Butterfly Weed - For Monarch Butterflies, Butterflies in General. What I Learned in Crafts - Jackson Mulch Style

The Butterfly Weed is not related to the Butterfly Bush, except for the first name of the plants.

Instead, Butterfly Weed is related to milkweed, the mother's milk of Monarchs. As a relative, it is also food source for the Monarch larvae when they hatch,

I like most weeds, because each one has good, useful qualities, but this one is badly named. It does not have tiny flowers and is not an obnoxious pest (unlike Giant Hogweed).

It is really a perennial wildflower that many grow in their butterfly gardens.

I obtained three plants and some seed. The plants arrived yesterday, fairly dried out.

The previous night's rain provided two barrels of rainwater, so I first soaked the plants in rainwater for an hour. Immersed, not sprinkled.

I found a prominent spot where they would get water and sunlight and attention - near the Bee Balm.

The row was already mulched, so it only took a stab into the wet soil to open a place for all three.

Planting them was no chore, but I wanted them distinguished from the rest of the growing things, weeds included.

I have been doing something I learned from crafts class in school, long ago. I take a section of the newspaper, already soaked in rain, and tear a hole in the crease.

This gives me a circular area to fit around the tiny plant, a bib to let in water easily and yet smother the rambunctious weeds surrounding it.

The weeds think I am lazy and do not want to bend over and pull them out. That may be  true, but I also consider fresh, green, vibrant weeds to be future compost. The newspaper bib puts weeds in the dark and unleashes the forces of Creation on them. They wilt in the dark and fungi,bacteria, and earthworms turn them into the best soil amendment around.

Once the three bibs were installed and a few damp newspapers added for stray weeds, I opened a bag of shredded cyprus mulch on them and spread that around.

The next step is important. Although rain was hours away, I gently poured stored rainwater all over the mulch around each plant, using more rainwater to settle the soil around the fragile roots.

A wet plant in dry mulch is going to have the water wicked away by the dry wood, and that is wicked for the plant. But once soaked, the mulch will hold water for the newborn plant.

Gardening gurus will say wood throttles the nitrogen, so only use old, composted, wood. Wood will absorb nitrogen while rotting, but it will also give it up slowly later, a better bargain than the fear-mongers imagine. Pouring rainwater on the mulch provides an extra measure of nitrogen. When the roots become established they will insist on nitrogen from the fungi which are hungry for carbon.

The fungi are only too happy to absorb creatures rich in nitrogen.

At the center of any viable soil food web are plants. Plants control the food web for their own benefit, an amazing fact that is too little understood and surely not appreciated by gardeners who are constantly interfering with Nature’s system [Creation]. Studies indicate that individual plants can control the numbers and the different kinds of fungi and bacteria attracted to the rhizosphere by the exudates they produce...  

Soil bacteria and fungi are like small bags of fertilizer, retaining in their bodies nitrogen and other nutrients they gain from root exudates and other organic matter (such as those sloughed-off root-tip cells). Carrying on the analogy, soil protozoa and nematodes act as “fertilizer spreaders” by releasing the nutrients locked up in the bacteria and fungi “fertilizer bags.” The nematodes and protozoa in the soil come along and eat the bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. They digest what they need to survive and excrete excess carbon and other nutrients as waste. Left to their own devices, then, plants produce exudates that attract fungi and bacteria (and, ultimately, nematodes and protozoa); their survival depends on the interplay between these microbes. It is a completely natural system, the very same one that has fueled plants since they evolved [GJ - sic]. Soil life provides the nutrients needed for plant life, and plants initiate and fuel the cycle by producing exudates.

Lewis, Wayne;  Lowenfels, Jeff;  (2010-09-10). Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition (Kindle Locations 199-206). Timber Press. Kindle Edition. 

Roses More Glorious
This morning I went out to do my paper route, putting the newspaper on the front porch of the Gardeners. I also placed a surprise near each Queen Elizabeth rose, one plaque for Bethany Joan Marie, and another for Erin Joy.

The KnockOut Roses are begging for cutting and pruning. The roses finish fast and start to fade, and they are not "self-pruning." Today the neighborhood mothers will each get a vase of roses - magenta, pink, white, and whatever the hybrid teas offer.

The result will be a new blooming, especially with so much rain and so many earthworms under the mulch.

Butterfly - by Norma Boeckler,
our artist who loves gardening, butterflies, and birds.

Massive Rose Blooming - Thanks to the Rain, Our Helper, and Mrs. Ichabod's Support

Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: 

• it shall not return unto me void, 
• but it shall accomplish that which I please, 
• and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

The prophet Isaiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, used our knowledge of rain and snow to describe the work of the Word of God. The Word:

1. Never returns to God void.
2. Always accomplishes His will, and 
3. Prospers God's purpose.

There is only one possible conclusion - the Holy Spirit is always united with the Word. In other words, God never works without the Word and always accomplishes His will through the Word.

Contrary to Calvin, the father of Christian rationalism, the Gospel has a powerful effect at all times. The heir to Zwingli's rationalism imagined that the Holy Spirit was sovereign in choosing not to work at times. That is why Calvinists use the term  sovereign, to emphasize this fickle nature. The king of a country may choose to go to war or not, so Calvin confused the nature of earthly traditions with God's Word and will.

Calvin's separation of Word and Spirit explains why so many quasi-Lutherans do not trust the Word. Such a wrong-headed dogma influences people to supply what God does not promise in His Scriptures. Perhaps they need to make the Word relevant to the times. Or, they may need to explain the Word of God so that it makes sense to human reason.

Reasonable explanations do not apply to the mysteries revealed by the Spirit in the Word. The Holy Trinity is revealed, not explained. The Two Natures in Christ are taught by the Word, not made reasonable by man. Holy Communion is expounded by the Word, and not subject to human deductions and logic.

That does not mean leaving our brains at home or in the church narthex, but using God's gifts to understand the Word of God in its plain, clear meaning. Every time I hear a dogma contrary to Scripture, the rationale comes from a long history of some people drilling their followers on the clear meaning NOT being what they think it is.

The Rose Gardens in Bloom
Last year we began the first rose garden and expanded it from 8 to 16 roses. The ingredients were:

• Jackson Mulch turning the lawn into compost.
• Uncle Jim's Worm Farm's red wigglers helping the effort.
• No insecticides, no herbicides, and no fungicides. The only spraying was water.

We are experiencing heavy rains this week. The formerly empty rain barrels are now full. The KnockOut roses have at least 400 blooms on them. Last year's hybrid tea roses are blooming and the new roses are budding.

The mulch layer is a massive damp blanket of organic matter, fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and earthworms. The rain fertilizes the roses with nitrogen while giving all the soil creatures a boost. Their increased population traps more nutrition in the top layer of soil and feeds it to the roots.

Our helper kept the projects moving along by showing up for mulching and digging. Mrs. Ichabod cheered the design and the number of roses. When I was done ordering and an email offered rose for $5 each, she said, "Order them now!" And I did.

Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Gardener were delighted with the prospect of having so many roses to enjoy.

I admit to working at this for the last year, but the vast majority of labor has been done by God's creatures, fashioned by the Creating Word - the Son of God - at the very beginning. "Nothing that was made was made apart from Him." John 1

Jesus is the example of always dealing with people, converting them through the spoken Word.

But He was not successful, some say, because so many hated Him and decided to kill Him. That was also effective, as many ministers have noticed in their own congregations. As soon as the Gospel takes root, as Luther observed. Satanic opposition rises up from within the congregation to silence the Word.

Some cleverly avoid this by not teaching the Word, and their Calvinist mentors at Fuller Seminary teach them how.

Giant Hogweed - A Lesson about Importing False Doctrine

Even touching this plant can make you sorry for a long, long time.
Note the Queen Ann's Lace profile -
Queen Ann's Lace is called wild carrot, but those wild carrots are poison.

