Many years ago a Chickadee changed the course of my life’s work. This tiny bird is bold and persistent, and it set me on a journey of learning how to share our spaces with the wildlife around us. While I did hang a bird feeder for this little bird, I began to wonder how it took care [...]

Many years ago a small, persistent Chickadee called to me and changed the course of my life’s work. From there I began my journey to become a wildlife gardener, and to help people learn to make healthier choices in their gardens. I began to study ecology, plant-insect interactions, ornithology, herpetology, butterflies, pollinators, and more. You [...]

Tomorrow morning I’m off to spend the week near Portland, Maine for the week, and I’m very excited to see some birds and visit some new botanic gardens, plus I have a hankering for lobster rolls and blueberry pie! Last time I went to Maine I spent a good chunk of the summer camping and birding [...]

I wrote last week about my visit to see the Lady Slipper Orchids, and I need to give you a word of warning. Many species of Lady Slipper Orchids (Cypripedium) are endangered in the wild. We’ve done a really good job of destroying their habitat. If you find these orchids growing in a natural area near [...]

We all know that butterflies need nectar, but if we really want them to stay close to our wildlife gardens, we have to plant host plants for caterpillars. Most butterfly larva are specialists. That means that they will only eat one plant, or plants from just one family. Female butterflies are on a mission to [...]

So I’m standing out on my back deck with my dogs, and flipping through my email on my phone, when a new post comes in from one of my favorite blogs about creating welcoming habitat for wildlife. I’m eager to read this post. I always enjoy what this author has to say. I flip open [...]

This weekend I had the extreme pleasure of being interviewed on the Mike Nowak Show at WPCT Radio in Chicago. Mike is a very fun interviewer, and you can listen by live streaming his show about gardening and environmental issues every Sunday morning from 9-11 am (Central time). Mike blogged about the interview prior to [...]

Ecosystem Gardening is about giving a little back to wildlife because we have been so successful in taking away the things that they need. It’s a way of gardening sustainably, conserving natural resources, and creating welcoming habitats for wildlife in our gardens so that we will attract more birds, butterflies, pollinators, bats, and other wildlife. [...]

Happy New Year from Ecosystem Gardening! 2010 is winding down, so I thought I’d share with you my peek back at Ecosystem Gardening for this year as well as a glimpse of what’s coming up next year. I took a look at the most popular posts this year and found some illuminating information. First, many [...]