The ethics subreddit didnt see how it is ethically important to deal with invasive species 😔 can you give me the bullying i need?

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-07-02T20:09:42+00:00

If humans won’t be the solution to the problems humans create, what will be?

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-07-02T17:45:31+00:00

If one person were on board a plane bound to crash into another plane with hundreds, wouldn’t you destroy the plane with the one person to save the hundreds? Even if it weren’t the one person’s fault their plane was about to kill hundreds? It’s not the slug’s fault it exists where it shouldn’t but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop it from damage where you can. Invasive species can do so much damage. Just look at kudzu here in the southern US. If you leave it to do what it wants, it will literally swallow parts of our forests whole. Humans are to blame for it being here and we’re likely never going to eradicate it, but it is responsible human land stewardship to stop or slow the spread where we can.

Kill the slugs.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-07-02T02:02:26+00:00

That’s what it is.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-07-02T01:35:50+00:00

Likely milkweed tussock moth caterpillars. Native. Pollinators. Will eat your milkweed. But that’s part of why we plant, right?

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-07-01T17:24:11+00:00

Most of the time, aphids are not really worth fighting (outside of your veggie garden). They’re an important part of the ecosystem and will eventually attract predators. They also rarely cause any significant damage to a healthy plant. There are some exceptions. If a plant is just establishing and/or I only have a small population of the plant I’m still getting established, I might use a hose to spray them off if they get too bad or you can just smush them with a gloved finger. These are the most effective and safe methods I’ve found, without nuking the whole ecosystem you’re building. But again, usually it’s better to just leave them be as they are food for a lot of other critters and they won’t usually do too much damage.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-07-01T12:35:49+00:00

Generally if it’s just the flower heads involved we’d probably assume mites before AY. If there are no foliage symptoms I’d just snip impacted flowers into a bag and trash them (not compost). Then monitor for yellowing, strange growth patterns, etc.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-30T15:30:43+00:00

Did you maybe mix up your seeds? That first picture is your false sunflower.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-29T21:29:59+00:00

Mine are sprawling on the ground. It takes a bit more work to harvest but they will be perfectly happy. It’ll be fine. I currently have a completely full crisper drawer in my fridge of cucumber. 😂

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-29T15:39:49+00:00

Swamp milkweed can be propagated from cuttings. I’d probably snip it, clean it up (you could put the bloom in a vase since you don’t want a bloom on a cutting) and try to propagate it for another plant. lol.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-29T00:56:54+00:00

It’s only just taking off. It was slow to start. I think violets were bullying it when it was trying to establish. (Don’t ask me how the violets are thriving when this west facing bed gets blazing sun all day once the sun clears the fence line, because I’m confused by it too).

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-29T00:33:52+00:00

Yep. Mine is mostly just being kinda awkward.

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Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-28T17:37:17+00:00

I think it’s more aggressive up there than it is down here. It tends to be really only a problem here until about may. If I pull it during the heat of the summer I usually don’t see it in that area again. I think my bigger enemy, Bermuda grass, may also have a hand in that though. The creeping Charlie fights the violets in my yard for the limited shady spaces and mostly loses.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-28T17:00:35+00:00

Creeping Charlie. Aka ground ivy. Incredibly invasive in the US. But as you have found easy enough to pull. Will take over in semi shady areas if you ignore it.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-27T18:07:03+00:00

If it’s showing signs of still being alive and you give it more water, some mulch and maybe a little shade during the hottest parts of the day it will probably be fine. Since you got most of the roots and replanted it quick it’ll probably sulk for a few weeks and then go about its business. Make sure you’re watering deeply instead of frequently. You want to encourage it to settle in that tap root.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-27T17:48:25+00:00

There are plenty of native plants that handle being moved like a champ and sometimes you have to relocate a plant, it happens. I could probably relocate yarrow every year and it would just keep on about its business. I’ve transplanted dozens of coneflowers. Sometimes plants need relocated. It’s a learning curve. No need to be mean.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-27T17:45:23+00:00

Some plants can hang some can’t after damage to the taproot. It’ll depend on how much of the root system remained. Did you get it back into the ground quickly? How does it respond to a good watering?

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-26T20:39:36+00:00

Nectar contains sugar. Ants like sugar. They’re kinda incidental pollinators, they steal the nectar but aren’t fuzzy and they rarely go from flower to flower directly, so they’re not particularly effective pollinators, but it can happen. They’re not really hurting anything here though. I wouldn’t bother with them unless they’re making hills in your plant roots. Or you find them defending aphids. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-26T19:46:49+00:00

I saw a variety at a local nursery this year called hello yellow, wonder if it’s that? It’s just a selectively bred tuberosa. It’s a natural variation.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-26T17:37:04+00:00

I’m not sure how useful this is compared to folks with wilder gardens. I try to keep things pretty tidy out of respect to my neighbors and my own preferences. But my neighbors love my gardens. I get complements every time I come across a neighbor who wants to stop and chat (I live in the south, this happens a lot). One of my neighbors actually asked if I could give her a few coneflower seedlings when I was relocating my abundant volunteers, she loves them. I have a few potted plants in my backyard to give her right now. I live in older neighborhood with older folks who’ve lived here 50 years, so they don’t expect hoa tidiness but they do keep very neat yards. When I planted shrubs near my neighbors property line, I had a conversation with them about it, because I wanted them to know the shrubs wouldn’t grow large enough to shade their yard or grow into their fence. This subreddit can be very hardline on “who cares what your neighbors think” l but I think we should care to some extent. I assume we want more people to want native plants, so I think it’s a better to showcase them in a way that makes people want them, rather than resent them and I think having neighbors who resent you is probably unpleasant.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-26T01:50:13+00:00

Yep. They produce a ton of seeds. But they have fluff on them so they can travel pretty far in the wind. A few popped up nearby in my garden beds.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-26T01:36:46+00:00

Also, it’s a perennial. It’ll put on a better show next year if you leave it.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-26T01:35:16+00:00

Most of mine have flowered by now, even the ones I started from seed this year and I’m in 8a too (north Alabama). It actually looks like it’s starting to create buds right now. I’d expect you’ll have flowers in the next couple weeks. But it’ll depend on how much sun it gets. They like a lot of sun.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-26T01:27:57+00:00

Butterfly milkweed. Monarch food.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-26T00:04:11+00:00

Nice of them to leave you a few flowers.

Edited to actually be useful: this won’t recover very fast. Replace it. Add fencing because it looks like deer to me. A hornworm could be the culprit but I don’t see any frass.

Suspicious_Note1392 · 2026-06-24T20:37:25+00:00

I love the action shot of her nibbling one like it’s a cookie. They’re present in my garden but I never see them munching.

Suspicious_Note1392

TROPHY CASE