Learning to See the Beauty of Nature in Our Gardens
Would you have plastic plants in your garden? Pest free, drought tolerant and ever blooming, what’s not to like? Yet despite these benefits, very few gardeners use them. For most gardeners, only the “real” things will do even though they have to work harder to keep them going. However these same gardeners don’t seem to [...]
[Guest post by Nate Armstrong] Bird Gardens are a treat to anyone that appreciates gardening, wildlife, the outdoors, and of course, birds. Whether you have years of experience with bird gardens of your own or are wanting to start your first one, I hope you can take something useful from this article. All successful bird [...]
Habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation due to human activity is the leading cause of bird population declines. Birdscaping your garden will create an oasis in a desert of development. My favorite author, Doug Tallamy (Bringing Nature Home) puts the importance of your birdscaped garden this way: Now, for the first time in its history, gardening [...]
I could not have guessed how timely this post would turn out to be. I thought, I’ll get a head start promoting the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). After all we want to see more birds in the garden. But who would have guessed that while I was gazing out my window this past gray [...]
Happy Winter Solstice!! This is the third post in this series on native plants that any gardener can grow and love. First I focused on reliable, hardworking native perennials, and followed that up with native plant alternatives to invasive plants commonly used in gardens. This time I am spotlighting fall natives. With today being the winter solstice, [...]
Photo courtesy of Las Pilitas nursery “Why not stay on with us and be jolly?” Ratty, Wind in the Willows Ah, the late afternoon sun in the native garden, how it warms my face. I wait for my friends, the hummingbirds. I hear them clicking in the trees and know that they will be here soon. [...]
…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 [...]
Even though your bird houses may look like this photo, it’s time to get ready for spring! I stood in my garden this week enjoying the first sunny day we’ve had for some time. It was so nice to feel its warmth on my face after so many weeks of below freezing temperatures. I am [...]
Birds and other wildlife need access to water year-round, but especially in winter as streams, ponds, lakes, and even bird baths freeze. Somehow my time got away from me this year and I forgot my winter water set up, until I noticed the bird’s tracks in the snow all over the bird bath. I feel [...]
Birds are especially visible in our wildlife gardens in winter, and they are not as fragile as we may think. Access to food, water, and shelter will help them get through the cold winter days. Water is one of the most important elements to provide for birds in the wildlife garden in winter. While birds [...]
We’ve talked about Purple Martins and migration, but at this time of year many birds are migrating to their wintering homes. Warblers, Orioles, Tanagers, Vireos, Swallows, raptors, ducks and geese, Thrushes, Sparrows, and more are all on the move, and may be passing through your wildlife garden. And what they need most of all is [...]
News from Team Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens
