[Guest post by Sue Sweeney] The white pine weevil (Pissodes strobe) seems as good a candidate as any to start a national native bug appreciation day movement. Chances are you’ll be much more likely to see this critter’s work than the critter, which may be a good thing seeing that the bug is an ugly as an… [Continue Reading]
Killer in Our Midst…The Assassin Bug
Inspired by team member Ursula Vernon’s Monday post, I set out to find one edge of my patio. Overgrown with Bidens alba that gave out to the 2 hours freeze we experienced recently, I began to pull out the spent plants from the roots. B. alba can really be considered an annual and will… [Continue Reading]
Planning a Butterfly Garden
Photo courtesy of Las Pilitas nursery The Pasadena Rose Parade is behind us now, but the weather it is famous for remains: clear, sunny skies and short-sleeve temperatures. January, what better time for the California native gardener to start a new Wildlife Garden! In reflecting on last year’s garden, I have decided that I don’t… [Continue Reading]
Falling for Favorite Natives-Part 2
Well it’s a New Year and I hope your New Year’s Day was wonderful. In thinking about planning for the new year’s garden, I offer you Part 2 of my fall favorite native plants. You can read about Part 1 if you missed the post. There are some tried and true natives in the list,… [Continue Reading]
Wildlife Coming Out Party!
I’m always amazed at how nature does its thing. The other day I was out and about and stopped by an area of Shyleaf (Aeschynomene americana) to see what was “cookin”. There are a few Green Lynx Spiders with egg sacs and I patiently await the miracle of birth. I was thrilled to see a… [Continue Reading]
When Life Gives You Storm Damage, Make Habitat!
Dear Readers, if I have not contributed much to Beautiful Wildlife Garden over the past few weeks, here is just one of the reasons why: The freak Halloween nor’easter that hit New England on October 29th dumped 18″ of wet snow on our farm, wiped out our power for nearly a week, and caused… [Continue Reading]
Promoting Habitat Elimination: What’s Wrong with This Picture?
Recently team member Ellen Sousa did an interesting piece on Leafcutter Bees. Ironically, I had just seen a bee with a circle of leaf attached to it’s bottom, so the article was timely and cleared up the mystery of this platform-toting pollinator. In my quest for information on this type of bee as they appear… [Continue Reading]
Monarchs of the West
Cruising at 1000 ft.. searching for “that tree”.. ascending to a height where land could only be a dark blur.. Orange-gold wings against blue sky.. Every October I think about the Monarch migration to Mexico. And I wonder: where do the West Coast Monarchs go? Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Photo Courtesy of Las… [Continue Reading]
Leafcutter Bees
Have you ever noticed holes in your plant leaves and assumed they were the work of a hungry caterpillar or beetle? Perfectly rounded or oval holes on the edges of a leaf are usually the sign of a nearby nesting leafcutter bee (Megachile spp): Unlike butterfly and moth caterpillars, or herbivorous beetles such as the… [Continue Reading]
Dragonfly…OH!!! The Humanity!
I knew that dragonfly were cannibals while still in the aquatic nymph stage, as a matter of fact, I recently read that if you put several dragonfly nymphs in a jar very soon you’d have just one really fat nymph. That seems to take sibling rivalry to a whole new dimension. I was out and… [Continue Reading]
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