gray, spelled g r a y

I do wish the emphasis wasn’t on mulching - it’s just as good for the soil, true, but so harmful to the many #pollinators, #fireflies, other #invertebrates, #salamanders, #toads, #snakes, and countless other critters that shelter in the leaves. But again, bit by bit… #LeaveTheLeaves

Waynesboro Public Works 🍂 Leaf Collection Update – Thank You, Zone 1! A huge thank-you to everyone in Zone 1 for getting your leaves out and ready. Your preparation helped crews move smoothly through the area, and they’ve...

Look at our little city encouraging residents to #LeaveTheLeaves!! So glad & proud to see this. Bit by bit…

#Waynesboro #WaynesboroVA #gardeningforwildlife

Opinion | Farewell to the Beloved Friend in My Window

“I prefer spiders to cleanliness, and my preference carries the day because it is more humane and also requires no work.”

(Margaret Renkl)

#spiders #coexisting #gardeningforwildlife

( #housekeepingforwildlife? )

A view looking downhill of a sidewalk and a low wire fence supported by green metal stakes being used to hold dry fallen leaves back from the sidewalk in a sloped yard. In the background are houses, bare trees, and an overcast late autumn sky.

A view looking uphill along a low wire fence supported by green metal stakes, that is being used to hold back dry fallen leaves on the right from the sidewalk that runs beside the fence to the left. To the left of the sidewalk various vehicles are parked along the street, and in the background are part of a brick house, bare trees, and an overcast late autumn sky.

It’s Leaf Collection time, so we secured our leaves with wire fencing. We #LeaveTheLeaves so the soil & the wildlife our yard shelters benefit from them, but it’s important too to keep leaves out of the stormwater system & the river.

I don’t think we did a bad job! (4/4)

#Waynesboro #WaynesboroVA

A slope is shown covered in dry fallen leaves, with a small dark-colored salamander resting on a single leaf in the foreground. In the background a sign on a short stake reads “Leave Leaves Alone,” and a brick house with white trim rises behind it.

Fortunately, because I was raking gently - the recommended method to #LeaveTheLeaves if impractical to leave them exactly where they fell - the little fellow was unharmed & I was able to move it to a safer leaf pile, into which it burrowed shortly after. (3/4ish)

#gardeningforwildlife

A rectangular sign with the heading “Leave Leaves Alone” shows a variety of animals such as small mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians, including images of the animals as well as their names, interspersed with drawings of autumn leaves. The sign is on a short wooden stake, with dried leaves and grasses surrounding it.

Very helpful of the little thing to provide a demonstration of the information on our sign! (2/4ish)

#LeaveTheLeaves #gardeningforwildlife

A dark-colored salamander with red patches on its back (possibly Plethodon cinereus, the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander), about 3 inches long and lightly covered in dirt or tiny leaf litter, nestles in a curled dry leaf among many other leaves.

I accidentally uncovered this little fellow while raking up some leaves along our front sidewalk today. I think it’s an Eastern Red-Backed #Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) - please tell me if I’m wrong. (1/4ish)

#LeaveTheLeaves #gardeningforwildlife

Donate to Help the Shenandoah Valley Art Center’s After A Flood, organized by Piper Groves Help the Shenandoah Valley Art Center Recover After a Devastating … Piper Groves needs your support for Help the Shenandoah Valley Art Center’s After A Flood

The Shenandoah Valley Art Center is a wonderful resource that we are truly fortunate to have here in #Waynesboro. Just before Thanksgiving, they experienced a little misfortune. Please help them out, if you can.

#SVAC #ShenandoahValley #WaynesboroVa #Virginia #art

Urgent Action to Recover Francine, the Missing Lowe’s Cat Together, we can bring Francine home. We urge Lowe’s to act with transparency, compassion, and urgency. Please add your name below to show your support and help ensure every possible step is taken for...

#wheresfrancine #lowes #loweshomeimprovement #rva #cats #nc #northcarolina

#wheresfrancine #lowes #loweshomeimprovement #rva #cats #nc #northcarolina

#wheresfrancine #lowes #loweshomeimprovement #rva #cats #nc #northcarolina

Side view of a native Carolina mantis climbing the brick wall of a house. The mantis is mottled brown and gray and its folded wings resemble decayed leaves. The brick is red and scored with vertical lines, and the mantis is about as long as one brick is high. Behind it is the white trim around a doorway. The mantis’s head is turned toward the camera.

