I was reading a post by Alison Kerr called A Guide to Happy Family Gardening, a review of a book by that name. I was really struck by one of the chapter titles: The Dreaming Season, a time for planning. This is definitely the Dreaming Season for me! Maybe because it has been so cold [...]
What Did Black Swallowtails Eat Before we Brought In Parsley, Dill, and Queen Anne’s Lace?
Last week I used a photo of a Black Swallowtail Butterfly in a post, which prompted one of my favorite Ecosystem Gardeners, Cindy Brown Ahern, to post this comment on Facebook: This is such a beautiful creature, and YOU can do something as simple as planting parsley, dill, fennel, carrots in your garden to provide [...]
Ecosystem Gardening Best of the Web #9
It’s that time of the week again, our weekly look around the web to share with you the most interesting articles and photos for your enjoyment and education. There is so much fascinating information that I like to give you a summary of what caught my attention this week. Entomologist Nancy Grieg shares her expertise [...]
A Visit to Helen Yoest's Ecosystem Garden
(Editor’s note: We have a very special treat in store today. This is a guest post by Helen Yoest of Gardening with Confidence. Helen Yoest is a garden writer, garden speaker, garden coach, garden scout, garden designer, essentially if it has to do with gardening, Helen is the queen. I’m honored that Helen has chosen [...]
Life in the Leaf Litter: Don’t Throw a Good Thing Away
This is the time of year when those giant paper bags full of fallen leaves start appearing on sidewalks around the country. This is also the time of year I drive around my neighborhood picking up those bags of leaves in my truck and spreading them throughout my garden beds. The practice of removing our [...]
Ecosystem Gardening Best of the Web #7
Let’s continue our weekly exploration of the things that grabbed my attention this week. We’ve got Helen’s lawn reduction plan, cities creating habitat for wildlife, green roofs providing habitat for birds, an interview of me, stinkbugs, First, a shameless plug. I had the honor this week of being interviewed by Wendy Gabriel, the Fargo Green [...]
A Visit to Evelyn Lovitz's Garden
Welcome to our weekly series to showcase the Ecosystem Gardens of our readers. I hope that you are enjoying these tours as much as I am. I love to see other gardens for wildlife because it gives me so many ideas to use in my own garden. Next week, a visit to YOUR garden where [...]
Pat Sutton Talks about Butterfly Declines
Pat Sutton is an amazing naturalist and educator with a passion for teaching people to create welcoming habitats for wildlife in our gardens. Her own garden is a beautiful testament to this passion, as it is always full of swirling butterflies, diving hummingbirds, gorgeous Goldfinches, acrobatic dragonflies, and all manner of other life. This year, [...]
Butterfly numbers plunge by 50 percent
Butterfly lovers have noticed an alarming trend–butterfly numbers are down over 50 percent this year. The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) has sponsored butterfly counts since 1992, and has noted significant drops in butterfly populations this year. Pat Sutton is a founding member of NABA and has participated in these counts since their inception. To [...]
The Language of Conservation Gardening: Being Specific
There are many similar or related terms to Conservation Gardening being used which may be causing some confusion. These terms include: organic gardening, habitat gardening for wildlife, ecological gardening, sustainable landscaping/gardening, xeriscaping, natural gardening, and more. For the purpose of clarity, I’ll discuss these terms and their relation to Conservation Gardening so that we will [...]
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