I was thrilled last week when I got the chance to visit with Pat Sutton and her husband Clay in their Cape May Garden. It is really a thrill to be in a garden that is buzzing, humming, blooming, chirping, and singing with life!
Doug Tallamy calls the lecture he gives for his book, Bringing Nature Home: How native plants sustain wildlife in our gardens, “Gardening for Life,” and this can really be seen in Pat’s Garden. The garden is overflowing with blooms: Ironweed, Perennial Sunflower, Purple Coneflower, Pickerelweed, water lillies, Bee Balm, Mountain Mint, Trumpet Honeysuckle…..every where I looked something else was blooming.
The air swirled with bees, hummingbirds, dragonflies, Black Swallowtails, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, American Goldfinches, American Redstarts. There was no part of the garden that didn’t have some kind of wildlife action.
And this is the whole point of Conservation Gardening: the simple actions we take have enormous value to all kinds of wildlife.
Here are some beautiful examples of Pat’s dedication to the wildlife around her:
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail enjoys the Clethra (Sweet Pepper Bush)
An Io Moth Caterpillar on a Chestnut Oak Leaf
An American Goldfinch gorging on Perennial sunflower seeds
A Hummingbird Moth on Monarda Bee Balm
A Saddleback Caterpillar
And a Black Racer on a tree out front by the mailbox
Now I know you are probably less than thrilled by the snake, and you’re thinking: “Are you kidding me? You want me to have snakes?” Snakes (and bats) are among the most persecuted of wildlife, and if you are lucky enough to see one in your garden, be grateful. According to Pat, the snake had not made an appearance prior to my visit and has not been seen since. I am feeling very blessed that it chose the day of my visit to bless us with its appearance.
Click to see more photos of Pat’s garden.
Pat and Clay Sutton’s Books:
What amazing critters are you seeing in your Conservation Garden?
Ways to get involved at Ecosystem Gardening:
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© 2009 – 2010, Carole Brown. All rights reserved.
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I was stunned by the Saddleback Caterpillar. It’s so exotic-looking for a New Jersey resident. What butterfly or moth does it become? I wonder how I could encourage it in my Glassboro garden.
The Saddleback Caterpillar (Acharia stimulea) is a member of the slug moth family. It is a generalist feeder, using plants such as apple, aster, blueberry, buttonbush, cabbage, citrus, corn, grass, maple, and oak. Beware of those spines, because they feel like a wasp sting if you touch it. The adult moth is rarely seen and is not talked about much. All of my insect resources here and a google search will all give pictures of the caterpillar and no one ever mentions the moth. What are you growing in your Glassboro garden?
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