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Native Aquatic Milkweed Is a Pretty and Petite Monarch Host Plant for Damp Areas

ljmarkson

Sep 17, 20212 min read

Native Aquatic Milkweed Is a Pretty and Petite Monarch Host Plant for Damp Areas

My September native plant pick #5 is white swamp milkweed or aquatic milkweed (asclepias perennis), one of many native milkweeds in...

Boneset is a Thoroughly Valuable Native Plant

ljmarkson

Sep 13, 20212 min read

Native Butterfly & Moth Host Plants

Boneset is a Thoroughly Valuable Native Plant

My September native plant pick #4 is common boneset (eupatorium perfoliatum), also called thoroughwort because of the way the stems go...

Native Climbing Boneset is Loved By Pollinators!

ljmarkson

Sep 8, 20212 min read

Native Flowering Vines

Native Climbing Boneset is Loved By Pollinators!

My #3 September native plant pick is a rambling perennial vine I've only noticed growing at a nearby nature park in my intown Atlanta...

Frog Fruit Is a Valuable Native Groundcover!

ljmarkson

Sep 4, 20212 min read

Native Butterfly & Moth Host Plants

Frog Fruit Is a Valuable Native Groundcover!

My September native plant pick #2 is a fantastic low-growing, semi-evergreen groundcover called frog fruit (phyla nodiflora, formerly...

Flowering Spurge is an Overlooked Native Plant

ljmarkson

Sep 3, 20212 min read

Native Pollinator Plants

Flowering Spurge is an Overlooked Native Plant

I just realized the summer is disappearing and I haven’t shared much about the native plants growing in my little wildlife sanctuary...

ljmarkson

Aug 25, 20214 min read

Native Pollinator Plants

A Successful Pollinator Garden is Messy

OR Did You Really Plant That Pollinator Garden for Pollinators? Starting in early spring a 5 year old pollinator garden at the entrance...

ljmarkson

Aug 16, 20212 min read

Birds

Hummingbirds and Windows

Drama unfolded in my small semi-urban rewilded yard recently when two ruby-throated hummingbirds, probably engrossed in a territorial...

Robber Flies are Ferocious Insect Hunters!

ljmarkson

Jul 31, 20212 min read

Insects

Robber Flies are Ferocious Insect Hunters!

Yesterday, when a robber fly landed on my backdoor window I felt like it wanted to say hi and have its picture taken because it...

ljmarkson

Jul 26, 20213 min read

Landscaping for Nature

My Moth Week Miracle

There seems to be a special place in all secular and religious belief systems for the idea that things happen for a reason. A few days...

Have You Seen a Non-Native Invasive Sculptured Resin Bee In Your Yard?

ljmarkson

Jul 18, 20213 min read

Insects

Have You Seen a Non-Native Invasive Sculptured Resin Bee In Your Yard?

A couple weeks ago I was excited to see a giant bee I had never seen before pollinating my clustered mountain mint (pycnanthemum...

Pollinators Can't Resist Native Mountain Mint Flowers!

ljmarkson

Jun 29, 20214 min read

Native Pollinator Plants

Pollinators Can't Resist Native Mountain Mint Flowers!

Clustered or short-toothed mountain mint (pycnanthemum muticum) is by far the most popular plant in my yard right now. All day long it is...

Be Greedy About Supporting Wildlife in Your Yard!

ljmarkson

Jun 20, 20214 min read

Landscaping for Nature

Be Greedy About Supporting Wildlife in Your Yard!

OR How to optimize the habitat value of your yard. In his book Nature’s Best Hope Doug Tallamy explains how “greedy” he is when it...

Coexisting With Snakes In Your Atlanta Yard

ljmarkson

Jun 11, 20216 min read

Landscaping for Nature

Coexisting With Snakes In Your Atlanta Yard

Despite making my yard welcoming for wildlife, I still can't control what happens outside the safety of my sanctuary. The long list of...

ljmarkson

May 9, 20213 min read

Landscaping for Nature

Why I'm a Fan of Common Native Plants

The traditional gardening world often fetishizes exotic and rare plants. The latest trends trickle down to homeowners. Big box and...

Add a Mini Nature Center to Your Wildlife Habitat Yard

ljmarkson

Apr 26, 20213 min read

Landscaping for Nature

Add a Mini Nature Center to Your Wildlife Habitat Yard

OR How I created the Homestead Nature Center with a little help from my family As restorative as my naturescaped yard is for the...

Atlanta Area Spring 2021 Native Plant Sales and Nurseries

ljmarkson

Apr 5, 20215 min read

Native Plants

Atlanta Area Spring 2021 Native Plant Sales and Nurseries

Last spring most of the spring native plant sales vanished because of the pandemic. This spring a little normalcy has returned, but...

Dear Neighbor: Your Mosquito Control is Environmentally Hostile

ljmarkson

Mar 26, 20214 min read

Landscaping for Nature

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

Native Butterfly & Moth Host Plants

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

Landscaping for Nature

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

Landscaping for Nature

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...

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