Learning to See the Beauty of Nature in Our Gardens
Loret is an active member of The Florida Native Plant Society. She writes about wildlife happenings in her native plant garden on a rural acre in Central Florida at the Osceola FL Garden Blah Blah Blog, posts daily at Central Florida Critter of the Day, as well as What Florida Native Plant is Blooming Today. Loret is also part of the team at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. Follow @PineLilyFNPS for daily updates on conservation and native plants.
"I garden for wildlife ~ the benefit to my senses is merely a bonus"
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
There’s a war going on in Central Florida. I told you about the mockingbirds being mean to the bluebirds, but we have new players in the fight for territory. Meet the Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus), a beautiful if not noisy bird. The mockingbird babies were born this past week. I got to see 3 of [...]
In my garden, I always savor the often unheralded plants. Plants that many remove from their own landscapes because they are unattractive “weeds”. If you remove Thistle (Cirsium spp.), you are missing out on experiences better than any action movie. Meet Nuttall’s Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii) a resident of my landscape. This guy took forever to [...]
The Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) is a member of the Blackbird Family (Icteridae). Iridescent Black, it has an amazing sheen that changes color as it moves in different light situations. Not a favorite bird of many (including me) since it is the Fran Drescher of the bird world with a rather obnoxious call. It also [...]
I didn’t talk a lot about the bluebirds this Spring since they nested high up in the Purple Martin house, out of reach of my daily nosiness of past years. This week the Martins returned and seemed perplexed by the squatters. They soared, checking angles to see if the house would pass muster. As they [...]
I glanced out the back window and saw bright yellow in the high grass coming toward me. My zoom camera nowhere in sight, I grabbed one of the point and shoots and quietly crept outside. Click Click…what the heck is THAT? Look at that black chevron on the neck. It headed over behind the house [...]
The Carolina Satyr Butterfly (Hermeuptychia sosybius) is one of several beautiful butterflies that are often seen during the cooler months in Florida. They are low flying and not particularly fond of the paparazzi given that they don’t seem to want to hold still for a photo. Every and again I luck out, but the chase [...]
I had a visit from Cammie Donaldson, the Executive Director of the Florida Association of Native Nurseries (FANN) this past week. It’s an exciting time for them as the first national all Native Plant Trade Show is scheduled to take place right here in my very own county. That event will occur starting on April [...]
Outdoor Cats are always a hot button issue. So, when is an appropriate time to allow a mewing resident in the garden? Well, when it is a Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), of course! These charcoal-colored birds with the darker Mohawk stripe on their head will draw your attention with their call. Like mockingbirds they have [...]
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