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 …
The Consequences of Pesticides in Citrus Pest Treatment – and references
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 …
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Why Native Plants? Attracting birds is another important reason
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. …
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Pollinator killing plants: questions to ask nurseries
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 …
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Now’s the time to see butterflies – and what’s better than a ‘puddle party’
I was up camping in the San Bernardino Mountains this weekend and one joy was coming across a muddling area, next to the stream my friend Christine and I were camping near. It was lush with butterflies -- also called a puddle party. For those who don't know, a muddle is a mud puddle, or in this case …
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What I’ve learned about GMOs
I did a presentation on GMOs for our local AAUW discussion group and thought ‘why waste all that reading’ – so here’s a quick overview of what I learned. I read the following books: Mendel in the Kitchen by geneticist Nina Federoff, which was ranked more anti-GMO in this …