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As fall progresses to winter, our landscapes can begin to look bleak. Annual pansies and violas might add a pop of color, but there are also perennial plants and shrubs that flower in the winter. In addition to brightening our winter landscapes, these can cheer our hearts and nourish songbirds and pollinators. As added bonuses,…
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In the elementary school version of Thanksgiving, the English settlers of Plymouth colony feasted with Native Americans and gave thanks for their first successful harvest. As always with history, there’s more to the story. William Bradford, who served as Governor of the settlement for over 30 years, recounted much of that history in his journal,…
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Long before our landscapes became landscapes, they were habitat. In natural environments, hundreds of species share unrestricted acres in which to move, nest, and hunt. They occupy niches in horizontal and vertical space, above and below the soil line, on land and in water. When humans settle an area, we alter the environment to better…
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Earlier this year, I received a call from man who was urgently reporting a large number of spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) that were landing on trucks all over the depot. He was absolutely correct to call and report sighting them. These invasive planthoppers congregate in huge numbers, suck the sap from plants, and produce copious…
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Fall armyworms are an annual pest of pastures, hay fields, and lawns. They are actually caterpillars, not worms. The moths that lay the eggs that hatch into these grass-eating caterpillars hop-scotch north from Florida on spring and summer weather fronts. They land in pastures, fields, and lawns and lay eggs. After only a few days,…
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Walking down to the compost pile the other day, I noticed a line of dark spots on the ground. From my lofty five-foot height, they looked like tiny balls of fertilizer granules or little mounds of excavated earth – except they were the wrong color. I found a stick and scooped up some of the…
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Living plants are popular as holiday gifts and decorations, but I wait until the last minute to purchase poinsettias, because they always seem to drop leaves as soon as I bring them into my house. I’ve learned a few tricks, however, that help seasonal gift and decorative plants survive through the holidays and become enduring…
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Since vultures feed primarily on carrion, they provide dead animal clean-up free of charge and without sending animal carcasses to the landfill. In doing so, vultures remove disease pathogens from the environment. Their stomach acids are strong enough to allow them to digest decaying animals – including diseases the dead animal may carry, such as…
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