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Happy Valentines Day AND Garden What You Love
Glass hearts adorn Mayan Totem Love in the Garden Happy Valentines Day to you, my gardening and lover of Wildlife friend. May your heart overspill with joy and touch others today and beyond. Love is...
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Kids in the Wildlife Garden—Nest Boxes
Flicker fledglings. Credit: Bob Tuck. Used with permission. It may still be winter, but in our backyard, the Bewick’s wrens are already checking out the local real estate market. Last year we were...
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Garden Predator — Sharp-shinned Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk in the Sutton’s wildlife garden Some folks are upset, indeed appalled, when a hawk raids their garden or feeders. Others consider it an amazing opportunity to watch the age-old...
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A Bestiary: Part Sixteen ~ Woodpeckers: Downy and Red-bellied Woodpecker
The downy white belly of a Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens mirrors the white snowy landscape in our gardens and fields stretching down and deep into the forest on this chilly March morning. This...
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Not-So-Clean Up Garden
An arboreal salamander gets moved to a new hiding place. This salamander was found between a garden stump seat and the falling-off bark. Ahhh, spring is on its way. My bones are starting to thaw....
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Kids in the Wildlife Garden—In Praise of Underneath
Unlikely wildlife habitat? In my grand yearlong “Kids in the Wildlife Garden” plan, the story for March was brush piles. We all end up with bits and pieces from spring pruning that need to go...
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Native “Shamrocks” Abound
If you visit a grocery store today, you can buy a “shamrock plant” for St. Patrick’s Day. Various species of Oxalis are sold as “shamrocks,” most commonly Oxalis tetraphylla. As lovely as these oxalis...
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City Living – Wildlife or Vermin?
Wildlife (definition): Wild animals and vegetation, especially animals living in a natural, undomesticated state. Most think only of animals as wildlife. I wanted to make a point that “wildlife” is...
View ArticleTerms of Endearment -Memories of Falling in Love With a Native Landscape
Judy Marie, my lovely wife is filling in for me during times when my dissected aorta challenges ill afford me the capability to write. Here is her article for March. (KSS) In the late summer of 1997...
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Bunny Bustin’ Natives
photo courtesy Better Homes and Gardens Many people might just think of rabbits trying to get into veggie gardens and eating all those yummy carrots, but some gardeners have troubles with rabbits in...
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A Bestiary: Part Fifteen ~ Woodpeckers: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
The second member of the Picidae family featured in ‘A Bestiary’ is the showy and industrious Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius. These brightly patterned woodpeckers are frequent visitors...
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A Bestiary: Part Seventeen ~ Woodpeckers: Northern Flicker
As spring finally unfolds here in Western Massachusetts, the final featured woodpecker of my ‘A Bestiary’ has just returned to Flower Hill Farm from his southeastern United States winter range....
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A Leg Up on Florida’s Beneficial Lizards
A snake? Nahhhhh While out and about I spied a long slithering thing…not an unusual occurrence in my garden. At first glance it looks like it is likely a black racer snake. But this one has a certain...
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Kids in the Wildlife Garden—Happy Herp Homes
Red eft, the juvenile eastern newt. Photo credit: Emily Debolt. I should clarify the vocabulary here before I proceed. “Herp” is scientist slang that has its roots in the first efforts to classify...
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Can’t Have Enough
I’ll just come out and say something to alienate lots of folks: I believe our landscapes should be planted with mostly native trees, shrubs, flowers, sedges, and grasses. And by mostly I mean 80%, 90%,...
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City Living – adapt!
Adapt or die! Or be driven out! Those are the options for wildlife, particularly in the urban environment which we consider our territory. After all, who built all those roads and buildings with the...
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Send a Message, Start Digging
It is a gorgeous late evening as my wife and I return home from a dinner celebrating 10 years since our first date; I’d venture to say it is the first perfect evening all spring. The low sun casts that...
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Elderberry Pond — A Greywater Habitat
Sambucas mexicana in Elderberry Pond wildlife habitat. Perhaps the cutting shrub propagation will be successful. The young shoots look promising. Come on, Blue Elderberry, you can do it! Grow,...
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A Welcome Mat for Aphids (No? Really!)
Gratuitous flower shot! The kids’ school is moving . . . again. I won’t bore you with the details, but this is the third move/campus change in as many years. The good news is that the whole school is...
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A Passion for Passion Vines
monarch butterfly on passion flower Vines, any vines, are great in the garden. Three reasons. First of all, vines need very little root space to flourish, thus they can fit in even the smallest yard....
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