Mourning Cloak, originally uploaded by milesizz. This morning I saw my first butterfly of the season floating above my garden. It was a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), a stunningly beautiful butterfly. It’s not surprising that this species was the first of the season, as one of it’s other common names is “Harbinger of Spring.” Mourning [...]
When Experts Mislead You
So you’ve decided that you want to help wildlife in your garden. Congratulations! You didn’t remember to read How to choose the best plants for your wildlife garden. Oops! You head over to your local bookstore and find several books about wildlife gardening and you pick the one that is filled with beautiful photographs and [...]
Life Cycles of Butterflies in Your Habitat Garden
I was honored to write a guest post last week for the Little Humbugs Gardening with Chloe series about attracting more butterflies to your garden. In that article I discuss the importance of knowing which host plants are necessary to support the caterpillars of the butterflies you wish to attract. Butterflies go through four distinctive [...]
Community Gardens, Gold Medal Plants, Giving Back:Best of the Web 20
It’s that time again. Time for our weekly meander around the internets to see what’s new, exciting, or noteworthy. I read a lot, so I like to share with you some of the interesting things I find in my travels. [Note: if you want to open the link in a new tab/window, right click the [...]
Helping Your Neighbors Learn to Love Wildlife
I received an email from my friend, Lisa Gustavson at Get in the Garden, which, while sad, gives us an opportunity to to come together to brainstorm solutions. The email said: Thank you for letting me bend your ear! I’m growing a bit frustrated and thought you may be able to share a bit of [...]
Wildlife Gardens are Nothing but an Ugly Overgrown Mess, NOT!
I do not personally believe that wildlife gardens are nothing but an ugly, overgrown mess, but you’d be amazed at how many times I hear that from those who consider themselves “real” gardeners. Unfortunately, the gardening world, like the rest of the country, is full of divisiveness, an US vs THEM attitude that can sometimes [...]
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