'Roly-poly' Bugs Are Great Garden Composters

A detritivorous diet increases the speed of decomposition in dead plants, animals or poop, increasing the bioavailability of nutrients in the soil. This gives plants a higher chance of survival by providing better quality soil. It's not just what roly-poly bugs add to the soil, but what they take out too.

Turns out these guys love heavy metals. After studying the composition of their insides, scientists found that roly-poly bugs ingest a lot of heavy metal contamination from our soil. That's why they can live and thrive in areas contaminated with toxins like lead, cadmium and arsenic. Once they've ingested these toxins, they become crystallized within their guts, meaning a construction site contaminated with heavy metals could effectively be cleaned by a bunch of hungry roly-poly bugs.


Here at Fieldhaven, we have lots of pillbugs. I saw some crawling around the new picnic table garden the other day, attracted by the soil in the pots. Aside from performing useful tasks themselves, they also tend to carry other soil organisms along with them, which boosts the bioactivity and health of the soil.  You can attract them by putting a handful of damp, dead leaves under a weight such as a brick or a pot.

These are active communities in Dreamwidth from Winter 2025-2026. They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers J-Z.

See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.

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Today is cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds. I've seen a small mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I filled in the two big pots. I added 4 assorted coleus and 1 dusty miller to the grape pot. I didn't have time to pick up a white trailing filler like sweet alyssum this time, but the pot still looks pretty good and will look better once the small coleus grow out some. I added 2 blue lobelias and 1 dusty miller to the blue pot.

This would've been a lot easier if I could've bought everything for those pots at the same time, but it was a case of one place having nice accents but no fillers vs. other places having affordable fillers but not nice accents. *sigh* The lack of widely available fillers is a serious pain in the ass. I use those to unify the diverse plantings: dusty miller, white or colored alyssum, white or blue lobelia.

So I've got 6 dusty millers and 6 blue lobelias to mix and match with other things or find somewhere else to put. I've got 4 coleus left, which will make one or two pots depending on size. Progress! Finishing those two big pots was my top priority for today. \o/

Also I'm really loving the fan flower I tried new this year. It looks like half a flower with petals on only one side, and makes a great component in a mixed pot. It came in multiple colors; I got a white one. It's in a pot with a new spreading yellow thing that's also new, and a yellow-and-white nemesia. Nemesia is beautiful and comes in many colors, but it's a bit delicate and has died on me in the past. The ones I got this year are thriving though. These are all things I bought in individual pots. If I could get them in 4-packs, I could do more with them, but the higher price of individual pots limits what I can do.

I've seen a male cardinal at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I potted up the remaining coleus in two medium pots, each with 2 coleus and 1 dusty miller. Those look pretty good.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I planted 2 blue lobelias and 1 white impatien in the rain garden. I potted up the rest of the impatiens in two pots with a dusty miller each.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I filled a trough by the new picnic table with most of the remaining flowers: 8 vinca in the middle (various shades of pink and white), plus each end has 1 dusty miller between 2 blue lobelias. The color combination is a bit odd, but hopefully it will attract more pollinators.

Something has been eating the leaves off some of my marigolds. I have no idea what. Most insects avoid it because of the smell and taste.

Also earlier in spring, I built a large tomato cage from sticks. The tomato and peas in that one are dramatically bigger than the others. I may make more of those, although it does get in the way a lot more than the short metal cages.

It's spitting rain, but not enough to make me come in early.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

It's drizzling more steadily now.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I planted the last 3 red-and-yellow marigolds in the barrel garden.

I sowed zinnia seeds in the tulip bed, north notch of the prairie garden, and middle north-south strip. I sowed blanketflower seeds along the middle strip.

The rain seems to have let up.

I am done for the night.

Discovery overturns long-held assumptions about Earth's earliest complex lifeforms

Life on Earth became complex very slowly. Before forests, fish, or dinosaurs existed, tiny cells called eukaryotes appeared. These cells later gave rise to plants, animals, and fungi.

Scientists have long wondered where these early cells lived. A new study from Australia suggests they remained near the seafloor in oxygen-rich waters rather than floating near the ocean surface.


Note that this means "complex single-celled organisms" not "complex multicelled organisms."  The eukaryotes did eventually expand into larger creatures, and this does show some of the background behind clusters like the Ediacaran biota.