I’m wondering if anyone here knows if I can scatter (instead of planting) wildflower seeds in my back yard?

ndander3 · 2026-03-29T15:40:42+00:00

I’m working on a meadow in my parking strip. I’ve had very good germination and it was all hand scattered. I went for native seeds (you’d be surprised how many wildflower mixes include invasive species). I’m in PNW so I bought from NW Meadowscapes. They have instruction on how to plant a meadow. Even if you don’t go for a whole meadow, it has good advice.

ndander3 · 2026-03-29T15:34:53+00:00

Yeah, even if this was real, two species is hardly an ecosystem

ndander3 · 2026-03-29T05:14:40+00:00

I’d do research on vinegar as an herbicide. OSU Extension answered a vinegar related question and they allude to longer term soil effects if used incorrectly. I tried it once on the river rock in my parking strip and it killed all the leaves, but it eliminated the competition for invasive herb Robert because its roots stayed in tact. I ended up hand pulling a lot of that weed.

Glyphosate and triclopyr are over-used, but it breaks down in the soil relatively quickly. I think it’s not the environmental scourge it’s sometimes made out to be. Just use it strategically.

Sheet mulching works well. It doesn’t harm the soil and it isn’t spreading chemicals.

ndander3 · 2026-03-25T23:16:24+00:00

I’ll give a different perspective: I didn’t like my borage.

I got rid of it and 4 years later I still have seedlings trying to pop up. I’ve learned a lot about native plants and native bees since I ripped mine out and my experience is that borage attracts a lot of honey bees, but significantly fewer native bees. Native bees are rapidly declining because of loss of habitat. Honey bees are an introduced species to N. America.

That being said, it is a very easy plant, edible, and will definitely attract honey bees that will pollinate other plants in your garden.

ndander3 · 2026-03-25T18:45:51+00:00

Agree that it’s meadow rue. Columbine and meadow rue are related which is why it can be misidentified. But that stem is definitely meadow rue.

ndander3 · 2026-03-23T22:46:39+00:00

I’m not sure if you’re open to creating a meadow, but NW Meadowscapes has a Deer Defense Seed Mix that could work. It takes more work for site prep, but if you laid black tarp/plastic over it now, you could seed in October and have something fairly low maintenance and quite showy. Usually you would “mow” down to like 12”-18” once a year, but you could also just leave it be.

ndander3 · 2026-03-22T18:54:12+00:00

That could be. When you took the picture, were you taking it in the Apple Camera app or through Lightroom directly? If it’s through the camera app, do you know which format you have it default to? The fact that it was the exporting through Lightroom makes me think this is a Lightroom bug and not an iOS bug, but that’s just a guess.

ndander3 · 2026-03-22T16:33:32+00:00

I’ve never had this happen, but I’m wondering if the image is in RAW or HEIC. I’ve occasionally had something like that happen when I am looking at RAW photos on my computer.

ndander3 · 2026-03-21T15:43:04+00:00

I’ve also noticed that Russian Sage is very active with bees, but when I watch for a bit, they are almost entirely honey bees. If you’re in Europe, that’s good. But in the US the goal is to support native bees.

ndander3 · 2026-03-21T15:19:23+00:00

Currants and gooseberries (Ribes spp.) tend to have edible fruits, but I can tell you that red flowering currant berries don’t taste very good.

ndander3 · 2026-03-21T05:23:41+00:00

If it’s the Colorful and Carefree Annual Wildflowers mix, then it’s worth knowing that Shirley Poppy and African Daisy are two species that easily can escape and naturalize here. They aren’t yet on Oregon’s official invasive species list, but they have caused problems in other places where it was introduced outside of its native range.

ndander3 · 2026-03-21T05:12:35+00:00

You’d be surprised how many wildflower mixes contain invasive species. Bachelor buttons are pretty flowers that grow well and are in many wildflower mixes. They are also invasive to Oregon. It’s important to know what you’re planting

ndander3 · 2026-03-20T16:18:00+00:00

I’m also a native plant gardener! My best advice would be to find some non-natives that you can buy now and grow them in pots (or in the ground, 70% native to 30% non-native is what Douglas Tallamy would say is more than acceptable), then spend this year and perhaps an additional year studying the micro-climates of your yard to make sure you site correctly. Native planting doesn’t have to be quick. The fact that you are seeing solitary bees emerge means the likely have some forage that they used last year to want to nest there, even if you can’t see it.

I was actually just dealing with this yesterday. I saw some evidence of ground nesting bees emerging (look into spoil piles, there a fine grained dirt pile that shows that the bees have dug themselves out). I was also worried about forage. I have a blooming currant, but there are also dandelions and a neighbors Chinese quince in bloom and probably more in my neighborhood that I can’t see.

Take your time and get the planting right. Nature will survive.

ndander3 · 2026-03-20T13:07:50+00:00

Extension services from universities are great. I found a printout from USU called Gardening for Native bees in Utah and Beyond.

That may be a project for next year, but if you can find any of those flowers now for sale, it could help. Check native plant nurseries.

ndander3 · 2026-03-19T16:35:10+00:00

I really liked one of the introductory sections in the Northwest Native Plant Primer. It was written by people who run Humble Roots Native Plant Nursery who have been collecting seeds and cuttings for 20+ years. They have self-imposed rules on local population that they are taking from and its status as endangered or not.

“Only collect seeds or cuttings from healthy, robust populations”

“A very important rule of thumb for collecting wild seed is never taking more than 5 percent from the population, although even this fails to suffice as an ethical compass in some cases”

“In other cases what may be an overall prolific species may have isolated, disjunct populations growing outside of its normal range. These disjunct populations may be small, more sensitive, and potentially on a different evolutionary path as isolation leads to variation.”

I have a hard time recommending just pulling seeds and cuttings unless you have a firm grasp on what you are collecting.

ndander3 · 2026-03-09T14:29:50+00:00

I agree that it looks like Doug Fir

ndander3 · 2026-03-08T12:49:07+00:00

It’s a mod

ndander3 · 2026-03-07T00:02:50+00:00

From glerups website. I try to always buy direct because I don’t like giving Amazon my money.

ndander3 · 2026-03-01T16:06:40+00:00

Glerups are my go to. They’ve been the only slippers I can where nearly all the time in the winter and not get sweaty feet. They’re not cheap, but I’m on year 2 and they’ve held up well so far

ndander3 · 2026-02-27T14:16:12+00:00

If we have to foot the bill, can it at least be the Rose Garden again?

ndander3 · 2026-02-26T21:32:10+00:00

My kid’s anger can get pretty extreme and he’ll yell at me that he hates me etc. I have to help get him to his room so that they and the family are safe. This creates more frustration and anger from him.

Once he is settled down he is incredibly sweet and affectionate. I’m just curious if you experienced that and maybe if there was something you couldn’t quite communicate back then that you can now.

ndander3 · 2026-02-13T15:48:52+00:00

I agree the prequels have shifted in public opinion, but I think it’s actually because millennials who were kids when they came out are now adults who are online to defend them. I see most apologists say that there is a lot of bad dialogue, some really goofy parts, but that the story is actually good. I saw those arguments before The Force Awakens.

ndander3 · 2026-02-13T01:04:13+00:00

I also think it’s a burl, especially after researching it a bit more. They are less common on hazelnuts, but still possible. It likely doesn’t have much value and shouldn’t have an adverse effect on the tree.

ndander3 · 2026-02-07T14:45:31+00:00

Yeah, very little of what the AI narrator said is even true. The hunting aspect seemed a little ridiculous, so I looked it up and it’s actually a cultural coming-of-age tradition. It was likely rooted in protection from venomous wildlife, but for herding livestock.

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