Hi Madplanter,

Interesting that these creatures like to bury themselves in wet sand. I've never seen that. Guess it's a good way to keep cool. Good idea to put sand piles in the hosta beds... I will try that as you're in zone 5 like me and even if the frogs/toads don't eat slugs, it's worth it to decrease the mosquitos .

zkathy,

That's a funny story...you having a gourmet cat. I like frogs' legs too but they have to be small, dredged in flour, seasonings with paprika, fried until golden, dipped in garlic butter... gosh... darn... I'm on a restricted diet.

Coll,
I thought that's what you meant. That website that I mentioned above seems to think that the reduction in these amphibians is due to changes in our environment. Also, if new species are introduced to North America accidentally, as with Cuban bananas to California (or as pets),the website said, they pose a threat to the native species.

So, you're convinced that frogs/toads eat slugs? Is there anything else you could be doing some years and not others to account for the drop in their numbers, in slugs that is? Or what about colder winter weather? The reason I ask is because I read that frogs/toads like to eat a moving target and I've never seen a slug move.LOL. I only looked at 2 websites, one is never certain that the info on the web is correct. Will look at some more websites, hoping you are right.

Funnthesun,

NC is North Carolina, right, that's where you're located? Being Canadian, I'm not up on all of the short forms for all of the states. Interesting that you still have a lot of frogs with all the construction going on in your yard. Your son must be loving all the tadpoles. My two-year-old grand-daughter was here for a visit and was excited to release some goldfish into the pond. My son called it freeing Willy. Haha. She had fun feeding them.

By all means, send some frogs to Canada. LOL

Hi Almosthooked,

You seem to have an ideal spot for frogs/toads. Sorry to hear you squished one.

I haven't seen many slugs here either but put it down to the colder winter. Wish I could say the same for cutworms and earwigs. How I hate those things.

Those are cute frog ornaments in your hosta beds. I like a bit of whimsy in the garden. it makes gardening that much more fun, don't you think. I saw some cute frog ornament the other day that hang from flower pots but opted for a gnome instead because I already have a frog on the deck. I may go back for the frog after all.

Here's the frog in the pond on the deck.

Hi Kaboehm,

I'm pleased to meet you. I noticed on your home page that you live in Texas and that you like to grow amaryllis. You seem to have joined GW about the same time as me. I try, like you, to resort to natural means to control weeds and pests. It's a lot of hard work, but well worthwhile, isn't it?

I like amaryllis too but have to content myself with indoor plants here in Canada. The green of the tree frog must be very pretty up against the colours of the amaryllis flowers. Are there any colours besides the red and white?

Yes, Irawon, North Carolina is correct. I swear, it only takes an inch of water and they show up in droves! If I wasn't such a light sleeper, it would be way more cool. I just hope their eating the mosquitoes that also show up with 1/4 inch of water standing. This has been a very wet summer for us.

I love your frog deco, though. Very cool. If I were a frog, I'd want to hang out there!

Thanks funn, I had difficulty choosing at the store... between the frog relaxing and the one exercising. I chose this one because I need to lose some weight. The power of suggestion, you know...

Sure is a delemma, having standing water around. The pond doesn't seem to have been a problem in past years... maybe that's because of the living plants and fish. Come to think of it, I had no goldfish in it last year and had no mosquito problem from it. I intend to change the water in the first picture often, though.

Hope you sleep well tonight.

irawon You are in such control! I would have had to take both because I would have wanted the relaxing one for after I had exercised
I also have some playing ones on a teeter totter. Love the fun things to hide under hosta

irawon-

and I thought that 'pool' is filled with beer...

Toads do burry themselves, here is the photo I snapped another day.
Soil here is very sandy. I lifted a rock & this toad was under it, she was almost out of her 'den', but didn't like so much sun and kept backing inside until she was gone.
Rina

This post was edited by rina_ on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 20:01

Rina, that's another thing I'm afraid of- hitting a toad with shovel when digging.....gaaaaahh!!!!