Wikipedia says:

Giant hogweed was among many foreign plants introduced to Britain in the 19th century, mainly for ornamental reasons. It is now widespread throughout the British Isles, especially along riverbanks. By forming dense stands, they can displace native plants and reduce wildlife interests.^[8] It has also spread in the northeastern and northwestern United States and southern Canada. It is equally a pernicious invasive species in Germany, France and Belgium, overtaking the local species.^[8] It was introduced in France in the 19th century by botanists, where it is much appreciated by beekeepers.

A Facebook friend posted a video about Giant Hogweed in Michigan, and I wondered a bit about a hoax, so I looked it up on various sites.

The plant looks like carrots gone to seed, parsley, and Queen Ann's Lace, all part of my gardening efforts. For good reason - Giant Hogweed belongs to the same family and has that umbrella shaped seedheads.

My first thought is - If a plant can grow 10 feet without effort, be very wary of it, because that is not a typical plant and it is unlikely a wholesome plant.

Mr. Gardener and I laugh about the government suggesting kudzu vine and the Chinese multiflora rose as good plants for farmers to plant and encourage. Both are noxious plants and illegal to grow now. In Arkansas, he says, there are still areas owned by kudzu, smothered by the vine.

They found a disease that attacks the multiflora rose, so that plant is no longer considered a major threat to life, health, wealth, and peace of mind. Neither kudzu nor multiflora rose could be weeded out - which tells us something right there.

Plants and Sound Doctrine
Plants from the same family have similar growing habits, similar flowers and seeds, but they often vary in their usefulness.

The nightshades include tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco, egg plant, woody nightshade, deadly nightshade, and garden huckleberry. The last item produces black berries that can be cooked and made into pies. Deadly nightshade is the basis for belladonna, still a useful medicine, but the berries are toxic.

The umbellifers include:
The Apiaceae (or Umbelliferae), commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, are a family of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. The family, which is named after the type genus Apium, is large, with more than 3,700 species spread across 434 genera; it is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants.^[1] Included in this family are the well-known plants: angelica, anise, arracacha, asafoetida, caraway, carrot, celery, Centella asiatica, chervil, cicely,coriander (cilantro), culantro, cumin, dill, fennel, hemlock, lovage, Queen Anne's lace, parsley, parsnip, cow parsnip,sea holly, giant hogweed and the now extinct silphium.

Since Giant Hogweed comes from a distinguished family, it must be good. I am sure that was the argument, and "Look, how the bees love it." And - "Easy to grow!"

Touch this plant and get blistered and scarred.
It is extremely toxic.

We all have our toxic plant stories, including poison ivy. I once tried to pull it out of the ground with my bare hands. I really suffered for that. Mr. Gardener and his wife both have their own poison ivy stories. Our cousin almost died from eating a mushroom that she was hyper-allergic too, though it did not affect her family.

Dealing with plants means discerning the good from the bad. I do not have the knowledge to find the right mushrooms in the wild so I do not even try.

Sound Doctrine Is Healthy Doctrine - False Doctrine Is Cancer

Distinguishing sound doctrine (literally healthy teaching) from false doctrine (described as a cancer) is a mandate for all Christian believers, especially those who would teach the Faith.

The arguments of false teachers are just as compelling as the government's promotion of kudzu vine -

1. Kudzu grows quickly on its own.
2. The roots hold the soil.
3. Cattle can eat it - free food.

Church Growth came from Robert Schuller and the nearby Fuller Seminary, both near Disneyland in California. Schuller was a Dutch Calvinist, a Protestant. Look at how successful he was, and look at how Fuller became the largest pan-demon seminary in America.

Superficially, Church Growth is not opposed to the Christian Faith. The leaders promoted it as good for all denominations (a bad sign). And church executives from all denominations - even the Church of Rome - came to be trained there.

The leaders of the LCMS, WELS, and ELS have been trained at Fuller, Willow Creek, and similar re-education centers, like Trinity Divinity in Deerfield. Lutheran laity have paid the tuition for them. Thrivent has also backed this 100%  - another bad sign.

No single aspect of Church Growth can be refuted.

• Is it wrong to phone a lot of people for evangelism? 
• Is it wrong to clean the church and make it attractive? (Rare, but not wrong) 
• Do we have to use page 5 and 15 for the worship service?
• Do all the hymns have to be from Lutherans?
• Cannot our members sing solos and glorify God?
• Must we stick to the KJV, which did not come from Lutherans? (Shading the truth a bit)

Church Growth dogma and methods can be promoted successfully when it is carefully presented to the innocent, hiding the real agenda, which works more by displacement than outright antagonism.

Giant Hogweed does not kill other plants - it simply overwhelms them with its enormous leaves and prodigal seed production. Dill and Queen Ann's Lace can easily be spread by crushing the seedheads and sowing the seed. I simply took home mature Queen Ann's Lace and left it on the ground.  But neither plant takes over the way Giant Hogweed does.

They brag about going there and deny it -
Bivens and Valleskey.

Kudzu enriches the soil in many ways, but it also smothers homes, cars, and utility poles.

Church Growth has spread its culture of doctrinal indifference to every single church body in America. From doctrinal indifference comes all the bad fruit of any fast-growing weedlike false teaching.

Frau Mueller, Wayne's cross-dressing son,
Larry Olson, perhaps the worst teacher at Martin Luther College,
and Jeff Gunn, DP Buchholz' favorite pastor,
all are working together to smother and destroy the Means of grace.

I first heard it in Columbus, Ohio from the adulterous clergy in WELS -

• Doctrinal discernment is "Christian bashing."
• Anyone against Church Growth is "lazy."
• "You are not one of us." (Good)
• "We have been talking to your members and..."

 WELS funded a separate campus of the same congregation,
 to present Craig Groeschel sermons verbatim.
They even borrowed the Groeschel graphics and slogans.

Like WELS, Missouri, and the ELS, they lost by winning. The Columbus WELS congregations are collapsing faster than a Hillary alibi. Those clergy (like Jay Webber and Jon Buchholz) who did nothing against Church Growth are loudly proclaiming forgiveness without faith as the true Gospel - denying UOJ is the foundation for Church Growth, even though the adulterous Karl Barth and the heinous David Valleskey taught UOJ with glee.

Don Patterson denied his Chruch and Change credentials,
went to their "last" conference,
took staff to Exponential,
and became the District President.

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful: the Lord God made them all.

American toad

Every since I bought A Blessing of Toads, by Sharon Lovejoy, I have worked on ways to attract and keep toads in the yard.

Today was a great day for gardening. Our helper came over after the rain - soon after I found our rose romantic was visiting on Saturday. I wanted to finish the Creature Convention Center and move the logs.

As soon as we moved one log, a large toad appeared, looking bored and placid. I was delighted, learning tonight that toads love logs.

In general, logs left on the ground are great habitats for insects, birds, and toads. We had enough small ones to create circles around the back bushes.

My shallow pans of water are doubtless handy for the toads. They need to hydrate (not swim, not drink) each day. They sit in shallow water for that. I think of the shallow pans as bird friendly, but they also support the freeloading squirrels and the hard-working toads.

Last year a small toad appeared under the water pan I kept under the faucet, to make sure animals always had fresh water near the house. Sassy's outdoor activity is brief, but she does use that water from time to time. Another toad was in the front yard, where I keep another pan for catching faucet water.

Currently I have 12 shallow pans with clean water, and they need tending twice a day.

We finished the Creature Convention Center quickly. It is simply two large plastic sheets, 60 inches by 30 inches, separated by blocks from Mrs. Wright's yard. The birds and squirrels loved it from the start. The blocks and levels create extra nooks for food, shade, and mischief. The file cabinet drawer, with food in it, is often the scene of a squirrel popping out to scare a starling away from the grub. The file cabinet is falling apart in the rain, so we had to upgrade.

Articles Worth Reading

How to attract toads.

A complete tutorial about toad habitats.

Toads get rid of garden insects - at a prodigious rate.

An eccentric article on toads and toad houses.

Reversing the amphibian decline.

Toad of Toad Hall is one of the greatest characters in children's literature. The Wind in the Willows is a favorite of adults and children alike.

The window screen effect is from Amazon, where this castle for toads
can be purchased for $70 or more.

This link tells about building a toad house -
I did the same when I cracked a clay pot from Lowe's - 88 cents.
But I cracked six of them.

This looks like a fine place to live.

Logs, shallow pans of water, and clay pots will shelter and welcome toads, who can eat 10,000 insects each per summer. They also love slugs. They eat a few beneficials, even earthworms, but gardeners give these creations of God all the glory for maintaining their gardens.

Two other ways to welcome toads are:

• Eliminate all pesticides.
• Eliminate herbicides and fungicide.

As I mentioned before with the myth of hawks controlling the rabbit population - they have it upside down. Hawks can only grow in numbers if they have enough meat. Therefore, the rabbit population controls the numbers of hawks.

If the gardeners want to kill off all the insects with pesticides and systemic poisons, then the creatures eating them - like toads - will go elsewhere. And then the pests will return without beneficial creatures in large numbers to devour them before they take over.

Retaking Toad Hall

Daily Challenge - Pumpkins as Climbers?

I planted some pumpkin seeds in the compost,
to give them rich soil.
The soaker hose drips above them.

One reader has daily questions and comments about gardening. Yesterday, while the rain was still falling, I planted pumpkins along the fence, to serve as climbers and a green screen.

One of my horticultural promises to Mrs. I is, "I will block the view in the back section." We have a grass no-man's land between us and the houses on Joye Street -  and the back of their outbuildings to look at. The more we pruned the trees, the more we saw. The dogs like to look through the fences and bark at each other.

The first plan was to have very tall Butterfly Bushes create a 10 foot fence, but they are just starting to grow. Another feature of this Maginot Line is sunflowers. My early planting froze in the return of winter snow, and only some of those are growing now. I planted more.

Pumpkins love the sun, rain, and rich soil.
We should have a good crop for the local children and our grandchildren.

I noticed an odd assortment of plants growing near or on the fence and resisted the urge to cut them down. Several are very healthy Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot), a great plant for insects and bees. At least one is red root pigweed, which grows green and fragile-looking while sowing its seeds generously. Pigweed is an amaranth and nutritious. The amaranth family is known for seed production. So - why do I not get out the flame thrower, the RoundUp, and the weeding fork? I can let a few grow in the back and contribute to the compost. Big field weeds are easy to control with cutting. Their hogging of sunlight is their downfall. They do not like being cut to grass height.

The daily reader wonders, "How can pumpkins grow on a fence? Are they not too heavy?"

I had a great experience with pumpkins, gourds, and the Jackson Aqueduct last summer, with all kinds of plants growing along the fence on Mrs. Wright's side. One of the vines lined itself up on the top of the fence and raised its umbrella leaves to capture as much sun as possible. That was probably the bottle gourd vine. Pumpkins got a late start and mixed in there, contributing plenty of greens for the compost.

I am figuring that the vines will fill up the fence, like green inserts, as they look for ways to grow up into the light. They can also spread out on the ground as cover, without bothering the vertical plants.

The main pumpkin patch is the corn area. I see regular little holes in the corn area now, so the squirrel may be digging the corn out that I planted. If that happens, only pumpkins will be planted there soon. Another possibility is the squirrel digging in new food. The little critters personify ingratitude, but I will withhold judgment for the time being.

Columbus gardening fooled me with nutgrass coming up where I planted corn. Once I realized I did not have a corn crop, the nutgrass was well established. I had to pull each plant out like I was doing dead weight lifts - grab stem, plant feet, straighten back, heave.

Hanging birdfeeder

Inexpensive Platform Feeder
I found a great platform feeder on Amazon. I wanted something that let the rain through, visible from our bedroom window.

When we walk into the room, the platform feeder is eye level. Instead of shunning the new item, the birds and squirrels used it after only one day or so. Mockingbirds eat from it in pairs. A small squirrel came over in the rain and ate there. Starlings and finches stop by too.

The platform hangs from a  wooden beam, and the bottom has small holes to let rain through. The feeder is under the eaves and stays relatively dry.

The finches and chickadees continue to use the big feeder, without much competition. The big feeder contains finch food only, and suet for the other birds hangs from it. Starlings are often hanging on the bag of suet, pecking away at the kidney fat.

Falling in Love Rose - only $8 on sale last year.
Our newlywed friend enjoys the fragrance and the color.

Hybrid Tea Roses Blooming
Steady rain will make sure last year's hybrid tea roses bloom. The new roses will probably bloom soon, too.

Earthworms Built Our Rose Gardens - And God Created Them

The rain wished upon me - by a Denver friend - has arrived, and it may last five days. Nothing will make roses bloom more gloriously than steady rain.

The eight KnockOut roses have around 25 blooms and 25 buds each. LI wrote back about that metric - "Each?" Yes - each. Last year's hybrid tea roses - the first eight, which started this - are budding and ready to bloom for Mother's Day. The new roses are leafing out and the bargain $5 roses are already budding.

On Saturday I will deliver roses to the mothers living on our cul-de-sac. Our landscaper lost his mother this year, so he will get a vase too, in memory of her.

Earthworms built our rose gardens, but they had some help from fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and many other tiny workers created by God for that very purpose. Each tiny worker is quite remarkable, but their organized, balanced, synergistic labor is astonishing.

Last year I started the first rose garden, in front of our shaded porch, with eight bargain hybrid tea roses on sale - a TV special. I soon added eight KnockOut roses to the same area. What had been lawn was turned into holes for the roses, then covered with Jackson Mulch - a newspaper layer held down by shredded wood mulch.

I bought 2,000 red wiggler earthworms from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm, then received another 2,000 free when the first ones arrived late. Needless to say, earthworms were dropped onto the soil of the rose garden, on the crepe myrtle base, and all around the backyard. Yesterday, when I installed some wild strawberries along the back fence, the earthworms were red, wiggling, and abundant.

These books increased my knowledge of the Creation Garden, whether they intended to or not.

A mother's love - accidental or created?

Soil Microbes
At the bottom of the soil food web are bacteria and fungi, which are attracted to and consume plant root exudates. In turn, they attract and are eaten by bigger microbes, specifically nematodes and protozoa (remember the amoebae, paramecia, flagellates, and ciliates you should have studied in biology?), who eat bacteria and fungi (primarily for carbon) to fuel their metabolic functions. Anything they don’t need is excreted as wastes, which plant roots are readily able to absorb as nutrients. How convenient that this production of plant nutrients takes place right in the rhizosphere, the site of root-nutrient absorption. At the center of any viable soil food web are plants. 

Plants control the food web for their own benefit, an amazing fact that is too little understood and surely not appreciated by gardeners who are constantly interfering with Nature’s system.

Lewis, Wayne;   Lowenfels, Jeff;  (2010-09-10). Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition (Kindle Locations 191-197). Timber Press. Kindle Edition. 

Psalm 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Beneficial Insects
It might surprise you to know that a mere 1 percent of the insects we come across in our lives are actually harmful. These are the creatures that consume our plants, introduce disease, bite our flesh, feed on our pets, and cause economic, aesthetic, or medical damage. These are the bugs that tend to attract our attention, and as a result they get all the press—most of it negative. 

The remaining 99 percent of insects are either benign or beneficial. Benign insects are very good at going about their business without harming our crops or us. And beneficial insects are, in fact, doing some type of good in the landscape. Insects can be beneficial for several reasons. First, they can be pollinators. We all know how important quality pollination is to a farm or garden. The world, after all, cannot function without it. Most of us can readily recognize common pollinators like honeybees and butterflies, but there are hundreds of thousands of other pollinator species in this world: beetles, moths, wasps, ants, flies, bats, and birds. Not to mention the more than thirty-five hundred species of native bees in the United States whose pollination work sadly and undeservedly plays second string to that of the imported European honeybee. Fifteen billion dollars worth of food needs to be pollinated by some little creature each and every year in the United States alone. 

Walliser, Jessica (2014-02-26). Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control (Kindle Locations 184-194). Timber Press. Kindle Edition. 

The Books of Sharon Lovejoy
I only have Lovejoy's printed books, but I enjoy regular contact with her on Facebook, where she is a friend to all gardeners. She combines extensive experience and observation with a holistic view of the garden, showing the feeding of baby birds can rid vegetables of destructive pests - faster and better than any human being armed withe pesticides.

