Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens
Healthy Gardens. Healthy Planet
It is a gorgeous late evening as my wife and I return home from a dinner celebrating 10 years since our first date; I’d venture to say it is the first perfect evening all spring. The low sun casts that warm summer glow reminiscent of firesides in winter, the air is clear and soothing, trees [...]
I should clarify the vocabulary here before I proceed. “Herp” is scientist slang that has its roots in the first efforts to classify organisms scientifically. Reptiles and amphibians were placed in a group called herpetiles. Though they were separated into two groups later, they are still referred to as “herps,” and scientists who specialize in [...]
For a time I worked in Chicago, Illinois. More specifically, I had the opportunity to work on the Chicago City Park Lagoon Systems. The overall project was an effort to restore the man made lagoon systems back to some semblance of the great Fredrick Law Olmsted’s former design, green rooms and such. Where the project [...]
In my grand yearlong “Kids in the Wildlife Garden” plan, the story for March was brush piles. We all end up with bits and pieces from spring pruning that need to go somewhere. Instead of sending them off in the yard debris bin, why not build some habitat? Perfect, right? Then I took the camera [...]
It may still be winter, but in our backyard, the Bewick’s wrens are already checking out the local real estate market. Last year we were lucky enough to host a pair of nesting chickadees in our backyard. Watching birds select mates, build nests, and raise young is a wonderful education for children. Observing these processes [...]
I’ve been hearing the term “dreaming season” tossed around here at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. I love that image. In the gray, soggy dreamland of winter, I’ve been drawing up garden plans in old notebooks and wandering around the yard muttering to myself. This year though, I haven’t even started on my vegetable garden [...]
In February of 2004, we flew halfway around the world to welcome a beautiful, 19-month-old girl into our family. Bewildered by the strange, pale-faced people who jabbered to her in unfamiliar tones, she slowly began the journey from one language to another. That summer, when she was in the strange “Neverland” where one language is [...]
For the last post in my series of plants in the arts, we’re going to look at the importance of plants in children’s art. The rest of the series included various arts starting with Plants in Poetry, then looking at visual arts with Plants in Paintings:: Vincent van Gogh and Plants in Design. I have a [...]
I believe the children are our future Teach them well and let them lead the way ~ Lyrics by Michael Messner and Linda Creed ~Performed by Whitney Houston On this sad day when you cannot turn on any radio or tv station and not hear a song by Whitney Houston, the song of hers that [...]
A child walks in a conservation area with her parents. “Hey, look! That’s quaking aspen. Maybe we’ll see the catkins. We have those in our outdoor classroom.” Imagine that scenario… children who have an accessible experience of nearby nature during the school day might recognize the plants communities and habitats of their region. Milton, MA [...]
