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Now is Your Chance to Change the State Flower of Georgia to a Native Species!
It’s a travesty that the state flower of Georgia is a non-native invasive species! I’m reposting an easy way for anyone who lives in...
ljmarkson
Feb 23, 20243 min read


Nature Loving Strangers are Kindred Spirits
I was recently looking through my lengthy list of ongoing blog ideas and catchy titles for articles yet to be written and came across...
ljmarkson
Oct 9, 20234 min read


25 Dry Shade Tolerant Native Plants for a Southern Habitat Yard
Back in February I wrote about how having a section of sewer pipe replaced offered me an opportunity to replant a section of my rewilded...
ljmarkson
Jun 8, 20238 min read


Children Care Deeply About Protecting Nature - Let's Nurture This
We pulled into our driveway from an outing and there was a mother with her 7-or 8-year-old daughter at our front door. The little girl...
ljmarkson
Mar 5, 20233 min read


S**t Happens - and Opens up Possibilities!
One of the main lessons in my daily guided meditation is how our suffering comes from not being able to align our inner expectations with...
ljmarkson
Feb 5, 20236 min read

To Save Insects and Birds the Future is Now
It turned out to be a great idea for the Intown Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia native Plant Society to squeeze one more event into this...
ljmarkson
Nov 18, 20223 min read


Strategies for Identifying Agastache Species and Other Native Plants
I don’t usually get fussy or wonky about different native plant species but when I learned the range for the most common hyssop called...
ljmarkson
Jul 19, 20226 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...
ljmarkson
Dec 31, 20215 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...
ljmarkson
Nov 9, 20214 min read


I'm Done Tidying Nature For an Outdated Aesthetic
I’ve recently had a paradigm shift about spending so much energy making my rewilded yard more approachable, neater, or more traditionally...
ljmarkson
Oct 17, 20215 min read


Native Georgia Aster is a Rare Southern Belle
October is aster time so I’m starting off my list of ten October native plants with the stunning Georgia aster (symphyotrichum...
ljmarkson
Oct 6, 20214 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...
ljmarkson
Sep 17, 20212 min read


Atlanta Area Fall 2021 Native Plant Sales and Nurseries
Even though September is Georgia Grows Native for Birds month, I try not to plant until October. Fall plant sales have me itching to add...
ljmarkson
Sep 15, 20217 min read


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...
ljmarkson
Sep 13, 20212 min read


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...
ljmarkson
Sep 5, 20212 min read


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
Sep 3, 20212 min read


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...
ljmarkson
Jun 29, 20214 min read


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...
ljmarkson
Jun 20, 20214 min read


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...
ljmarkson
May 9, 20213 min read


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...
ljmarkson
Apr 5, 20215 min read
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