Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens
Healthy Gardens. Healthy Planet
‘A Bestiary . . . Tales From A Wildlife Garden’ continues, as hundreds of migratory songbirds have returned to the northeast and Flower Hill Farm where they are busily finishing off nests and incubating their eggs. Songbirds or perching birds, more scientifically known as passerines, are of the order Passeriformes and make up more [...]
Vines, any vines, are great in the garden. Three reasons. First of all, vines need very little root space to flourish, thus they can fit in even the smallest yard. Second, many vines have beautiful flowers, and the bloom period can last for months, offering an opportunity to fill your yard with color. Third, and [...]
Some of us just can’t wrap our heads around scientific names for our flora and fauna. Try as I might, every time I snap a flower photo I have to go to the Institute of Systematic Botany’s Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants to look up the proper scientific name. It doesn’t matter if I’ve photographed [...]
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 [...]
Ever considered including Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) in your garden? It’s great for late season pollinators, provides nectar for many beneficial insects and is amazingly hardy. As we approach planting season, I challenge you to consider adding a Goldenrod to your landscape! It’s one of my favorites! Goldenrod is a host plant for a number of [...]
It is spring and a young man’s thoughts turn to…ponds, right? Well, this young man’s did. On the Native Return® property, Christina has two wildlife ponds, one smaller and one larger. The smaller one sits smack dab in the center of the tortoise enclosure for her African Leopard tortoise, Baby. It is her swimming hole [...]
I’ve been watching our native red elderberries go through their spring progression for the past few weeks. They’re one of the first shrubs to start unfurling their leaves, beginning in mid-March. Right about now in the Puget Sound lowlands they’ve come into full bloom. There are some big patches of red elderberries beside I-5 between [...]
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 [...]
The habitat installation, Citrus Caterpillar Corner, has been in a few days now. Today’s upgrade was to re-unite the oak spire with its bark that was left behind on the driveway. The massive oak limb section has provided habitat for critters on our driveway for a few years; most of the bark fell away [...]
I’ve created several “Ultimate Guides” to specific topics for wildlife gardeners over the course of the last several weeks which you may find extremely helpful, and will probably want to bookmark so you can refer to them again and again. These Ultimate Guides are an exhaustive compilation of everything our teams have written about these [...]
News from Team Beautiful Wildlife Garden