Redefining the Beauty of Nature and Wildlife in Our Gardens
I am telling you, a pond in the backyard is the most fun you can have with biology with your clothes on. I originally dug the pond in order to provide frog breeding habitat. I think I can say with some certainty that I have succeeded. We had tadpoles within a week of filling the [...]
It happens every year at least once, somebody gets stuck in the window well. I usually discover the hapless creature when I’m doing laundry. I’ll glance up at the window and see someone looking back at me. This time, I was weeding by the window well and happened to glance inside, luckily for Mr. Toad [...]
Does anybody remember that TV show, Yan Can Cook? He’d sign off every show with “If Yan can cook, so can you!” My name isn’t quite so alliterative, so “If Vernon can garden, so can you!” will probably never go down in the history of catchphrases, but let me tell you, if I can do [...]
One of the weirdest things in nature, at least to me, is the crazy life cycle of a frog. From egg to tadpole to strange interim deformity to frog, with a transition from gills to lungs and being fish-like to four-legged — how can one not find that bizarre? Odd or not, tadpoles transitioning to their adult [...]
I went out in the garden t’other day, following a heavy rainstorm, and was delighted to find that the garden was hopping…literally. Depending on your region, you may have experience with the sudden hordes of tiny toadlets that come out after a rain. I’ve seen it, and it’s always a little traumatic, not because I [...]
When I first started wildscaping, providing adequate water for wildlife was the most intimidating aspect. I started very small — a saucer of water for a toad — and gradually worked my way up to larger bodies of water, always approaching projects with frugality in mind. I know many other homeowners are in the same boat, so [...]
Central Florida had a freeze this week. I awoke to no water…the pump too cold to work but it thawed before 9:30am and I bring my drinking water home from the refill machines in town so I was able to make coffee, thus, no major problem. I admit I’m a little sad since I didn’t [...]
Frogs and toads are beautiful residents of a wildlife garden. And they are very beneficial guests. They consume large quantities of insects. Their song is a sure sign that spring has really arrived. And their presence is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Frogs and Toads Need Our Help in the Wildlife Garden Amphibian populations [...]
We have a pond which we lovingly refer to as our “puddle” because, as ponds go, ours is rather small; a mere 8′ on each side and 4 1/2′ deep in the middle. For our family (and the neighborhood) it’s been a fascinating place to learn about many life-cycles of nature as part of our [...]
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