Dorsal view of a native Carolina mantis climbing the brick wall of a house. The mantis is mottled brown and gray and its folded wings resemble decayed leaves. The brick is red and scored with vertical lines, and the mantis is about as long as one brick is high. Behind it is the white trim around a doorway. The mantis’s head is turned toward the camera.

Came home from getting coffee this morning to find a native Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) beside my front door. Not sure I’ve ever seen one before - we always have the Chinese mantises.

I might cry.

#nativewildlife #insects #friends #gardeningforwildlife

This is in VA (I should’ve said) - seems they’re mainly around the mid-Atlantic, though I saw mention of them maybe being further north as well?

We’ve seen 2-3 now (all outside) in the 6 years we’ve been at this place. Inside we mainly get broad-faced sac spiders, which are harmless but bite HARD.

A tiny northern black widow spider sits on a green violet leaf, with green and dried grass stems crossing in the background. She is round and shiny black, with three red patches in a row down her back outlined in yellow/white and a pair of slanted white lines on either side. Her legs appear striped black and a lighter gray-brown.

Accidentally disturbed this young lady, a northern black widow (Latrodectus variolus) according to Seek, while weeding this evening. She’s itty bitty (or itsy bitsy)! I think she’s too young to be married, let alone a widow.

#nativewildlife #spiders #friends

Go outside. Try to make a dent in the spotted lanternflies that are harming my trees. Work on brush piles. Breathe fresh air. Watch the lightning bugs. One foot in front of the other.

255 total #SpottedLanternflies killed in the last 3 days that I’ve gotten to focus on them. Overall count killed since 4/30, 2380+.

#SpottedLanternfly #invasivespecies

We started hearing them over the weekend.

Our city, however, is doing a drone show instead of fireworks for the first time this year.

~215 of those were yesterday, and ~140 the day before. They’re congregating thickly on my black walnuts now, which makes it easy to get a lot at once… from the branches I can reach, that is. (Also this doesn’t include today’s bunch, which I left outside & am too lazy to retrieve.)

Quite some time since I updated my #SpottedLanternfly kill count. And really, I haven’t been great at getting out every day to kill them. Too many other garden tasks! But the last few times I’ve been out add up to 745 #SpottedLanternflies killed, so 2125+ since 4/30.

#invasivespecies

One of my goals for this year!

I love these guys! So pretty.

I feel sick.

Oh I am so very sorry. ❤️

Oh, this is helpful, thank you!

Had a similar experience last week after emergency & regular vet. But regular vet got her back on track after a second visit. Hope your kitty gets better quickly!

If I ever again say I plan to glove up and pull poison ivy for two hours on an 80 degree day someone tell me to drag my behind out of bed *early* to do it and not wait till noon to get started.

A closeup of five small walnuts growing in a cluster on a black walnut tree. They are not fully grown and at this time are shaped almost like pears or lemons, and their skin is light green and knobby. Around them are several green stems with a reddish tint on one side each, and behind and out of focus are the tree’s leaves against the sky.

Our little squirrel-planted black walnut (Juglans nigra) in the front yard has walnuts growing on it for the first time this year! 😍

#nativeplants #virginianativeplants

This does look very cozy, and I’m sure the kitty agrees!

The back hatch of a red Honda Element is open, showing the interior filled to bursting with a selection of plants, including various small trees, shrubs, vines, tall and short perennials, and sedges. The stems of some plants reach to the ceiling of the car.

A variety of small plants are arranged in plastic flats and a long cardboard box on grass in front of a decomposing log, with taller plants such as trees and shrubs in larger pots ranged behind the log and wedged together to stay upright. Behind them are boxwoods, an unkempt planting bed, and the foundation and wall of a brick house.

Why will no one save me from myself? 😬😬😬

#nativeplants #virginianativeplants

Is it bad when the lady at the nursery gives you a free t-shirt due to the size of your purchase?

😬😬😬

#nativeplants #virginianativeplants