Irawon, no, I can't say I'm convinced toads keep the slugs at bay...it just what I've read, here and there. Same with things like garter snakes, but one summer I had lots of toads and lots of snakes, and the slugs were just fine, making lots of holes. I did see a snake eating a toad one day which was far more nature than I needed.

I have a weed taking over my garden...I don't know the name but it's not unattractive and pulls out super easy....but, man, is it everywhere. I bring this up because I notice the aggressive weed has lots of slug holes. So I have to wonder if they found something in my garden more attractive to them than my hostas, which are all in pretty good shape. So I find myself in a dilemma about what to do about this weed...

Here is my resident toad. Hub always worries about him when he is mowing the lawn.

Irawon, I plan on sleeping very well tonight. My A/C's been out for a week and we just got it back today. Angel's breath, as my grandfather used to call it. An apt term.

Here are some pics of some of my garden visitors over the years. most of my toads and frogs are fairly small, but one year I had one absolute bruiser toad that was sprawled out in a pot of flowers on my deck- he did freak me out! I'm trying to find that pic

found it- Here is that bruiser. He was out there a long time and just got bigger

one other guy. I really think they are cute. I am also attracted to dogs with big eyes and smooshy faces so I see a connection

Allmosthooked, that's an awesome picture of teeter tootter frogs. Is that Irish moss I see in the backgound? Would love to see from the other side how you've used it. Love that stuff!

About control, I have it sometimes. I've been pretty good this year on the hosta acquisition front. I only bought 2 so far because the holes to dig for them were easy ones. After 2011 when I planted 135 under trees I swore I had to have the holes dug before I buy the hostas. I still intend to add a few but have only 2 holes dug so far.

Hi Rina,
So, you're part of the Canadian invasion on GW. Where in Ontario are you, that you have sandy soil?

Thanks for the pic, that's really interesting. How could I not know that toads bury themselves in sand to keep cool? I asked my hubby and he knew. I'm sorta glad we don't have sandy soil now.

Coll,

Would be nice to have weeds that the slugs love, especially ones that are easy to pull out. Unfortunately, I have one that looks like Solomen's Seal that has a deep root system and hard to get rid of. The slugs don't bother it but munch on my variegated SS.

Hi Barb,

Cute resident toad! Your hubby sounds like mine...a real softie. A couple of summers ago, I caught mine building a staircase for the tiny ducklings trying to get out of our pool. The mother was having a fit because she couldn't get them out. It's a really nice memory.

Coll,

Those are absolutely amazing shots...beautiful composition. I don't know how you did it? I've been trying to capture two doves in our yard but I always manage to scare them off.

Love the fern shot..actually I like them all. What is the toad in pic 2 sitting on?...great contrast in texture!

And the bruiser looks great on the rocks...a really fitting setting. Wow!

Edited to ask: Is the toad sitting on a leaf of Sharp Dressed Man?

This post was edited by irawon on Sat, Aug 9, 14 at 13:36

That toad was sitting on my favorite mosses, in front of a hypertufa pot. I like how they just hang out and observe things...unlike birds, they dont mind you getting close for a photo. THat other one was sitting on a leaf of Americana

Toad Crossing at the creek.
Not that they need it. I think they can probably figure it out themselves, but just in case...

Mobile AL is located where the western species and varieties of reptiles overlaps the easter species and varieties of reptiles. We USED to have a great variety of frogs and toads as well as turtles and snakes. But this has gone down a lot due to herbicides and habitat destruction. I think it probably began back there in the years of DDT. They may have outlawed it here, but shipped it overseas to 3d world countries and other places NOT 3d world, and it is coming back to haunt us as an ingredient in our food supplies....like grapes from Chile etc.And other foods which I learn are uninspected. Our garden helpers like the frogs are thus victims of corporate greed as much as we are.

