feeders like attached but bigger birds kept spilling the contents.

The RSPB also advises against table feeders because they help spread diseases. They seemed like the most logical option until I read that.

So I'm not sure what to try next. Any ideas?

I do already have holly, pyracantha and ivy to feed them naturally. I just want to give them extra help. TYIA!

Native Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) waiting on goldenrod in my Columbus, Ohio yard. Goldenrod pulls in so many insects in fall that the predators show up too.

Most fall native plant photos are full sun asters and goldenrod, so here's the shady side of my Columbus yard this week.

Blooming right now: zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis), blue-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago caesia), and heart-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium). All three are under partial to full shade and still going strong in October.

I spent years assuming shade meant hostas and not much else. These have been some of the easiest plants in the yard.

What's still blooming in your shade this week?

Usually, I see one fox at a time around my backyard garden. And it's gorgeous -- the fox, not the garden so much right now. These two showed up on my driveway this morning. And I think they will visit the garden later.

I live in zone 9 in CA. The grass is gone and weeds are mostly gone with a layer of mulch laid across the yard.

I’d like to do wildflowers or a meadow like sprawl across the yard. As autumn advances I know now is the time to prep.

I’m okay with it being a little wild, I’d love an area for pollinators and attract the birds. But I need to keep costs down.

How can I decide the best fit? Also, I’d love any photos of YOUR areas to help inspire.

Thank you!

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.

One little tootsie, and the tip of one ear.

Hello everyone! I started my South Central Wisconsin (zone 5b) pollinator garden earlier this year. I have 35 different species. I included a list of what I currently have and what I am adding next year. Most of this list was planted this year.

I am planning to leave all these babies in place over the fall/winter for my pollinator friends. Is there something else I should be doing? I am still weeding occasionally, but I'm not really sure if there is something else I should do. I have poured endless time and love into my garden and I don't want to miss something.

I am taking a gardening class through a local university, and it was suggested that I winter mulch my Butterfly Milkweed, New Jersey Tea, Blue Woodland Phlox and Great Blue Lobelia. These were all planted in early June this year. As of right now, all my plants have been happy, healthy and growing like crazy. With the sole exception of Heath Aster for some reason. I may end up digging that out and replacing it with New England Aster if it continues to struggle next year.

I am looking for general advice and species-specific advice. I am learning through trial and error, an actual class and via Reddit. Please teach me the best ways to care for my garden and thanks in advance! 💚🌸🪻🌼🌻💚

I know what the aster is, but what kind of bee? I'd say she was 3/4" long and a beautifully iridescent green and gold.

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.

Well Reddit, this is a new one for me. I built a sort of “winter nursery” this year for certain things I want to keep alive - many of which being pond things.

Apparently I had a stow away, saw him jump when I came in one time - and caught this photo from outside the little area I built (I have lovely cats who would decimate the plants, hence the Fortress of Solitude my friends have dubbed “The Chrysalis”).

Anyway, I don’t know how I would catch him. If I can, he goes back to the wild. If not - I fear he won’t have enough to eat (I’m know there are bugs in here - but enough?) or it won’t get cold enough for him to hibernate.

What do you all think? Just not worry about it? I could add guppies to the four “ponds” but I’m not certain if his type (green frog I believe, SE PA US) go after fish.

Saw this little furry caterpillar on one of my ornamental grasses called ophiopogon kokuryu. In North London uk. Anyone know what it might be please?

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.

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.

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)

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.