A Blessing of Toads, by Lovejoy, is a great example of a unified approach to gardening - considering all beneficial creatures, the ways to garden to support them, and the reasons to abandon the three 'cides - pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

I have been shopping for clay pots (not plastic) so I can set up houses for toads in my garden. The more one reads about toads as pest eaters, the greater the urge to have as many of them as possible. First I ordered tiny ones by mistake, from Amazon. Then I found real clay pots for bargain prices at Lowe's.

Lovejoy is equally good about garden projects, ideas for children, and birds.

Silence Among the Clergy
The work of the Creating Word - Genesis 1 and John 1 - seldom finds a place in pastoral thoughts, writing, preaching, or copying and pasting. While no one was looking, Creation began taking a backseat to Evolution, and the Christian Church began acting as if Lux fiat - Let there be light! - was an embarrassment.

Individually and collectively, we can carry on as if Creation never happened. That can only be expected in the Last Days, but we are paying a terrible price for it.

The ceaseless toil of the garden creatures is only a small hint of the power of God's Word. Many can shut down the work of the Word, just as beneficial creatures can be starved, poisoned, and driven off our property.

Substitution is far more effective than rejection. The Seminex crowd, led by a UOJ fanatic from WELS (Richard Jungkuntz) mistakenly attacked the Word itself, and their unconvincing rationalism found few friends.

The crafty ones took up Church Growth, substituting manufactured solutions - like the Seeker Service - for God's own instruments of grace - the Means of Grace. Guile has outproduced the PhDs from Seminex. The Synodical Conference is united around Church Growth, abortion on demand, fellowship with ELCA, and anti-Luther polemics. Seminex won a guerrilla war after losing its frontal attack.

Looking at the Lutheran landscape is as bleak as seeing the neglected yards around me. Traditional Lutheran congregations are closing in favor of abominations that can barely mention their tenuous connection with the "conservative" Lutherans. And the apostate leaders grin and shovel more money at them.

I look around the neighborhood and see large rain-soaked, sun-drenched yards  with little work required to have enormous gardens, almost truck farms. Instead, they grow nothing, complain about food prices, and eat at mediocre places where a #3 meal costs as much as a steak someone would actually have to cook - and no fries or Coke!

Lutherans - in fact all Protestants - are content with a chemo-burger keep warm under lights when they could have what God created and designed for them, revealed to them in the Word, and had confessed by faithful Christians over the centuries.

De Vines - Trumpet, Honeysuckle, Passion - Grow Hummingbird Feeders Instead of Filling Them

Trumpet Vine

I was getting my last section of the Jackson Aerial Aqueduct when I drifted over to bird food for a bag of sunflower seeds. On the left was a large display of hummingbird nectar, plus any number of feeders, which are known to attract ants and bees. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Climbing roses are slow to bloom and yet some are known to become obnoxious in their prolific growth once established.

We have hummingbirds in the neighborhood, fed by the landscaper (bottled nectar, of course), so upon being urged to host a few with feeders, I said, "I grow them."

Vines are a great way to decorate trees. Ever since I read about using a tree as a living trellis, I wanted to send vines up the easy way.

Trumpet vines are an easy choice. They know how to climb on their own, and hummingbirds love them. They provide nectar and insects looking for pollen and natural cola. They do not require bleachy washing and refilling. We had them at home in Moline and kept them in check by mowing their sprouts in the grass. They like to send runners and drop seeds.

Honeysuckle, Scentsation

Honeysuckle is new to me. I have often heard of it as a hummingbird plant, but I have not grown it.
Mine came early and I have nurtured it with rainwater. Real growth is starting now.

Passion Flower

Passion Flower is another new one, but most people can identify it from the radically ornate flowers.

Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds often enjoy the same plants, although butterflies seem very particular about which food their babies will grow up on. Therefore a variety of plants will favor an entire convention of entertaining, beautiful, and useful creatures, as God intended.

