Month: October 2022

My aunt spent much of her life nurturing the gardens of Mohonk Mountain House in the Catskills of New York. She kept lists of plants for various display and wild gardens. Over the years she showed me around the gardens with pride, helping to initiate my own interest in gardening. On one of our many… Continue reading White-Tailed Deer

Classic garden advice suggests you choose plants for their flowers, fruits, or foliage, or all three. When selecting plants for my garden I consider their value to wildlife, including flowers for pollinators and fruits as an important resource for animals that share my yard. But after the flowers and fruits are gone, you still have… Continue reading Go Big With Foliage Plants

I have two species of lobelias growing naturally in my yard, cardinal flower, and the great blue lobelia. Between the two of them they flower for much of the summer and well into fall, both among my longest lasting flowers. The cardinal flower begins to flower in early summer and has only finished flowering a… Continue reading Great Blue Lobelia

At this time of year, I have several species of goldenrod flowering in my yard. Whenever I look at them, they are full of pollinators, including this fly. They are one of the few flowers left now, so provide one last source of pollen and nectar for the remaining insects. They often get the blame… Continue reading The Importance of Goldenrods

This time of year, there are quite a few asters flowering, both in my woods and in sunnier areas near the creek. They provide food to lingering pollinators like flies, wasps, butterflies, and this bee, shot with a slower shutter speed to catch its busy blur. Asters provide welcome sources of pollen and nectar as… Continue reading Aster Season