Learning to See the Beauty of Nature in Our Gardens
Have you ever gazed out of the kitchen window at your beautiful wildlife garden on a cold winter’s day? It looks so barren and lonely. Have you ever wondered where the butterflies go during this time of year? As humans, we get to bundle up in our fuzzy flannels and spend the winter months indoors [...]
“I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.” ~Joseph Addison As spring has continued on its merry way, we have been overrun with birds in the garden. This is not a bad thing. It is actually a joyous time. In years [...]
Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around. ~Henry David Thoreau I have not always been a wildlife gardener. There was no talk of gardening for wildlife as I was growing up. Wildlife was found in the woods we explored, the woods where I camped and hiked as a child. It wasn’t until [...]
Welcome Spring!! Spring arrived early this morning officially here in the Northern Hemisphere. To say I am ecstatic upon spring’s arrival is putting it mildly. I think a more accurate description would be I’ve become TWITTERPATED. Just what does this mean…let me describe it for you. The feeling of excitement and anticipation builds. Memories of flowers pop [...]
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 [...]
To expect anything else is to set yourself up for heartbreak in your beautiful wildlife garden! As sure as you plant those bulbs or perennials a squirrel or chipmunk will discover the fresh dirt smell and pop those plants right out of the soil. Dang them! On a recent visit home, our son had an [...]
Let’s face it, the photo below is not everybody’s idea of an endearing garden. This swamp milkweed near our farm pond recently survived not one but TWO floods (recent storms Irene and Lee). Its roots were buried in sand and gravel runoff and part of the plant broke off at the base. The plant is [...]
I’m so excited to be reading a preview copy of our team member Ellen Sousa’s new book, The Green Garden: A New England Guide to Planning, Planting, and Maintaining the Planet-Friendly Habitat Garden. Yay, Ellen! I’ve waited a long time to see this book, and it is well worth the wait. To start, the book [...]
Inspired by Carole’s hunt for yellow lady slippers last week, I went on my own walk in the woods, to one of my most “happy places”, Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA. My timing was perfect because the spring ephemerals were in their full glory, and the woodland gardens were positively glowing with the [...]
A long time ago, more than 20 years now, I was doing some very unfulfilling work, exchanging hours of my time for a paycheck, when a little Chickadee grabbed my attention and altered the course of my life’s work in a very positive way. I had just bought a house and was surveying the backyard [...]
All this talk about early spring wildlife gardens and bluebirds nesting in Florida is so encouraging to those of us in the white north, where summer wildlife gardens exist only in our minds and dreams, so far…much of New England is still buried in snow! But knowing that ruby-throat hummingbirds have arrived on the Gulf [...]
News from Team Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens
