The Science Behind Nature - in Layperson Speak
In a follow-up to my post (Favorite Plants for Attracting Birds/Butterflies (Midwest/East) here are some favorites from two of our homes, both landscaped with natives and other wildlife-attracting plants. (See Our Conversion to Low Water Landscaping). I also asked two friends in Arizona, for their …
Continue Reading about Favorite Plants for Attracting Birds/Butterflies (California/Southwest)
In a follow-up to my post (Landscaped Yard Ushers in Butterflies and Birds) about the Damons' yard in St. Paul MN, I asked Susan for her favorite plants. Most are natives, a couple non-natives. Here is her reply (thanks Susan!) and more photos.Favorite Forbs: New England Aster (Aster …
Continue Reading about Favorite Plants for Attracting Birds/Butterflies (Midwest/East)
Note: this area was hit hard by the November 2018 Woolsey Fire. I've been afraid to go back, but plan to soon to document its recovery. My husband Tom and I were amazed with the mature stands of chaparral on a hike we took last week - the Mishe Mokwa trail in the Santa Monica Mountain National …
I heard an amazing speaker last month here in Redlands CA - Peter Raven - a world leader in conservation who TIME Magazine has described as a "Hero for the Planet." Awarded the highest U.S. award for scientific accomplishment (Medal of Science), Raven is the long-time president of the Missouri …
Continue Reading about Helping Ourselves through Conservation
During the last year I've read about the importance of cork trees and recently read another article on the topic in Living Bird magazine, which expressed concern that wine bottlers were replacing cork stoppers with plastic or screw caps. Main takeaway: The cork stopper in your wine bottle …
Here in southern California, and especially in our city of Redlands, which is bestowed with 100+ year old trees, we have an epidemic of terrible tree trimming. Also, tree topping or pollarding -- where main branches are trimmed to stubs -- seems to be rampant. Here are two good references on what …
