nature in your yard | NurtureNativeNature

Dear Neighbor: Your Mosquito Control is Environmentally Hostile

Spring in Atlanta means the return of the war on insects. If I combined everyone in my area into one person, this is the snarky letter...

You Can Only Have a Native Violet Bouquet if You Grow It

ljmarkson

Mar 22, 20212 min read

You Can Only Have a Native Violet Bouquet if You Grow It

Non-native roses are widely admired. Native violet’s value is underestimated. But if you grow violets in your yard. Nature will be...

We Can Teach Our Children How to Interact with Nature One Squirrel, Earthworm and Ladybug at a Time

ljmarkson

Mar 16, 20213 min read

We Can Teach Our Children How to Interact with Nature One Squirrel, Earthworm and Ladybug at a Time

OR Teaching Our Children How to Appreciate Nature Using the Peter Parker Principle. I was in earshot of hearing a neighbor’s young child...

Squirrels: Ambassadors for Coexisting with Nature in Our Yards

ljmarkson

Mar 11, 20213 min read

Squirrels: Ambassadors for Coexisting with Nature in Our Yards

Our house is our human nest but once we step outside, we share space with wildlife. Just because we’ve destroyed habitats to build our...

The Prime Directive and the Owlet Looper Caterpillar Dilemma

ljmarkson

Feb 11, 20213 min read

The Prime Directive and the Owlet Looper Caterpillar Dilemma

OR Coexisting with nature is as complex as trying to follow Star Trek’s Prime Directive. In anticipation of the first hard freeze back at...

Replace Non-native Shrubs With High Impact Native Shrubs

ljmarkson

Jan 31, 20213 min read

Native Pollinator Plants

Replace Non-native Shrubs With High Impact Native Shrubs

Rewilding a semi-urban yard to create an eco-friendly sanctuary is more emotional than I anticipated. Almost a year and a half ago after...

Plant a Glorious Goldenrod Garden This Year!

ljmarkson

Jan 10, 20213 min read

Plant a Glorious Goldenrod Garden This Year!

OR Do You Think Growing 19 Varieties of Goldenrod is Enough?! I currently have more varieties of goldenrod than any other native plant...

Nine Bright and Easy Native Goldenrods to Add to Your Atlanta Naturescape (Natural Landscape)

ljmarkson

Jan 5, 20214 min read

Nine Bright and Easy Native Goldenrods to Add to Your Atlanta Naturescape (Natural Landscape)

OR Add Biodiversity to Your Native Plant Habitat with More Goldenrod` OR Can You Ever Really Have Enough Goldenrod? (Edited 12.3.22 to...

ljmarkson

Dec 31, 20202 min read

Why Goldenrod is Native Plant Gold

OR Goldenrod's Many Charms. In my previous post I explain why everyone in the native plant world is talking about goldenrod (solidago). A...

What Do Pest Control Companies Want to Teach Our Kids?

ljmarkson

Dec 23, 20202 min read

What Do Pest Control Companies Want to Teach Our Kids?

OR Teach Kids About Butterflies Before Termites. I try hard to focus on positive ways to nurture nature, but when I learn about nature...

Triangulate Cobweb Spiders Are Our Friends

ljmarkson

Dec 16, 20202 min read

Triangulate Cobweb Spiders Are Our Friends

OR My Rake Is a Now a Spider Habitat. My rake is used so often that when I recently went to take it out of my gardening storage area it...

ljmarkson

Dec 12, 20202 min read

In Defense of Grasshoppers

OR Without Grasshoppers We Won't Have Birds. On a recent balmy winter day, I walked down a path in my yard and a handful of grasshoppers...

ljmarkson

Dec 9, 20203 min read

I'm An Eco Bag Lady

OR I'm a Naturescape Organic Matter Scavenger Part Two. Much to the embarrassment of my sweet husband, I’m an eco bag lady. When we walk...

Plant a Winter Seedhead Garden to Nurture a Natural Bird Habitat

ljmarkson

Dec 1, 20201 min read

Plant a Winter Seedhead Garden to Nurture a Natural Bird Habitat

OR Birdseed isn't the Only Way to Attract Birds in the Winter Butterfly gardens are wildly popular because flowers are beautiful and...

Why Aren't All State Flowers Native Flowers?

ljmarkson

Nov 29, 20202 min read

Why Aren't All State Flowers Native Flowers?

In my quest to learn every little thing I could about passionflower vine, I found out the state flower of Tennessee is non-native iris...

ljmarkson

Nov 25, 20202 min read

Native Pollinator Plants

Is That a Leaf or Chrysalis?

OR Please Don't Cut Down Your Plants in the Fall! One of the golden rules of nurturing native nature is the same as the golden rule in...

Nature's Perfect Harmony: Native Purple Passionflower Vine and Gulf Fritillary Butterflies

ljmarkson

Nov 24, 20202 min read

Nature's Perfect Harmony: Native Purple Passionflower Vine and Gulf Fritillary Butterflies

There’s a fascinating phenomenon I've noticed but haven't specifically read about between native purple passionflower vines (passiflora...

The Very Hungry Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar - From Youthful Defoliation to Chrysalis

ljmarkson

Nov 22, 20202 min read