Learning to See the Beauty of Nature in Our Gardens
Butterfly season is finally here in my beautiful wildlife garden ! This week my brother and I finished releasing our winter batch of butterflies that have been hibernating inside their chrysalises since last fall. All of them were swallowtail species – Zebra, Eastern Black, Spicebush, Pipevine and Eastern Tiger. They have been emerging almost daily [...]
As I do every morning, I was walking around the property enjoying nature at its best. I took my normal route past the Rusty Lyonia, Pawpaws and Dwarf Oaks, among others and headed down the bank of the pond into the section that dries up during Florida dry season. I checked two small temporary pools [...]
An Amtrak train announces its arrival at Grand Avenue Station. The familiar whistle tells us it is 7:10 am. At the same time, I can hear the waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing in. I take a walk on the Boardwalk.. it is early… fog is drifting in from the Ocean in large sweeps. Silver [...]
You may remember that at the end of last summer I worked with my nephew Lucas to rip out my entire wildlife garden because too many invasive plants had taken over. I had to make some choices about what plants could stay, and which ones had to go. In some cases, the invasive plants were [...]
“I plowed the peas under,” said one of my farmer friends glumly at the market. “They weren’t doing anything but turning yellow.” The farmers in stalls on either side nodded. One does rabbits commercially, and has a garden rather than a farm, but she added “Lost all the broccoli too.” More nods all around. Unfortunate [...]
Just when I think my home wildlife experiences can’t get any better, THEY DO!!!! What a week it was with the pond. Four new entries on my wildlife life list. Okay, aside from my Audubon checklist booklet, I don’t have a formal list that I write on. I pretty much keep track via my blog [...]
The southeastern region of the US is blessed with some exceptional growing conditions, and the native plants that have always made it their home are rich in diversity. With a region that encompasses mountain tops and coastal plains, a variety of plants exists to satisfy every condition you could have in a garden. Yet we [...]
I’ve been doing a lot of research about attracting native bees to get ready for my appearance at BeesWeek at the Albuquerque Film and Media Experience week-long festival in New Mexico this June 3 – 9. There’s a lot to learn! So I wanted to gather together some of the best resources to help you [...]
American Fringe Tree Chionanthus virginicus has long been a favorite of mine for small space and urban gardens. It is a stunner in bloom – not much compares, and the summer and fall foliage is attractive enough to be worth incorporating it into a formal landscape design. I am happy to have seen this native [...]
Observation in the garden comes easily to me. I meditate each day as I walk around the property, camera in pocket, noting any subtle nuances from other times that I’ve walked the same path. You’d be surprised that just a hint of a different color on something can attract my attention, no matter how small. [...]
On my recent visit to the spectacular Joshua Tree National Park, I got an opportunity to visit the Oasis of Mara and learn about Desert Fan Palm Oases. The Oasis of Mara is located at the Northeast corner of Joshua Tree National Park. The oasis was created by geological movement a very long time ago. The [...]
News from Team Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens
