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Health, Wellness, & Nature

The Not So Secret Lives of Bees

Originally published in September 2018, our two part series on native and non-native bees adds important information to our current discussion of native pollinators.        Two years ago, when we moved into this house, I planted the beginnings of a butterfly garden. Last summer it didn’t amount to much — the perennials were small and it …

Preparing for Pollinators

  With all the Buzz about pollinators in the news lately (sorry, just couldn’t resist it), I thought that this might be a good time to think about adding a pollinator garden to the landscape.         For the past few years, flower and gardening magazines, websites and even home improvement television shows …

Plant A Patch: Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

        Whether used as a divining rod to find water, a cure a broken heart or to ward off evil,  the native shrub witch hazel has held a noteworthy spot in American folklore for centuries. Better known today for its offering rare “golden blooms in the dead of winter,” witch hazel deserves a …

Declining Insects -- Declining World

  Insect populations around the world are rapidly declining. Within the next 20 years, 40% of the earth’s insect species may be extinct and within 100 years insects could disappear completely.  (Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers Biological Conservation, Apr. 2019).         If your initial response to these …

Feel the Need for Green: Caring for Your Houseplants

  Writing about houseplants the last few weeks has made me want to spruce up my office with some new plants. The ones I have are solid, dependable varieties that do well in low light conditions and benign neglect, but they don’t particularly inspire me anymore. It’s time to try something new.     Saturday, …

Feel the Need for Green? --Designing with Houseplants

Like millions of her followers, I have become intrigued by Marie Kondo’s philosophy on organizing your life. Since reading her book, I have been thinking about which of the things that I hold on to truly give me joy. Of course, pictures of my family came out on top, as did a few pieces of …

Feel the Need for Green? Add Some Houseplants!

If I had to choose one word to describe this winter so far, I would use the word bleak. The sun has been absent so the sky has been consistently grey, the temperature has been too cold to enjoy being outside and it has either been raining, snowing or unbelievably windy. All in all, the …

The Healing Power of Herbs

    We got snowed in last weekend — eighteen inches of snow, no heat, no electricity and no way to get out of our driveway.  Since there was absolutely nothing else I could do, I took the opportunity to bundle up in blankets, sit down in my favorite chair and read. All day — …