Attract toads to your garden

-by Debra Anchors

Do you need insect control in your garden?   Toads survive on insects and can devour thousands of them.











Following are some ways to attract toads to your garden:

• A moist, shady area that is a problem spot in your garden is a blessing for toads. Tuck in an assortment of native, shade-loving plants and mulch the area with leaves.  Mulch provides shelter, moisture, and food for the toads.
• Sink a child’s small pool, a half-barrel, or a large bucket into the ground in your shade garden.  Fill the bottom of the pool with rocks and soil, add water, and a selection of floating and potted aquatic plants.  For mosquito control, add some native Gambusia (mosquito fish), but don’t add goldfish - they will eat tadpoles. 
• Don’t discard damaged pots; recycle them for the toads.  Chip out an entry hole in the rim; sink the pot upside-down one inch into the soil with the entry hole facing south.  Place the pot in a shady area that is not prone to flooding.
• Place some shallow terra-cotta plant saucers in your shade garden and fill them with fresh water.  Toads stretch out in shallow water and absorb moisture through their skin.
• Build a small mound of branches and twigs to shelter toads.  The debris will also attract insects and slugs and provide the toads with unlimited snacks.
• Lay a terra-cotta pot or a hollow log on its side, and partially bury it in the soil.  This “tunnel” is a toad resting spot.
• Dry rock walls are the perfect environments for toads, which find security, moisture, stable temperatures, and food in the crevices between stones.
• Avoid the use of slug and snail bait.  Toads may inadvertently ingest the poison when they feast on contaminated victims.

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Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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Tropical Plants – The exotic garden

-by Debra Anchors


Even in cold climates, tropical plants can transform beds and borders from the hottest temperatures in summer until frost.  Just because exotic dracaena, trailing spider plants, and wandering Jew are indigenous to the tropics and subtropics doesn’t mean they can’t be put to work outdoors in northern regions.  When combined with hot-blooded annuals such as tithonia, amaranthus, scarlet sage and various celosias, the garden pulsates with tropical drama right through the fall.

Tropical plants to try outdoors in cold climates:

Sanchezia Speciosa

Sanchezia Speciosa:  a shrubby perennial reaching four to seven feet in height and three to five feet in width. This shade-tolerant Peruvian native prefers free-draining, humus-rich soil; water regularly.  Cuttings taken in summer can be rooted and over-wintered in a greenhouse or on a warm windowsill, then, transplant outdoors after the last frost.

Colocasia Esculenta

Colocasia Esculenta: Elephant Ear, a tuberous, five-foot perennial with leaves up to four feet long.  This inexpensive and easy-to-find marginal-aquatic showstopper favors moist conditions. Although most gardeners treat this one as an annual, I am aware of success stories if over-wintered inside.  Colocasia tubers are sold in Caribbean grocery stores as dasheen and in Polynesian stores as taro.

Tradescantia Pallida

Tradescantia Pallida:  ‘Purple Heart’, a trailing perennial excellent for use as a ground cover.  Plant in partial shade, or full sun for best color, in moist and fertile soil.  Pinch out tips to encourage bushiness.  Cuttings taken in summer can be rooted and raised indoors on any windowsill over the winter and will carpet next year’s garden.






You may enjoy this, another article I wrote to suggest tropical plants for your garden, Tropical flowers for containers.


Thank you for stopping by to spend time in my gardens.  If you enjoyed this article, please let me know. I will be delighted if you would suggest Gardens Inspired to your friends, follow me or subscribe to my Blog. If you enjoy flea market garden style, there is a link to my magazine just under the tab line, above.


Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra


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