Milkweed: Tough Native
Usually when I spy a plant bursting forth from a crack in the cement like this, it’s a non-native plant, an invasive “weed” of some sort. I tend to think of native plants as timid souls, needing shade and rich forest loam–dainty wildflowers, fragile ferns, like that. But milkweed, a native American plant, packs a bit of muscle, it seems. It pokes up in all sorts of unexpected places. Milkweed is the plant where Monarch butterflies are concerned–common milkweed and a few other closely related plants in the Asclepias genus are the only plants Monarchs will lay...
Read MoreDon’t Bite Off More…
…than you can ingest. Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for another great bird shot!
Read MoreGood Mowing, Part 2
Last November I wrote a blog post about a meadow at the George Landis Arboretum in Esperance, NY. The meadow had just been mowed, and while you might assume from the title of my blog that I would be violently opposed to all mowing, that’s actually not the case. I can be a good sport about mowing. In fact, mowing in the right places, at the right time of year, can be an enormous help for wildlife, and for wildflowers. A mowed meadow looks sad and stubbly, but as with all good things, patience is required. Here’s what the meadow looks like today. A kaleidoscope of purple, gold and white:...
Read MoreThe Angry Cardinal
Well? I’m waiting. I really think I’m being very patient here. See this beak? This can crack more than sunflower seeds, you know. I’m not going to be patient much longer. Okay. I’m going to count to three. One. Two. Two and a half. I mean it. You’d better get a move on. Two and three-quarters. GET THAT SUNFLOWER SEED OUT HERE RIGHT NOW! Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for braving the Angry Cardinal to take this wonderful picture! ...
Read MoreStaghorn Sumac: Painting With Trees
Staghorn sumac. (Rhus typhina.) These dainty little trees are a common sight along roadsides. They seem to spring up everywhere, near dumps or malls or in weedy backyards. They’re the kind of tree no one notices. Except birds, of course, who love the sweet fuzzy berries, high in vitamin C and energy. But four hundred years ago, sumac seeds were almost literally worth their weight in gold. English botanists explored the New World in the early 1600s and were thrilled to discover a host of exotic species: exciting plants (which are ho-hum to us today) like goldenrod, sugar maples, white pines,...
Read MoreGuest Photographer Diane Hale Smith; A Study in Scarlet
Red. Blood red. Fire engine red. Crimson. That’s what hummingbirds like. These magnificent little birds are drawn to the color red like iron is drawn to a magnet, cats to catnip, humans to chocolate. Where I used to work, there was a bright red fire extinguisher bolted next to one of the doors, and sometimes when we left the door propped open, a hummingbird would fly in and spend quite a lot of time trying to suck nectar from the tube-shaped nozzle. I once made the mistake of wearing a red t-shirt on a hike—this was in Arizona—and I was constantly buzzed by hummers, going ZZZZZZZZZZZZ...
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