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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Signs you have an older dog: The once-insistent bunny-detector is now completely oblivious to the bun-bun sitting in the #nativeplants garden (So far, the only plant he or she has eaten this season that I really cared about is my showy tick-trefoil) #gardensky

A small bunny with brown, black, and white hair hides among several browning native plants, including Joe pye weed, little bluestem, and a showy (Canada) tick-trefoil that's been chewed down by said rabbit

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I assumed the honeywort wouldn't explode by planting it in a container, then placing said container in part shade I was quite mistaken #flowers #bloomscrolling

A zoomed out shot of my 14 inch planter, which has a clover-like white gomphrena and a peachy-pink thumbelina zinnia. The vast majority of the planter is honeywort (cerinthe), which have bell shaped flowers that range from magenta to bluish purple

It's not a native plant, but the bees love it, so it's been added to my list of container annuals

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Now that the leaves are changing and most of the flowers have faded, any remaining #bluetue flowers really stand out #nativeplants #bloomscrolling

Three closed bottle gentian flowers (which resemble oversized, oval-shaped buds) glow in the afternoon sun on a crisp fall day

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

If I have to make multiple trips to the hospital in one week, at least I get to enjoy the view of the #nativeplants garden by the entrance #pinkmon #bloomscrolling

A close-up of a small section of a very large, circular garden. Still fresh-looking coneflowers are the stars of the show, surrounded by mostly green foliage, except here, where tiny bluish-purple (vervain?) or small white flowers (looks like foxglove beardtongue but it's the first day of fall?!) poke out

Elsewhere in the garden where still blooming butterfly weeds and asters

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

There's a very specific type of joy that I feel when I see new-to-me #nativeplants bloom for the first time #flyday #purplefriday

A small bee straddles two spikes of purple giant hyssop, which is slowly starting to erupt into pale purple flowers for the first time

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Oh, the age-old gardening question: Is it better to briefly see it a flower before wildlife consumes it, or to never have seen it at all? (Or something like that) #bluetue #nativeplants #bloomscrolling

A close-up of an unfurling smooth blue aster flower, which is surrounded by small, tight buds. It's presence was brief as it was eaten shortly after blooming by a small orphaned bunny in our yard

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Hard pressed to find a pic of the swamp milkweed without a pollinator (or two) in the shot #pinkmon #nativeplants

Two wasps visit the tiny but highly fragnant flowers of a first-year swamp milkweed plant

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I started counting monarch #butterflies on the way to Lake Huron this morning and kept at it while on the beach I lost count at around 80 The ditches are filled with goldenrod and asters to feed them as they migrate south (With lots of #milkweed too, for the babies next spring) #nativeplants

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Thought I found a dead praying mantis this morning It was in fact very much alive (Much to my preschooler's horror)

A large greenish brown praying mantis is preparing to fight me from my fingertip after I naively thought I was helping an insect out

(Background: I found what I thought was a dead praying mantis on some concrete. So I picked it up to move it to a planter, giving it a more dignified resting place. It burst into furious life)

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

It's September in a semi-rural community, which means sunflowers and goldenrod are practically everywhere #yellowthur #bloomscrolling

A recently opened a dwarf sunflower grows in a container near my porch

Many nearby farms feature large stands of full-sized sunflowers, making me wish I had more space in my yard

A close-up of a clump of volunteer goldenrod, growing in my background, (a large patch of goldenrod is growing across the road from my house, so I assume wildlife has helped spread it around)

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

It probably doesn't look like this anymore after an afternoon and evening of rain, hail, and high winds But this is how my cheery little red bee balm looked this morning #nativeplants #bloomscrolling

A bright pinkish-red flower, which resembles the silhouette of cascading fireworks, pops out from fuzzy green foliage with reddish veining

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

No signs of #redwed flowers yet, but the pineapple sage, which I planted in my tea garden as a late season food source for wildlife, is massive #gardening

