The Science Behind Nature - in Layperson Speak
This is a follow-up to my post on Attracting Butterflies and Pollinators to our Yards - more takeaways from San Diego area speakers Moe Magoski and Michael Klein, plus photos of pollinators, important butterfly plants we might consider weeds, and some resources. First, Klein shared stats about …
Continue Reading about “Good” Weeds for Butterflies and More on our Native Pollinators
Who doesn’t want more butterflies in their yards? You need nectar plants of course. But if you want to watch all the butterfly stages -- which means your plant’s leaves will get eaten by the growing caterpillars -- you need to include specific host plants, such as milkweed for monarchs, or thistle …
Continue Reading about Attracting Pollinators and Butterflies to our Yards
Note: See comments below for discussion on native vs tropical milkweeds We planted a couple milkweed (Asclepius curassavica or tropical) plants three years ago. But - no monarchs or caterpillars. The last six months the milkweed thrived and climbed seven feet up into our magnolia tree, and also …
An op-ed article I wrote for the Redlands Daily Facts, entitled "Understanding the Consequences of Asian Psyllid Treatment," is being published tomorrow. It was prompted when I noted that articles were not mentioning the negative effects of the recommended pesticide treatments for an alarming pest …
Continue Reading about The Consequences of Pesticides in Citrus Pest Treatment – and references
I've written a number of articles on how native plants usher in wildlife. I read an interesting article, "Grow Native Plants" in The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Spring 2014 Living Bird Magazine, which gives a simple recipe for attracting warblers, the well-loved but evasive group of songbirds. …
Continue Reading about Why Native Plants? Attracting birds is another important reason
I've been besieged with a lot of email petitions recently about a pesticide called neonicotinoids (neonics for short), found in some plants sold by nurseries, which has been shown to kill bees, butterflies and other pollinators - so the word is definitely out. When pollinators visit the flowers or …
Continue Reading about Pollinator killing plants: questions to ask nurseries