Well, I've reduced the amount of chemicals used in the garden, tried to anyway. And this year have a bumper crop of small (and I mean tiny) baby toads hopping everywhere. Fairly dark too. Then some big guys. I now believe my "hissing pot" last year was a toad which buried itself in the bottom of the loose mix for a nap, and I disturbed it when I stuck the wire name plate into the pot.

They like flower pots. When I break one, I generally turn it upside down and push it behind a row of hosta where they can seek protection from heat or perhaps predators. I have a few low pots of just sand sitting around to hold tall sprinkler spikes, and I found a little toad there surveying all of his kingdom. I backed away to leave him to his reveries.

Oh joy, I can turn off the sprinklers! We have the leading edge of a really fine afternoon thunderstorm dropping big splashy drops and making bright lightning flashes with rolling thunder and wind throwing rain against the window panes. It will be a good afternoon to sit in the sun porch with a good gardening book and a cup of tea and dream about fresh leaves and big white flowers. Ooohhh, it's blowing out of the south now. Just love the rain, don't you?

Meet my level headed frog from 2012 . He came back to this spot for over a week before he moved on.

Meet my toad who I called Brownie. Our dachshund picked him up in his mouth and he must has let off a spray before Leo released him with foam coming out of the dogs mouth. He never did that again so must have not tasted great

Irawon
Your request for back side of teeter totter and moss. I think it was marked Scotch moss but I do have Irish moss too but now they both look alike so who knows. I just used it in my mini garden to fill around area. I think it is a perennial but not sure what zones it will survive( first season)

Hostanista, that is a really cute scene.Love the toad and the sign and of course the pup.

Moccasin,

I've come to appreciate the rain more since I've started growing Hostas. Nothing like rain to make them happy.

I agree with you that it's tragic about what we are exporting to 3rd world countries. One of the documentary programs here in Canada exposed that some of our Canadian garbage is being diverted from our landfills and sent overseas. Just awful!

I remember your story of the hissing pot. I'm glad it wasn't a snake. That would have freaked me out.

Almosthooked,

I read that some frogs/toads are poisonous to other animals but not humans. I'm glad your dog wasn't hurt. Interesting that the level-headed frog (chuckled at the name) returned to the same tight spot for a week..must have been his security blanket for a while.

Thanks for the picture of your Irish/Scotch grass...looks really good with your minis...I'll have to try it in my mini bed. It really brightens things up. I got a little pot of the grass from a neighbour. It really liked it where I had it planted between some stepping stones and now I have oodles of it in this location. It even grows over the stones. I tried moving it to another bed but it didn't take there. Researched it. Think the yellow grass is the Irish and the green is the Scotisch, but not sure because the info was confusing and contradictory between websites. The sites stated that the grass likes to dry out between watering. I think it also likes some sun. That might have been the problem where I tried to relocate it before. I'm in zone 5a, so you shouldn't have any problems overwintering it where you are.

Never seen any frogs or toads in my backyard, but I hear their calls each and every summer night, so I know they're all around the area. Their calls are actually very pleasant-sounding, and are nice to hear, in my opinion. Can distinguish several different types of peeps/croaks.

Well, I resisted as long as I could. I went out looking for frogs or toads, but it was hard as it hasn't rained for 3-4 days here...but I did find these down on a bench in the Meditation area.

Jon

I wish we had frogs or toads in our yards here, but I guess in NYC that's too much to ask. We DO have Italian wall lizards living in the cemetery a few blocks away and on the campus of a city college a couple blocks away. I haven't seen any in my garden, unfortunately. I would love some bug control like that here. Meanwhile, I have to rely on OFF! and Natria for slugs.

Jon, I just love your frog family> Are the ceramics or metal? Lucky find on your part!erfect addition to your lovely gardens

Reminds me of one of my fave cartoons.

Caption: eat a live toad first thing in the morning, and nothing worse can happen the rest of the day.

Dave

Almost,

The three smaller ones are cast, heavy. The larger is plastic, but heavy as well. Bought the smalls and the larger separately years apart.

