Redefining the Beauty of Nature and Wildlife in Our Gardens
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]
…or “What I did on my summer vacation.” Sometimes you have to leave your garden and venture out into the world to seek garden inspiration. Around the end of August, I traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, (also Zone 5) for the Garden Writers Symposium, which included garden tours. As I began to review my photos, I… [Continue Reading]
It’s a quiet time in Florida for birds. The heat of the day doesn’t really leave us at this time of year, so they stick to the woods or go vacationing up north. It is, however a fascinating time for invertebrates. Generally Arachnida are welcome with open arms to my piece of paradise. Thankfully the… [Continue Reading]
This is a follow-up to two recent articles of mine. First, thanks to the expert ID of fellow team blogger Ursula Vernon, the pond “naiad” discussed in “From the Shallows of a Wildlife Pond” was shown to be predaceous diving beetle larvae (Dytiscidae). In Ursula’s words: “Almost looks like a water tiger—a diving… [Continue Reading]
I always get a little sad when it comes time to mow the meadow area of my yard. I know in my mind that it is the pathway to rejuvenation, yet I still try to mow around that one late bloomer. This week brought an additional dilemma. While mowing down the spent tickseed (Coreopsis spp.)… [Continue Reading]
Some people decorate their yards with big black spiders and gigantic webs for Halloween. I decorate my wildlife garden with the real thing, and I do it all year long. Okay, it’s not that I’m really the one doing the decorating — mostly it’s just that I welcome the eight-legged arachnids to my garden, and… [Continue Reading]
I sing in the garden, often and varied. The other morning, I found myself singing No Doubt’s Spiderwebs: “Sorry I’m not home right now, I’m walking into spiderwebs.” (Tony Kanal, Gwen Stefani). In American culture, spiderwebs are viewed as creepy, icky things associated with Halloween. I got to thinking about that, as I tried to… [Continue Reading]
There has never been a time I didn’t marvel at a daddy longleg. Even today, I took the time to check this guy out when I saw him in the beautiful wildlife garden. Perhaps it’s from sheer amazement for this creature — with out-of-proportion legs to their little bodies. I often imagined alien craft for… [Continue Reading]
It’s right about this time of year and through the fall, the female garden spider (Argiope aurantia) becomes visible in the wildlife garden. Their web is characterized by the ‘Z’ shaped line in the middle of her web giving rise to one of the species common names – writing spider. What I read is, “Welcome… [Continue Reading]
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