Creating Land Traditions
Creating new traditions with your land is delightful way to celebrate your time together. For years I’ve wanted to start a tradition of planting daffodils every fall. This year we finally got that rolling with an enormous box of bulbs that arrived on the doorstep scented daffodils, crocuses and siberian squill…
Read MoreBees Without Winter (yet…)
My buddy at the feed store said the other day, ‘Your bees must be enjoying this warm December.’ We haven’t had any winter to mention and it’s nearly Christmas. Growing up in Alabama, that was perfectly normal. Here at 3000′ in the mountains of North Carolina it is very unusual…
Read MoreA treasure at the farm: the native miner-bee colony
When we were buying this farm one of the owners walked us around to a red clay patch of bare dirt on the east side of the house. It’s an area under an addition that juts out over a steep slope. A series of tiny arched entrances the size of your fingertip covered the slope like an adobe village in miniature. This was the first time I had ever seen a colony of miner bees or chimney bees…
Read MoreCultivating the Wild Suburbia – Good Blog Read!
From “Cultivating the Wild Suburbia”by Ellen Honeycutt:
Contrary to what you might think, suburbia is a place where we can create habitat. That is my goal in our yard. I create habitat by making conscious decisions such as: plant a diverse mix of regionally native plants; minimize the use of chemicals; create places of habitat by leaving some dead trees, some bare ground, some brush piles; research what I plant to have bloom times throughout the year for pollinator support. [photo via site]
… read the excellent post on the joys of creating backyard habitat in the full post Cultivating the Wild Suburbia from our friends at www.beautifulwildlifegarden.com.
Read MoreLove this plant! Panicle Hydrangea
Any plant that attracts this kind of beauty on a daily basis is going to win points with me!
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