Gardening Jenny

In the 30s but lots of snow so busy planning and dreaming of spring beauties #nativeplants #mentalhealth #bloomscroll

Wild columbine showing off brilliant yellow and red flowers- aquilegia canadensis

Dark pink blooms ready to burst - Kalmia Latifolia - aka mountain laurel

The medium pink of wild geranium (geranium maculatum) blooms above green foliage - this plant does well in dry shade but sometimes acts like an ephemeral disappearing until spring

Blue-purple blooms of woodland phlox (phlox divaricata)- this phlox is beautiful and fragrant - but well loved by mammals too. Shown here against a backdrop of woodland strawberries. It’s a nice alternative to vinca - and doesn’t attract ticks

Another weekend to while away the hours with mundane tasks like laundry- and spring dreaming! I have happy packera aurea to move - but where? And a shade garden to reimagine. Grateful for the opportunity to rest and reset #mentalhealth #shadegarden #nativeplants #bloomscroll

An almost entirely black small bunny (5 lbs) stretches her front paws forward in a cat-like pose

Not just limited to dogs - Bailey the bunny was 5 when we adopted her. She’s the best bunny! And sometimes thinks she’s a cat #bunnies #mentalhealth

Anyone else dreading being stuck in the house during a winter storm with the constant news sucking? At least there’s football, bunnies and spring planting planning! #gardening #nativeplants #bloomscroll

Lucy the bunny stares at the camera judging you and everyone else. She is a small bunny with a white nose and a white middle going down to her front paws and the rest of her is black.

Someone posted don’t give cats/dogs) as Xmas presents. Maybe any living, breathing being that requires love, sacrifice and care is not a present. Lucy the bunny is 12 and probably cost us a house in vet bills. We are lucky to be her hoomins. And yes she is judging us #housebunny #adoptdon’tshop

Goldenrod still holding on to yellow blooms

Fluffy seed heads on showy goldenrod

Goldenrod is so beautiful in all its phases. Still blooming in November and some beautiful fluffy seed heads. #bloomscroll #nativeplants #homegrownnationalpark

Blanket flower- each specimen seems to bloom at a different time! Large yellow center surrounded by red with red, yellow tipped petals (gaillardia aristata)

Heart-leaves asters (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) - small blue petals with a purple center

Possible aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) - longer blue petals with dark, almost brown, center

Still blooming after a frost (or two). Actually saw a tiny pollinator on the asters. If you plant, they will grow! #bloomscrolling #homegrownnationalpark #nativeplants

Mosquito Bucket Challenge - Homegrown National Park Natural mosquito control: The Mosquito Bucket Challenge is a safe, affordable way to control mosquitoes without harming kids, pets, or pollinators.

I mean there is the mosquito bucket challenge: homegrownnationalpark.org/mosquito-buc... People just don’t want to know that they are doing harm. I had someone tell me that they had just as many bees after spraying as before. That is just not true

Hi!
I don’t know if they live there but it is true that solitary male bees find shelter in the plants

Five visible bumblebees napping on goldenrod

Why are there so many goldenrods? So bees always have a place to nap #homegrownnationalpark #bloomscroll
#nativeplants

They do-ish #homegrownnationalpark

personally I dig this shirt from Benjamin Vogt’s Etsy (he’s an author of Prairie Up) and I received no comp- just love supporting the mission www.etsy.com/listing/1822...

Bumblebee on purple center of heart-leaved or blue wood aster blooms

Big bee and little flower - heart-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) This beautiful flower loves shade. It’s the first plant that showed up when I started removing lawn. #nativeplants #nativepollinators #bloomscroll

Purple puff blooms of New York ironweed being visited by a monarch (gazebo and curtain in background)

Hump day bloom scroll: New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis). Feel free to put this towering beauty everywhere #bloomscroll #monarchs #nativeplants

Friday rush hour #nativeplants #nativepollinators #everyplantmatters
#homegrownnationalpark

Should you plant goldenrods? Yes! And be a hero to migrating monarchs. Here’s showy goldenrod putting on a show for monarch butterflies and other pollinators #nativeplants #nativepollinators #homegrownnationalpark #mentalhealth

This is awesome!

Thank you for sharing! That was awesome! And for leaving the monarch outside. This is the way we can actually help #monarch #butterfly

Hmm…what looks good for dinner? #monarchs #nativeplants #nativepollinators #reducethelawn

Weird right?

Monarch caterpillar hanging on Asclepias tuberosa stem (butterfly weed)

Monarch caterpillar underneath a common Milkweed leaf that it is busy munching (Asclepias syriaca)

Monarch caterpillar (yellow black and white striped) hanging on asclepias incarnata (swamp Milkweed) stem

Mentally I am struggling.
My neighbors used to be awesome but they are now using rodenticides and pesticides - fighting feelings of hopelessness and anxiety. Focusing on what I CAN DO helps. These cats appreciate the safe space #nativeplants #nativepollinators #homegrownnationalpark

Monarch caterpillar on stem of pink milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

Providing food for critters that can’t go grocery shopping and bringing the pollinators to the yard so I don’t have to #nativeplants #nativepollinators #organic

Large dark red coneflower like center surrounded by red petals tipped yellow (gaillardia aristata aka blanket flower)

Gaillardia aristata? Such an incredibly long bloomer here in New England

Beautiful!!

Rusty orange and brownish butterfly showing underwing with silver spots and significant wing damage feeding on the pink blooms of phlox paniculata (tall garden phlox)

Upside down great spangled fritillary - rusty orange-brown butterfly - with wing damage on pink blooms of tall garden phlox (phlox paniculata)

I spotted this tattered great spangled fritillary feeding on tall garden phlox today. She briefly stopped on iron weed before flying off- remarkably resilient and strong in spite of the damaged wings. The tales this butterfly could tell #mentalhealth #bloomscrolling #nativeplants #nativepollinators

Golden Digger wasp (large orange and black wasp) on native mountain mint (pycnanthemum muticum) featuring large bloom heads with small pink flowers and silvery green foliage

My favorite pollinator! They are usually out earlier- it’s been a weird season. Great Golden Digger wasps are beautiful!! Shown on that amazing powerhouse pycnanthemum muticum (mountain mint) #nativeplants #nativepollinators #bloomscrolling
#homegrownnationalpark

For some reason, I put lots of milkweed (three types) in my garden and yet the monarchs prefer the random ones that sprout in my lawn. I am so glad no mow 2025 continues. #nativepollinators #nativeplants

Just another day, just another bee. Chelone lyonii ‘hot lips’ or pink turtlehead getting buzz pollinated #nativeplants #nativepollinators #homegrownnationalpark

After a day in the office, here’s a video of a bee trying to squeeze into a white turtlehead (chelone glabra) bloom. #nativeplants #bloomscrolling #homegrownnationalpark

Sunday afternoon bee butt-palooza. Native white turtlehead, ‘hot lips’ turtle head, blue lobelia and obedient plant are some favorites at this time of year. #nativeplants #nativepollinators #homegrownnationalpark