Learning to See the Beauty of Nature in Our Gardens
I am a female Monarch butterfly, flying high above Pismo Beach, flying from the tall Eucalyptus trees, where I have been sleeping this winter. How I love the California Coast! It has everything I need here: moderate winter temps, clean air, and I am making friends to help me keep warm. The sun comes out. [...]
Monarchs in the Wintertime~ Walking through the tall stands of Eucalyptus trees (Monarch Grove, Pismo Beach), I came upon a Monarch butterfly lying on the ground on some wood chips. He blended in so well, I could easily have stepped on him! But he wasn’t moving. Very carefully, I picked him up and placed him [...]
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 [...]
May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun And find your shoulder to light on, To bring you luck, happiness and riches Today, tomorrow and beyond. ~Irish Blessing Almost a year ago, I was wildlife gardening in earnest. Everything I did was to help build a habitat for critters, especially for butterflies. Not just for [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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? The winter migration of the Monarchs east of [...]
My dear wildlife gardening friends, Sometimes we have to make tough choices. A favorite woodpecker tree must come down because it is dangerously close to the house; native plants have to be edited because they are too happy in our gardens; or, our gardening budgets won’t stretch to include everything we want to accomplish! I’ve [...]
As the days get shorter and the temperature drops, it’s easy to assume that our wildlife garden is winding down. But Autumn is a big season for wildlife: Monarchs are migrating to Mexico Common Buckeyes are migrating to the southern states Songbirds and Raptors are moving to their winter homes And northern breeding birds are [...]
On September 18th there was an estimated half million Monarch butterflies in Cape May, NJ, and sadly, I was not there to see it. But, I do have friends in Cape May who shared their story (and photos) of the big day with me. The team of researchers from the Monarch Monitoring Project had been noticing [...]
With nectar-rich flowers waiting to feed the adults and milkweed to sustain life in the larvae cycle, the first monarch finally showed up in my zone 7b garden in Raleigh, NC, a garden I call Helen’s Haven. Sadly, I haven’t seen him since. I’m forever hopeful though. When I was visiting the JC Raulston Arboretum a [...]
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