OffThePost.org

Could also get a panda to get rid of bamboo. So many times people have tried to bring in a new non-native to get rid of the previous invasive they'd brought in.

I was careful to make sure nothing in my seed mix is invasive. Two of the twelve species are non-native, but not invasive.

And I'll admit that now and then, I give in to buying a non-native plant. My wife absolutely LOVES foxglove, which is native to Ireland, not New York. She's been really homesick lately, soooooooo I bought her one. It's beautiful. It's non-native, but not invasive. It's in a planter by the pool. Hummingbirds have loved it so far. So has Mrs18. Fight me.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

I had assumed it was native as I've been on hikes in the local mountains that were covered in foxglove. Looked it up though and your right.They don't spread fast by seed but they do spread. You're also right, hummingbirds love them.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Oh shit, really? Hummingbirds like them? Well then I gotta go get some. I've been meaning to put a feeder out so that the little one can see the hummingbirds, they migrate through here around this time of year for a short time and I just don't have a good setup. The feeder I have is really nice but it's freakin' huge and very heavy, and we just got the siding and deck redone so I don't want to just start drilling holes so I can hang it. Some plants would probably be a better idea.

On a side note, last fall they were passing through the other direction and I think the craze you see online of hand-feeding hummingbirds is really changing their behavior, one of them came right up to my face unprompted while I was working in the backyard and hovered there for a couple seconds before darting off. Or maybe he was just feeling his wild oats and I had some colorful on, I dunno.

It ain't like I'm a big stickler about native plants and what not, I just see that they recommend it online. I mean, dandelions aren't native plants to North America either. Apparently some English lady missed having them around and brought a few over. Oops.

I thought there were breeding hummingbirds pretty much everywhere in North America and I decided to see about your area. You have hummingbirds that are not all migratory (you're in Nebraska if I recall correctly). There is probably not enough of the original native flowers around for them to be interested in staying in your neighbourhood, or a lack of nesting area in your neighbourhood so you only see seasonal

Scottish broom is similar story to dandelions, some Scotsman missed them on Vancouver Island so brought in 3 seeds in the 1870's. They produce 18 thousand seeds a year that travel on the wind, and the seeds are viable and able to germinate for up to 30 years. It can grow so thick in meadows that nothing else can grow. Its awful. At least dandelions are good for the bees.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Yeah, the Scotch broom is awful this time of year and can choke off the native blackberries that grow wild here so there's an annual effort at least in my neighborhood to take out the broomweed. Entire hillsides are covered in them and while they are pretty when in bloom, everyone here knows they are nasty.

The other one that is nasty is the Japanese kudzu which is all over the southeast...

The lady at the garden store advised me against foxglove, said it was toxic to humans and pets. I don't currently have any pets but I do have a toddler so it's best I don't get that at least until she's old enough to know better. She told me the hummingbirds love Salvia (the annual kind, I already have a beautiful purple perennial Salvia shrub next to our garden) and Pentas so I got those in addition to this pretty Lantana that caught my eye.

My Marigolds are REALLY struggling this year. Not sure why. This year I mixed a pretty potent batch of fish fertilizer and hit everything with it, most of the rest of my plants are thriving (like a good hockey player it's effective but smells horrible) but the marigolds are just not popping, not in the pots nor in the garden. I might try some Miracle-Gro or something, will have to do some research.

Did one of the most menial and arduous landscaping tasks I've had to do since we moved into our current house way back in 2014. Our dry river bed in the backyard got really overgrown with grass (my fault), so I had to pull all the rock out, spray it off, tear the rocks out that had gotten entangled in the grass roots, wash the rocks, and place them back in the bed. Also snagged some free river rocks from a house that was giving them away during a major renovation. Took a goddamn week total but it's finally done.

conversation trending to gardening and not so random, I commented on your marigolds over here https://offthepost.org/viewtopic.php?f= ... 49#p136149

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

If the modern washing machine had never been invented, and clothes were still cleaned using a old fashion tub and wash board, how many days would you wear your pants and shirts before you tossed them in the laundry?

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

I rarely wash my pants. Underpants? I change them daily. Pants? I can wear a pair for a month befor they see a washer.

I typically wear pants 2-3 times before washing. If washers weren't a thing, it would probably be months. Sweatshirts and things like that too.
I keep seeing these stupid "what people looked like in the medieval era" type ads. I never click on that bullshit but I always wonder- what did people smell like? Bathing was a pain in the ass. Washing clothes a pain in the ass... Whiffy sniffy.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Every year, every frigging year, right around now, some dumb mouse dies in my basement. Well, I guess it probably died about a week ago. Just before Thanksgiving the whole basement starts to stink like hell. I found a sprung trap, but no mouse. So it probably died from injuries in some random place. I want a "rent a ferret" service to help me find the damn thing.

Ironic, because one of my dogs killed a mouse outside yesterday and I was quick to get rid of the body before it stank up the outside. And before my idiot dogs ate the corpse and got sick. Pretty funny when I caught her with the mouse. She tried to hide it in her mouth, like a school kid with a big wad of gum. She sat there, mouth closed but obviously something in it... A leg popped out between her lips and I said "I see the leg. Stop lying to me." She spat it out and I had to mercy kill it. So I'm being nice to the little buggers! Why do I have annual bad Mickey Karma? I've begun referring to this as the "annual Thanksgiving mouse corpse".

We always host Thanksgiving, so it's really not good. Not to mention I work from home a lot, and sitting here with a candle lit and an air purifier going is annoying. And we just used some "all organic" deer repellent since the deer were eating all our new plants. Stuff smells like puke. So I went outside for some non-mouse-corpse fresh air and took a deep breath, of pukey smelling air. If I'm grumpier than usual, it's not just because the Isles suck.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Pants and hoodies get a whole lot of wears.

Shirts, I sweat so they need daily.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Fixed.

Are you talking about yourself or do you think I'm the guy wearing shorts in NY winters? I'm on a team with that guy. Shorts and sandals all year long...

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

I worked with a guy who wore shorts in Colorado year-round. Crazy thing is he was our delivery driver so he was outside a lot.

Not gonna lie I'm the exact opposite. My wife gets soooooo irritated with me because I hate wearing shorts, can't really tell you why I don't like them, I just don't. Would rather wear pants, any variety, no matter the weather.

My disdain for shoveling has overtaken my desire for a white Christmas this year.

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What would Mad Max be like with EVs?

Me as well. 42 of my 65 years have been spent living in metro Vancouver. If I want a white Christmas I can rent a cabin in the mountains.

Beats using the wet/dry vacuum to remove the "indoor pool" from my basement. We got 4-5" of rain the other day. Rain. In December. Fuck that!

but yeah, the older I get the less I like removing snow.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Met new neighbor the other day. Dude asked who plows my driveway. I said I use a snowblower. He says "I've got a Jeep with a plow. I'm taking it off the road so I'll store it here. I'll give you a key". This was 2 minutes after meeting him. I assume that would mean he'd want me to plow his driveway for him, since he's still living in his other house (in a very wealthy area, so he can afford to carry two houses). He told me he "thinks" they'll move up here. Wish I had the money to pay $580k for a house and not be sure what I'm doing with it.

Spoke to him again last night and he asked if we have coyotes or wolves around here. I said coyotes, foxes, bobcats and some bear, although I've never seen a bear around here in my entire life. He told me he saw a wolf. Told him I'm a biologist and I'm not aware of any wolves in the wild for hundreds of miles, but we do get some big coyotes and coy-dog hybrids. He said it was "yuuuuuuuuge" while holding his arms outstretched, so it musta been a wolf. Okay, sure. Then he said his wife and parents (who would live with them if they move up here) are terrified of all wildlife. I told him there are foxes in his yard every day, morning and evening. Said I've got trail camera photos of them and coyotes. He reminded me I meant wolves. Mhmm. So I reminded him that this area had tons of wildlife long before any of us built or bought houses, and they should be left alone, as they're keeping down the pest population. He told me mice are no big deal. So this ought to be fun!

Other new neighbor runs some sort of business out of his house and keeps overflowing the recycling bin, and putting huge piles of cardboard next to the bin. I've told him the company only takes what is in the recycling bin, that they don't even get out of the truck; just use the mechanical arm to dump the bin and move on instantly. He told me they'll get out and pick his stuff up. Must be nice to be so naive! I keep moving cardboard from my yard back to his pile. The pile looks great, all wet and dirty... Sure the recycling company will love this stuff. Dude also walks the neighborhood smoking a cigar every day. I hate cigar smoke.

Yet other new neighbors* leave lights on outside 24/7. They shine into our windows - largely because they cut down all the trees between us, and then ask if we'll pay half for a "privacy fence". I told him we'd had plenty of privacy for decades thanks to the trees and looked pointedly at his woodpile (most of which is pine, so yeah, good luck burning that). I'm ready to kill.

*Having 3 new neighbors probably sounds like I'm an asshole and make people want to move away... Two of the house owners died of old age and the relatives sold the houses. The other house is haunted, and no, I'm not kidding. Built in 1790 and the old neighbors had a young daughter who told her parents her friend wanted them to leave but the daughter to stay. Parents asked her to describe this girl, and the daughter described a young girl, about 7 years old, dressed in old time clothes- huge dress, etc. Father did some research (he loved research and wrote a book about their house) and found out in the early 1800s the family had a 7 year old daughter who died of scarlet fever, in the house. I forget the name the girl said the ghost had told her, but the name matched. The parents freaked the hell out and moved not too long later. Most people have lasted like 2-4 years since then, especially if they have kids. The ghost likes kids and wants to play with them, and ignores adults. The gay couple lasted longest of anyone. I assume she ignored them. But I meant to mainly just complain about all these new neighbors and their weird ways.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

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No AI has been used in the making of this post