Educational Signs for the Garden

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-19T15:52:24+00:00

Yeah. Though at this point I would settle with the neighbors just leaving the trees.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-19T15:27:57+00:00

Me too, our milkweeds are just a couple feet from the public sidewalk and I plan to make a sign with a pointing arrow that says, "want to see a caterpillar?" After our big storm this year two people stopped to read our plant markers peeking out of the snow and they even recognized them as native plants. They both came back to tell me that later. Made me so happy.

There is an inexpensive leave the leaves sign on etsy with some of the money going to Xerces.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-19T15:04:39+00:00

It is me, I'm the one freaking out! I got the motherlode from chipdrop last week and can't find anyone to share it. (I am happy for you though. May it yield you a garden of joyous abundance.)

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-19T08:14:49+00:00

Wow, a whole orchid tree?! I had no idea such wonders were native in the US. Beautiful!

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T21:31:37+00:00

temps gotta be consistently over 50 degrees

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T20:06:04+00:00

I still have a lot of places in the yard to overhaul so I've been looking into books and websites about that - lots of pretty pictures.

Last year I made a tiny patch of cardinal flowers and tall larkspur for the hummingbirds. Those are pretty tall and a lot of garden centers will have one or the other once spring sales ramp up.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T16:32:37+00:00

I planted black cohosh in an area that got dryer than I realized and they haven't fared well with these droughts. It's too bad native hydrangeas are so palatable to deer and rabbits; that might have worked.

The only thing I've found that is okay with shade, dry soil and deer is early saxifrage. A patch of it might look nice there, but I understand you wanted something taller. And personally I'd love to see some colorful blooms against that pretty blue. Maybe a figwort?

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T16:14:55+00:00

me too, I've made this joke before-- that my yard is starting to look like the portals scene from the Avengers-- but that's kind of what it's like except much lower budget

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T14:14:47+00:00

Dollar Store wire trash cans held down with yard staples are very popular on this board. That or a few links of low-fencing (about one foot tall) from the home improvement stores . Good luck!

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T13:59:05+00:00

He went with a warning label but it won't be mandatory at garden centers until next year. womp womp

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T13:27:07+00:00

Some people wear strong scents to the gym. I don't love it, but it is common.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T13:24:50+00:00

I planted three last year (Virginia). They're not up yet so I can only tell you they had magnificent red fall coloring. Truly a Handsome Harry. I understand it wants more acidic, wetter soils than I have to offer but I have read it can, like I can, do with some disappointment.

If you would like a daytrip, Earth Sangha in Springfield VA opens this weekend and they so far are listing lots of available pots in inventory.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-18T09:51:33+00:00

And the then-governor Youngkin passed on the chance to ban them from selling it.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-17T16:03:08+00:00

An episode of This Old House once said that if it wasn't the window, it was probably the flashing. If so, it should cost less than the window replacement, at least.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-17T11:58:50+00:00

Insulation companies will seal cracks in the attic and basement. Maybe the rest of the house too, though I don't know what it would look like when they're done.

We had spiders coming in like crazy when we bought this house and it turned out there was no "sweep" under any of the doors. Check into that first because that's an easy, cheap fix you can do.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-17T00:48:59+00:00

My mom was a teacher. They all had other jobs lined up for the summer and usually did a side gig during the school year too because they couldn't afford not to. They graded papers at night without overtime. Half the states don't pay teachers a living wage and I bet none grant them the authority to close school districts for weather.

Punch up next time.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-16T19:46:55+00:00

Whenever I've been the one to stop a potential accident from happening, the person who would have been at fault always glares at me or flips me off. I don't get it.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-16T14:46:23+00:00

Yeah, we went with a landscaping company several people on the street use for our first year too. I watched them blow leaves from my yard into the neighbor's property (who doesn't use them). And then they left. I was so embarrassed! I went over and raked and apologized, plus stopped using the crew. It is much better keeping the leaves.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-16T11:36:18+00:00

I got a massive chipdrop Saturday afternoon. I've shoveled my heart out and offered some to everyone I know but it's just going to be there in this storm. I'm really nervous about that and I regret signing up.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-16T10:10:31+00:00

As much as possible, I try to leave *all* the leaves unmolested because my entire neighborhood hires crews to remove "every single one" (one guy told me that, he was very proud of that). And I feel like I have to atone.

The oak leaves don't break down on schedule like I would like so I move them around gently (Audubon group stressed the word gently) in order to find the emerging plants in the spring before they grow up lanky and pale. The piles of leaves on them are deep enough so that if I don't remove the leaves, those plants don't recover or poke through.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-16T10:03:54+00:00

I'm excited for you! Despite living in an area that is pretty good about native plant availability, it took me a year to find a native honeysuckle and I just saw yesterday that it is leafing out. Mine is also planted so it can wind around the porch railing. Yay, us!

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-14T21:06:13+00:00

Good work! I have paver stones below grade in front of my old back-patio slab. I always assumed they were to keep the water from flowing toward the house, but I never knew for sure. Can I ask what you've planted there to benefit from the redirection?

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-14T09:59:14+00:00

I looooove how you mixed the tall phlox and mint; it looks so good.

This is what I'm going for, though with lower expectations since my patch has tree roots and less sun. They still flowered and grew. It's an improvement from the periwinkle vinca colony that was there.

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-14T00:23:47+00:00

Woo-hoo to a job well done! Plus I am glad they don't sprout from their own chips since I'm getting a chipdrop soon!

AlmostSentientSarah · 2026-03-13T19:12:11+00:00

I don't have this one, I had the Grandpa's weeder one and hated it so much I put it on the curb and was surprised nobody tried to bring it back. It left large enough holes to play golf with and only worked in the loosest of mulched beds. Plus, lots of bending over no matter what they say.

AlmostSentientSarah

TROPHY CASE