#learndirt

Flower pots in warm basement utility room under grow light

Seedlings growing in flower pots

Seedlings and small bushes growing in makeshift grow area in basement

Hey #gardening people. I have no idea what I'm doing so I let the kids pick some seed packs, put them in dirt under a grow lamp, water and this is what happened so far.
When r u supposed to plant #indoors? #flowers and vegetables? #greenthumbs ? #seedlings #learndirt

This hover #fly, Myathropa, visited my yarrow today. Apparently the larvae live in decaying plant material, so this pic could belong in #simplecompost.bsky.social,
#learndirt,
#bugsky,
#gardens,
or #insects
🪲🌱

For #InsectThursday a beautiful hover fly (Syrphidae:Lapposyrphus) arriving at cilantro blooms in my #Garden. What a lucky shot! 🌱 🪲 #bugsky #Syrphidae #Fly #learndirt When your cilantro bolts, let it!

I have planted many flowers in my #garden to attract beneficial #insects (pollinators, predators, parasitoids). Most recent success was showy milkweed, shown here being visited by a braconid wasp hours after first blossom opened. #bugsky #learndirt 🪲 🌱

#InsectThursday in the Generous Garden features this Snipe #Fly, family Rhagionidae. This one evidently has just emerged from the pupal stage spent in the #soil since its cuticle is in the process of becoming sclerotized and tanned (hardened). #bugsky 🪲 🌱 #learndirt

#InsectThursday one day late. I found this tiny rove #beetle on the brim of my hat when I stopped weeding and transplanting onion sets to eat lunch. I hope he was eating the onion maggots that are thinning out my onions!
🪲 🌱 #bugsky #learndirt

#InsectThursday in my garden features this click beetle. Not much to look at, and her babies sometimes eat the roots of my lettuce plants. But she still belongs here! #bugsky #learndirt
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Anthophora! Digger #bees are another welcome sign of Spring! This one was inspecting blooms on overwintered kale.
#bugsky #learndirt #insects
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This is Hylaeus, a small bee in the “cellophane bee” family. Her common name is yellow faced #bee. Our spring is still rather cold, but the kale and dandelions are blooming so the bees and sunny days should return soon.
#learndirt #garden #insect #pollinators 🌱🪲

A bee on the side of a house.

It’s official! The first Andrena (mining #bee) of the spring warming up on the south-facing siding of my house, after spending the winter underground.
#bugsky #learndirt #insect
🌱🪲

It is that time of year when I often lose a few lettuce transplants to wireworms like the one pictured here. This #insect lives in the #soil where it nibbles on roots. It is the larval stage of a click #beetle. #learndirt #bugsky 🌱🪲

#InsectThursday in the #generousgarden features this ground #beetle. Picture Insect places it in the genus Platynus, but with 34,000 species in this family (per BugGuide), I am not sure. Happy to have them patrolling the #garden and #compost.
#learndirt #bugsky 🌱 🪲

Today was the annual hauling of the #compost from bin to #garden. This male Hacklemesh #Spider was one of a multitude of bugs I saw and I made sure he was released unharmed.
#bugsky #learndirt #spidersky
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Happy #InsectThursday one day early. This Long-Horned #Bee (Melissodes) was one of the only #insect visitors to calendula last summer, and I did not see it anywhere else.
#pollinator #learndirt 🌱🪲

Last summer I found this spider wasp (Pompilidae:Tachypompilus) patrolling my #garden soil for #spiders to paralyze and leave in her nest for her young. I’m amazed by the number of #wasp species that make a living this way. 🌱🪲 #learndirt #bugsky

Good to know green lacewings are out and about in the #garden in early March, ready to eat aphids once they appear.
#bugsky
#learndirt
#generousgarden
#insect
🌱🪲

#InsectThursday
I was gently cleaning weeds out of the herb garden so as to disturb the #bugs in the soil and litter as little as possible, when this handsome ground #beetle walked out from the moss.
#learndirt 🌱 🪲

What was this #woodlouse (Porcellio scanner) doing snooping around up in the #bee nesting house? Usually I see them under rotting logs, where they help the decay process by eating wood and pooping ground-up fibers for fungi to work on. New lessons every day in the #garden!
#learndirt 🪲🌱

I did not pay much attention to this spurge laurel (turns out it is toxic, and invasive in N America) until I saw the first honey #bee of Spring 2025 in my #garden.
#bugsky 🌱 #learndirt
She found lots of pollen!