Invite An Insect: Lady Beetles
An insatiable predator, the familiar lady bug is one of the gardeners best friends. In it’s relatively short lifetime, a single lady bug can devour up to 5,000 aphids. Throughout their life cycles the over 400 species of lady bugs here in the United States also voraciously consume whiteflies, scale insects and mealybugs. Lady …
Invite An Insect: Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Whether you are planting to attract butterflies, bees or a host of other native pollinators, finding out which specific plants are the best to include can be complicated. In order to help you design your pollinator garden, I have pulled together a list of some beneficial insects and their related plants. Look for “INVITE AN …
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 …
"Bee-Friending" Insect Populations
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. Insects are the foundation of the planet’s ecosystems. When just one type of insect disappears, dozens of other species, including humans, are directly …
Declining Insects — Declining World: Part 2 Causes of Insect Decline
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. (Blog intro: Declining Insects — Declining World, Feb. 20, 2019) As usual, once I start thinking about a topic, it pops up everywhere; declining …
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 …
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