This post is all pictures

Including my scintillating commentary on such things as why this is a good year to establish sunflowers and a possible slug deterrent.

The flowers framing this photo are collards that overwintered and are now going to seed.

Two years ago I aggressively primed this lilac into shape at the end of the summer. You’re supposed to trim lilacs right after they bloom so we got almost no flowers last year, but this year it looks beautiful!

I believe bumblebees have made a nest under this Dwarf Alberta Spruce. I see them crawl in under this arch made by the oak leaf.

I planted Champion Radish (just a common red radish) with these lettuce seedlings. I don’t know why because I don’t like radishes. But the slugs are eating the disgusting radishes and leaving the lettuce alone! I’m planting radish seeds around everything now in case this trick is universal.

This is Nigella. It self-seeds, so if you plant some and allow it to go to seed, you’ll probably get it again next year.

This, I believe, is false milkweed, which tricks Monarchs into laying eggs on it and then the caterpillars die because they can’t eat it. I’m sure it has a good reason for this evil trick. I’m not sure if I correctly identified it but I pulled it anyway and don’t regret it.

This is a weed I don’t pull. I can’t remember what it is, but insects clearly eat it and enjoy it, so who am I to rob the mystery bugs of their food?

I also don’t pull this one. It’s lambquarters and you can eat it raw or cooked.

I think this year is a great year to establish oaks and sunflowers. Fall 2019 was a mast year for oak trees—they dropped a lot of acorns—so there were lots of squirrels in spring 2020. They dug up lots of baby oaks and sunflower seedlings. Their population seems to have crashed because fall 2020 produced a comparatively smaller amount of acorns. I see way fewer squirrels this spring and fewer seedlings have been dug up. Once sunflowers produce seed this fall, they should reseed abundantly for the next few years.

This bug lives in this flower.

And Boring Bees live in our fence. Sometimes I can hear them eating in there. Most people hate Carpenter Bees because they make holes in wood. We don’t care about our stuff so I’m happy to host them. Plus, the tunnels they make are about the size of an index finger. Putting a large block of untreated pine wood can deter them from your home. (They’ll nest in the block instead)

We’ve let some grass grow to flowering (ok, we’ve let most of our grass grow to flowering) and it’s incredible how many insects use it. Dragonflies perch in it and tiny bees visit the flowers for food. So let some grass in a corner grow and see who makes use of it.

The backyard doesn’t look like this anymore (way shaggier) but I thought this was a lovely photo of early spring. Here’s to year two of enjoying our wild yard!