Dave,

Frogs always make me think of the cartoon of the guy with the singing frog.

Jon

Here is a link that might be useful: Singing Frog

I quit mowing. I got tired of trying to mow around the plethora of frogs/toads we have this year, and running over them made my skin crawl. They seem to be EVERY WHERE. Sadly I am not seeing a huge reduction in slug damage. What I fear is where there are toads there are snakes...I really do not need to attract snakes.

Jon, perched on the bench like that in front of the bird bath, your frogs sure demand attention. Nice touch to your garden. Glad you joined in the fun.

Bragu, yucky but so true!

Hi Esther,

When I started this thread, I had no idea I would learn so much about frogs and toads. And now lizards. I looked up the Italian wall lizard and they sure are cute. Thanks.

Irawon,

And they make very pretty, interesting terrarium pets, too. I kept some that I caught on LI in a 30 gallon long tank with a 3D ledge background, some branch sections to climb and bask on, using a substrate of microfine coconut fiber (comes under various brand names). They are very cute, although aggressive to one another. You can only keep ONE male per colony or they'll fight to the death. I found that even females can be aggressive to one another.

I was taking a summer class earlier this summer at the city college down the block. Every single day, when I'd walk home from class, there were 2 Italian Wall lizards on the same exact ledge, in the same exact place, every day. It was cute having "my" lizards waiting for me each day!

There is a State Park near me that I would ride through on my bicycle. There are horse trails through it and one day I was riding down one and there was a migration of thousands of tiny frogs (toads?) everywhere. Yes, thousands.

A gal that lives in Pa. told me that she was taking her young children on a bike ride for ice cream (years ago) on a 100 degree day when they encountered the same phenomenon. She just wanted that ice cream so bad she led them over the frogs as her children cried about running over the tiny frogs. Well, head home for miles in the searing heat without any ice cream, or......life is so full of choices.

Arcy, I'm with you, I don't want to attract snakes either but I do want to attract frogs/toads. Since all those frogs/toads don't seem to have reduced the slugs in your garden, I finally googled: Do frogs/toads eat slugs?, which led me to a Utube video. I guess the debate is over once you watch it.

Here is a link that might be useful: fatty the toad eats slug

Ester, that's cute , your own lizard welcoming committee.

Jon, those are interesting stories ..and yes, life is full of choices, but I've never regretted buying a hosta, even when it didn't perform the way I wanted it to.

OMG irawon...YouTube is so educational, lol! I think that was a quicker an more merciful death that my ammonia spray!

Ira: Yes, my husband is a softy too. He would do the step thing in our pool if we had ducklings - not happened yet but he has talked about building something for the winter cover in case a squirrel gets in again. I think most gardeners are a little more in tune with nature and that seems to extend to critters in the garden too.

Found this little guy yesterday. :)

Kate, that is one serious looking frog. I tried to find out what type it is without any success. Do you, or anyone else, know what the name is? Leopard frogs have side stripes, but nothing close to the dark embossed body of that puppy.

Jon

Jon,

I tried to look as well and like you, the closest I came up with was a leopard frog.

If it helps it was taken in Hyde County, North Carolina in a remote area on the water where my husband and I are looking/dreaming of buying some property for retirement which is some 25 years away but one can dream.

My husband was looking at fishing possibilities and while I also love to fish and hunt, I was looking at Hosta possibilities and what types of trees are local to the area. :)

Great photos everyone of frogs live - or otherwise.

irawon, I am in Holland Landing area (just north of Newmarket). The soil here is very sandy.
There are lots of frogs here too, toads like one I posted, and many tiny ones looking very similar - I guess they are babies.
Here is a green one that decided to run up the pine tree when I disturbed her.
And there are 'nice' garter snakes here too - black, with very light yellow stripe...I don't mind them as long as they stay away from me.

Rina

This post was edited by rina_ on Mon, Aug 11, 14 at 22:07