A bushy green sage plant, which is over 40 inches high and over four feet across

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Two lively bees Two spikes of flowers Two full pairs of pollen pants #twosday #nativeplants #tinyflowertuesday

Two small bees forage on either side of a spike of anise hyssop flowers

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I don't like regular old Mondays, but I do like a flashy #pinkmon #flowers #bloomscrolling

A picture of a nativar turtlehead, called hot lips. Spikes of chunky medium pink flowerheads grow from a mound of large, deep green leaves with toothed edges and pronounced veins

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

A variety of #nativeplants blooming for the first time in my various garden beds, in support of #flowersonfriday #flyday #bloomscrolling

A collage of five images, showing native plants

Clockwise from top left:

A close up of clusters of the white, spiky-looking blooms of common boneset (sown in winter jugs this year, so still quite small); a bee straddles the tubular lavender-pink flower of an obedient plant (purchased at a nursery later in the season last year); three bluish ovoid flowers (closed bottle gentian, purchased from a native plant nursery in late spring) grow infront of a clump of dotted mint; a vividly coloured red bee balm flower, is slowly unfurling (grown indoors from seed this past winter); and a bee flies to the top of a spike of pinkish-purple flowers (anise hyssop, winter sown this year as well)

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

A section of my #nativeplants garden reminds me of Dolly Parton: Striking, unapologetically unique, nurturing and accepting of all, and just lovely, inside and out We face a crossroads when we lose one so beloved: we can despair or we can pick back up, even in tears, to continue their good work

A collection of flowers that have fallen together under the weight of several days' worth of rain

Sunny oxeye sunflower (almost as vibrant as Dolly herself), dotted mint (with an eclectic combination of colours and textures that invites and nourishes all kinds of pollinators), and a closed bottle gentian, a hopeful pop of colour at a time when things can starting looking dull and faded in the garden

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

In a world where's there too many selfish clowns, be a Dolly

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I cleaned out the raised bed to prepare for some fall planting and found a lost, misshapen radish It pairs well with the Pan's Labyrinthian carrot that I found a few days before #redwed #gardening

A pinkish red radish that grew more radish after being in the ground for far too long (I harvested the rest the crop over a month ago). The photo was taken in front of a flower bed, so blurry yellow flowers create a backdrop for the radish

A carrot with growths off the main root, looking as though it has two legs and is attempting to grow an arm. It reminds me of the mandrake in Pan's Labyrinth. A green bowl with a retro lace pattern sits behind the carrot, filled with baby carrots whose feathery green tops drape on the left side of the bowl

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

A couple of "Tiny" Tim tomatoes I'm not sure what part of this variety is supposed to be tiny: The plants are over 40 inches tall, and the fruit are close to the size of ping pong balls Does the seed industry dabble in ironic naming? #redwed #gardening

Two ripening tomatoes in my hand, which are slightly more than an inch in diameter. The seed packet info listed the plant height as 12-18 inches, while the fruit should be 3/4-1 inch in diameter

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I found this larva on my ankle last Friday, so I unleashed it on the horde of aphids taking over my swamp milkweed Did I say, "fly my pretty" then cackle a little like Margaret Hamilton on the inside? Maybe #gardening #nativeplants

A spiky black larva with yellow stripes crawls below a large group of yellow aphids, a predator in wait

When I checked my plant today, there was only a small amount of aphids remaining compared to the dozens infesting the plant before

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Jules in the Garden @juliwils.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Enjoying the last few weeks of my gardens as they are, before I move around my under-performing plants (and divide my over-performers) #nativeplants #bloomscrolling

A birdseye view of a garden with several tall plants, including spiky blue globe thistles (at the back of the bed), swamp milkweed, which is losing flowers but gaining seed pods, yellow daisy-like rudbeckia, small spires of bright pink veronica, and a very tall purple coneflower, which is at the top of the image (and at the front of the bed)

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