Though monarch butterflies are few and far between, swallowtails are out in force in the garden. They flitter about from plant to plant making Juana and I happy that we have much food and habitat to provide for them.
Butterfly visits
Pollinator pathway
My pollinator patch experiment worked! For the last two years nothing grew adjacent to the street where my town put in a curb and filled in with extremely poor quality soil. By layering in a yard of compost along with red and white clover as well as a wildflower mix, the eight-foot border has sprung […]
Hungry plants
The pitcher plants (Sarracenia) in my carnivorous plant garden are awake and hungry. I became fascinated with these bug-chomping specimens over a decade ago when I visited @california_carnivores and saw their collection. Initially, I had only a few in pots that wintered over in my garage. But like many gardeners a few is never enough […]
Pollinator spaces
Juana and I admire the emerging pollinator garden at Ann’s Place. I recently planted sunflower (Helianthus) seedlings to complement the other plants that butterflies and other insects love. The perennials include: Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) Lavender (Lavandula intermedia Phenomenal) Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) Coneflower (Echinacea) Shadbush serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) Allium Last year aphids wiped out the […]
Tick time!
It’s tick time! Every year I pull a few of these blood suckers off me even though I am super diligent in showering and getting rid of my garden clothing after every outing. This year looks to be a bad one in New England as snow cover and mild temperatures are likely to help the […]
Waiting for bugs
Pulling the straw off my carnivorous plant bog, I see that the ground is still as hard as a rock. At least an inch of straw is embedded in the peat moss/perlite mixture. Though it may look like a couple of the pitcher plants (Sarracenia) are ready for a meal, their traps are filled with […]
Creating a new class
Creating a new class for my clients at Ann’s Place is exciting and scary at the same time. My latest class is a Spring mash up of St. Patrick’s Day and creating a mason bee B&B. The St.Patrick’s Day exercise is growing shamrocks, which can be defined as wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), white clover (Trifolium […]
Prickly flowers
New England has a profusion of flowers that start to emerge in the Spring. In the Southwest, the number of flowering plants is no different though the form is. When we think of difficult or thorny flowers in the North, roses come to mind. Their beauty is counterbalanced by the care with which they must […]
Hard Frost
All frosts are not created equal. The first often arrives in October as a sprinkling of powered sugar on the roof of my house and pickup truck. Unlike that sweet confection, it disappears with first light and is easy to miss if one is late to wake or not attentive. There are a few other […]
Firefly Flights
In mid-July when ripe blueberries are ready to be picked, the fireflies emerge at night. At first there are a few whose solitary flashes for attention are in vain in the search for a mate. But when the temperature and humidity is just right, they emerge en masse in an irregular synchrony of a low-powered, […]