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All Blog Posts
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ljmarkson
Mar 16, 20226 min read
Atlanta Area Spring 2022 Native Plant Sales and Nurseries
Spring native plant buying season is here! It’s exciting to see most of the native plant sales and nurseries are once again in person...
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ljmarkson
Mar 6, 20225 min read
Just Say No to Spring Backyard Habitat Destruction
There were no happy birds in my yard on a warm spring day last week. On Friday I watched them flitting around my neighbor’s yard...
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ljmarkson
Feb 20, 20222 min read
Winter Sowing Native Liatris Spicata for a Mini Nature Center
My friend Rita from Botany Yards generously gave me native plant seeds to put in my mini-nature center. I wondered how to ensure success...
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ljmarkson
Feb 12, 20223 min read
Why My Family Doesn't Bring Me Flowers Anymore
My family shows how much they love me by not giving me cut flowers. They know I don’t want flowers covered in pesticides that are grown...
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ljmarkson
Feb 5, 20224 min read
Gardening Advice Turns a Corner
Out of curiosity I visited a popular gardening guru’s FB page. Winter lawns, various Roundup products and a flowering (invasive) mahonia...
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ljmarkson
Feb 2, 20225 min read
Winter Sowing Tips for Native Plant Seedlings
Last spring, I meant to write a native plant seedling update to my winter sowing posts. I even made notes, but never actually wrote the...
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ljmarkson
Jan 23, 20227 min read
Native Plants to Winter Sow for Summer Blooms This Year
I thought I was done winter sowing in the first week of January when I planted 100 different native plant seeds and put the trays outside...
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ljmarkson
Jan 11, 20222 min read
If Nature Was Predictable, It Wouldn't Be So Fascinating
My tiny, semi-urban, rewilded yard surprises me. Every. Single. Day. This past Sunday it was deathly quiet in both the front and...
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ljmarkson
Jan 9, 20225 min read
Red-Winged Blackbirds are Special
Years ago, when I had a lawn with a sad, lonely bird feeder in the middle of it, I would senselessly chase away flocks of Red-winged...
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ljmarkson
Dec 30, 20215 min read
Cedar Waxwings Reveal How Pervasively Disruptively Invasive Nandina and Honeysuckle are to Wildlife
Soon after I started working on a post focused on invasive nandina (Nandina domestica), I went down a rabbit hole and ended up in a...
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ljmarkson
Dec 26, 20214 min read
A December Butterfly Brings Hope
In the middle of the brown landscape of winter a flash or orange and silver movement caught my eye. It startled me and when I looked a...
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ljmarkson
Dec 21, 20213 min read
What a Mushroom Eating Squirrel Teaches Us About Nature
After a rainy spell a couple weeks ago, mushrooms appeared in a section of my rewilded yard. About a week later I started noticing...
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ljmarkson
Dec 17, 20214 min read
The Future is Dependent on Connecting Children to Nature Every Day
"Today’s children, growing up on lawns and pavements, will not even have nostalgia to guide them, and soon the animals will be not only...
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ljmarkson
Dec 10, 20215 min read
Fresh Gift Ideas for the Backyard Nature Lover
If you know someone who buys native plants by the carload, creates a safe backyard habitat space for wildlife, has seeds stratifying in...
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ljmarkson
Dec 8, 20216 min read
Holiday Light Pollution Shines Brightly at Botanical Gardens
Sometimes I wish I could take off my awareness glasses and go back to ignorantly enjoying things that harm our ecosystem. For example,...
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ljmarkson
Nov 29, 20215 min read
The Squirrel and Acorn Connection
I wish I spoke Eastern grey squirrel on a warm day a couple weeks ago when I saw an industrious young squirrel think he was cleverly...
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ljmarkson
Nov 23, 20215 min read
Connecting the Rodenticide and Backyard Ecosystem Dots
My biophobic, eco-clueless neighbor found dead snakes in her driveway and posted in our neighborhood group because she wanted to know if...
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ljmarkson
Nov 19, 20215 min read
Update on My Mini Nature Center
I appreciate how social media can connect me to so many like-minded people who are also working to restore nature where they live. It’s...
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ljmarkson
Nov 9, 20214 min read
Create Local Change by Building Community Support for Native Plants
The native plant community in Atlanta grew stronger yesterday with the first event of the newly minted Intown Atlanta Chapter of the GNPS...
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ljmarkson
Nov 3, 20213 min read
Reclaiming My Leaves and Restoring Nature
My advocacy for nature puts me outside my conflict comfort zone. I find myself consistently protecting my rewilded yard from neighboring...
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