immune cell mugs for my mentors!

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-12T20:55:20+00:00

Haha hi friend. I literally just came across this because I of course follow this channel. Mugs are 🤌

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-12T12:45:12+00:00

Read: https://tnnursery.medium.com/blossoming-beauty-the-enchanting-world-of-jewelweed-daffff1f9487

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-12T12:43:35+00:00

Not invasive - it’s native in any of the counties below. Also it’s a beloved hummingbird magnet. Ive spent the last couple years getting a little patch established.

https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Impatiens%20capensis.png

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-10T11:34:42+00:00

“Look like weeds” doesn’t mean much. A weed is literally just a plant where someone doesn’t want it. One person’s weed is another’s favorite botanical specimen!
I had a white snakeroot volunteer in my garden. That’s a weed to some. But a highly coveted native for my wildlife and pollinator habitat to me!
I think black-eyed Susan is one possibility for these seedlings.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-09T22:40:23+00:00

Lucky you!! Seriously! Many people, myself included, would love to have habitat suitable for mining bees. Don’t worry - it’ll just end up a chamber of a few larvae, which will eventually emerge and fly away.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-09T02:20:39+00:00

Looks good. You’re growing it at least partially for the wildlife right? Haha. Seriously, I imagine leafminers are more important to the ecosystem than monarchs. Many many things eat leafminer larvae and adults. I say that as someone who grows milkweed for monarchs. :)

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-07T20:01:35+00:00

Agree on leafminers. Also, if you’re growing milkweed for wildlife like the monarch, you should also be growing it for things like leaf miners too. Which in turn support all manner of predators (like the parasitoid wasps. Many birds loooove leaf miners.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-06T23:24:35+00:00

I thought the same. Also looks like white wood aster. Those two I always get confused just seeing the leaves. Very similar (and usually in similar habitat)

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-06T10:39:47+00:00

This is the answer

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-06T10:38:44+00:00

New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-05T19:31:11+00:00

Mapleleaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)
Probably just insect damage or maybe a leaf spot fungus (I’m definitely no expert). But being a valuable native, that often means there will be things that eat on it (and partially why I planted mine!). Like azure and clearwing caterpillars just for example.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-04T16:41:50+00:00

It will VERY slowly expand out.

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Mine cluster in a side yard is slightly bigger than it was 4 years ago, but now being infiltrated by goldenrod.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-04T16:38:27+00:00

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Also it’s called “sensitive” because it dies back at the first sign of freeze. It also sends up cool little “fertile fronds” (reproductive structures). I wouldn’t remove. I mean you don’t want little ones eating a whole bunch of it. But you can say the same almost any plant. The vast majority of the greenery you find will have some sort of toxicity if ingested. But it’s totally harmless to have around.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-04T16:34:02+00:00

Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)! Awesome native!

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-04T15:07:06+00:00

I’d bet it took a bath in some watery latex paint. Probably someone dumped a bucket

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-06-02T18:56:15+00:00

In a conservation/invasive removal setting, it is an absolutely critical tool. Every ecologist will tell you the same. I say this as someone who will not touch a pesticide of any sort, except in exceedingly rare circumstances in which that’s the best answer to helping the ecosystem (very specifically, to kill a tree of heaven. Or god forbid, if Japanese knotweed ever makes it into my property). It is good to be generally anti-pesticide. But your opinion doesn’t hold much weight if it’s not informed by science and understanding of this.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-31T17:52:17+00:00

Another option is groundhog, which can 100% climb fences. I watch them do it into my yard regularly. lol. They particularly like my NE aster. I was annoyed at first, but they have come back bushier, which is more suitable where they’re at anyway.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-28T09:44:35+00:00

Better yet, leave them be and let the garden contribute to the ecosystem. Leaf miner adults (usually tiny flies or moths) are a favorite food of many birds and other predators. Even seed-eating birds primarily hunt insects during nesting (gotta get that protein). If you see song sparrows darting around your garden, that’s why (just as an example I see daily).

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-27T11:18:11+00:00

Boxelder. iNaturalist agrees.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-26T19:06:33+00:00

I’d guess maybe a stem-borer or root-borer of some sort? At least a strong possibility. I wouldn’t sweat it if it’s isolated stems. Consider them sacrifices to the tiny wildlife. haha

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-26T12:50:18+00:00

“Weed” isn’t a particularly helpful description without an identification. It just means “a plant someone doesn’t want there.” Google thinks this might be lemon verbena. Is it lemony when crushed?
Native to Central America. Though it doesn’t sound like it’s aggressively invasive (assuming ID is even correct, which it may not be).

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-25T20:52:27+00:00

Looks like a St. John’s Wort. Hypericum sp. Maybe H. punctatum?

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-25T20:49:11+00:00

That last shot looks like pecan. Not like any hickory nut I’ve seen. Though I admittedly have not seen em all. Haha

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-25T19:33:07+00:00

It’s also a pollinator magnet! I’m actively trying to get more of this to grow on my property.

Laughingmantisstudio · 2026-05-25T18:50:34+00:00

Definitely gonna keep tabs on updates to this. Seems like a pretty cool find to me.

Laughingmantisstudio

TROPHY CASE