Butterfly larvae love the maypop, the fruit of the Passion Flower,
and people eat it too.

Sam Birner Agrees about the Toxicity of Martin Luther College WELS

http://lovetearsskirtsandfears.blogspot.com/2015/05/heres-things-ichabod-got-wrong-about.html

I do agree with one thing. Those pictures of people pretending to be gay and cross-dressing and all of that? I agree, that should’ve never been done. I saw it everywhere, even in talent shows and other school sanctioned shows. And it was an awful idea.

Not because it “promoted” any LGBT stuff, because it made us terrified. Because we were made to be jokes. We were made to be mocked, laughed at, ridiculed, and totally dismissed. We weren’t offered comfort, we were offered mocking. That’s where it was, behind the mocking. So I agree, where was the help? Cause I sure as hell didn’t see it.

Watering Rules -

Starlings are ferocious bug eaters.

Rainwater is best, so store it in barrels. I catch mine by placing large Rubbermaid barrels where the rain runs off the roof.

Stored water is second best, because the chlorine evaporates out. I fill a barrel when the rainwater runs out.

Both kinds of water should be used regularly for struggling roses and new plants. Soak newly arrived bare root roses in rainwater or stored water - several hours at least.

Lots of dishes of water will attract a wide variety of birds, and water is their favorite treat. I put some dishes under the soaker hose for automatic refills. Regular cleaning is essential.

Jackson Mulch stores water, reduces wind evaporation, and helps spread the water around when sprinkling. Moist mulch is bird and soil creature food.

Water longer and less often. When water penetrates the soil, the roots go deeper and the plant is healthier. Too much shallow watering is bad for most plants.

Soaker hose is ideal for many watering chores, but rose canes also like to be watered, especially when newly planted.

A great hose head is a good investment because it delivers water in various ways, and does not dribble on the legs and feet. Mine has wings that turn it into a perfect sprinkler.

Every plant likes a complete shower. Roses are especially receptive because their canes  are more water absorbent and more likely to lose water, hindering growth.

Doubling the water with a divider at the faucet head is very handy. Two doublers can make three streams available.

Do not be stingy with watering new seeds and plants. Germinating seeds are needy for water, even when they are seedlings. Those cute little potted plants should be soaked for an hour at least before planting, but also watered daily after planting. If the soil is dry around the wet plant, the dry soil will wick the water away.

Another Dire Warning from the Landscaper - An Earwig Invasion

"Come to kill us all!"

We have had earwigs in the house since we moved to Springdale. The back pincers are used by males to spar with each other. They might pinch someone, but that is rare. They head inside for the weather, as slugs and earthworms do. They like wet places.

I find their invasions to be short-term and minor. Their strange name comes from the fear that they will go after human ears in the dark. But they are scavengers who feed on insects and plant material.
Birds and spiders will eat them, so why kill the bird food outside?

The earwig mothers protect their eggs and newborn, so think of that on Mother's Day.

One solution to the problem is nurturing the predators who trap and eat earwigs. Spiders are the great destroyers of tiny insects, but people respond to them this way -

Birds are the close air support of the garden, so I fill their baths twice a day and feed them at least once. Suet is always in the baskets and bags and refilled by the pound.

One grumpy clerk at Walmart asked me, "Are you still feeding your birds? We quit. They were messing up my beans - those black birds." She meant starlings. I said, "You should feed them more."
Her mind was made up.

This morning I filled about 12 birdbaths with fresh water and put out the new seed, a delicious mixture of sunflowers, corn, and nuts. When I came inside and looked out the window, all the birds were zooming in.

They began bathing and feeding at once.

We had three neighborhood girls, sisters, come over for some Avon business their mother does. Mrs. Ichabod invited the girls to watch the feeder, which is a few inches from the bedroom window. Beautiful goldfinches landed and fed, as close as anyone could wish. The birds are all used to us being around, moving near the window, and watching.

They earn their keep in food and water. Insect pests, I see a tiny bit of damage here and there, nothing more.

Moline's Jann Carl Covered the Best about My Home Town - Moline, Illinois

Here is a post about Jann Carl.

Martin Luther College - WELS