Native Plants
Your Favorite Native Plants: We Have Some Winners!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the t-shirt competition. There were many wonderful submissions and it was very hard to choose. The 5 winners are: Penny Lewis, Kay Wulf, Autumn Thomas, Missy Clark Isaacs, and Kay Davis. Starting today, I’ll share their answers on this blog. (Winners, please email me at info@ecobeneficial.com with your mailing address, t-shirt style and…
Read MoreHelping Bees in Crisis: 7 Steps to Creating a Bee-Friendly Landscape
The European Honey Bee and our 4,000 species of native bees in the U.S. have suffered dramatic losses to their populations due to a combination of many factors. Since bees pollinate a significant portion of our food crops, this is a problem that affects all of us. Without bee pollination services, many of our common fruits, nuts and vegetables would…
Read MoreEarth Day Resolutions: Top 10 Tips for an EcoBeneficial Garden
Here are some easy ways to increase the health of the ecosystem in your landscape. If you have more tips, please let us know. 1) Reduce or eliminate your lawn – it’s an ecological desert. 2) Focus on increasing the health of your soil – it’s filled with life! Compost is king for many soils, not fertilizer. 3) Eliminate synthetic…
Read MoreSpring Planting With Environmental Impact!
Still wondering what to plant this spring? How about boosting the ecosystem in your yard with some native woody plants. Replace invasive, exotic plants in your yard with some regionally native plants. Check out the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower plant database to see if the plants suggested below are native to your area. Give me a shout if you need some…
Read MorePlant It and They Will Come: The EcoBeneficial Bird Garden
Approximately two-thirds of the bird species found in the U.S. are migrating birds. Some migrants travel great distances while others don’t go far at all. The farthest travelers are the neo-tropical migrants which breed in the U.S. in the warmer seasons and then travel to Mexico, Canada , South America, or the Caribbean to overwinter. When they return in the…
Read MoreAttracting Butterflies: Growing Nectar Plants Isn’t Enough!
There are many, many reasons to use native plants in your landscape. One great reason is to support the caterpillars of butterflies. If you don’t feed those caterpillars, you won’t support the transformation of caterpillars into adult butterflies in your landscape. Adult butterflies eat mostly nectar found in flowering plants, and most adult butterflies use a variety of plant species…
Read MoreSpotlight on Great Native Plants: Vernal Witch-hazel
Vernal Witch-hazel aka Spring Witch-hazel (Hamamelis vernalis) is one of our earliest blooming native shrubs, flowering as early as January, but often in February or March. Its orange, red or yellow flowers can appear while snow is still on the ground, and hug tightly onto the leafless branches. The spicy, sweet fragrance of the flowers will often lure you even…
Read MoreGrow Your Own Bird Seed: Native Grasses for Wild Birds
Many of our wild birds are seed eaters and will appreciate a backyard buffet planted with beautiful native grasses. The planting you do this spring will pay off next fall and winter when those birds are looking for scarce food resources. Our native grasses are not only attractive, but they are highly useful in our backyard (and front yard) ecosystems. They…
Read MoreNative Bees: The Forgotten 4,000
We all know the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) because of its amazing ability to produce that golden liquid, honey. But, did you realize that there are more than 4,000 species of bees which are native to the United States? Native bees vary tremendously in size, color, habitat, nest types, how they feed their larvae, etc. Native bees also have…
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