Morgan the Intrepid
I'm so happy that Morgan is well on her way to recovering from her recent cruciate ligament surgery! Morgan is one of my two Plott Hounds (at least their mommies were Plott Hounds, father unknown in both cases), and I've got to say she has totally stolen my heart! She's a total goofball, and makes me laugh right out loud at some point every day. I've had many dogs over the course of my lifetime, but this one is special. We've had her since she was 5 months old when she was chosen for … [Read More...]
A Visit to Morris Arboretum With My Favorite Nature Kids
This weekend I had the immense pleasure of visiting the Morris Arboretum with my all-time favorite nature kids: Libby (7), Penny (5), Emmett (2), and their mom Mary. This family lives across the street from me, and I've had the joy of watching each of them grow up. It's so much fun to see nature through their eyes, to participate in their joy of exploration, and witness their joy in playing and learning in the natural world around them. Libby and Penny were really excited to show us the Big … [Read More...]
The View From Temple #4
My heart was pounding in my chest and echoing in my ears, shutting out all other sound, as I stepped onto the first step leading up to the top of Temple #4 in Tikal, Guatemala. I was about to begin a 64 meter high climb to the top. And I was scared. For all you sci-fi fans out there, Temple IV was used to shoot the rebel base on the Moon Yavin 4 where the Millenium Falcon lands in the jungle world in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope I had set a challenge for myself, and I was determined to … [Read More...]
The Stars Project by Bill Schaffer and Kris Kratt
The amazing husband and wife floral team of Bill Schaffer and Kris Kratt of Shaffer Designs in Philadelphia, PA created a stunning floral pop-up art exhibit to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States in the pre-dawn hours of September 17. [I know it was pre-dawn because I was honored to be invited to photograph the event, and let me tell you 4 am comes way too early] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tymitzZzDA&feature=plcp In the … [Read More...]
Big Bugs at Morris Arboretum
I had the immense pleasure of taking an outing yesterday with my favorite nature kids, Libby, Penny, and Emmet, and their Mom, Mary, our neighbors from across the street. We joined them to explore the Big Bugs exhibit at Morris Arboretum, where 11 huge sculptures of bugs made from natural … [Read More...]
Ultimate Guide to Birdscaping Your Garden
I'm so thrilled to have created another "Ultimate Guide" to help you make the most of your wildlife garden. Check out: The Ultimate Guide to Birdscaping Your Garden: Nearly one third of all U.S. birds are endangered, threatened or in significant decline due to habitat loss, invasive species, and … [Read More...]
Bee Action
I’m so pleased to announce that tomorrow I’ll be participating in a live panel discussion about creating habitat in our gardens for native bees. This live event is sponsored by Dave Hunter of Crown Bees to launch the Bee GAP (Gardeners Adding Pollinators) program designed to help … [Read More...]
Farmers Saving Bird Habitat
I just returned from a wonderful visit to Guatemala on a birding FAM trip, where I had the opportunity to visit many coffee fincas and other farms. It’s so exciting to see farmers working hard to protect bird habitat, and making that an important part of their operation. While there I had the … [Read More...]
Megan Crewe on Birds, Birding, and Bird Habitat
I just spent almost two delightful weeks birding in the tropical paradise of Trinidad and Tobago with Megan Crewe of Field Guides Birding Tours Worldwide. Megan lives birds. Her almost encyclopedic knowledge of the birds of the world, their conservation status, and their habitat needs is … [Read More...]
New Wildlife Garden Update
Last summer I wrote about how I had resorted to ripping out my entire wildlife garden so that I could start over again from scratch because the garden had been over-run by too many invasive plants. I enlisted the help of my nephew Lucas and we literally pulled out every plant in the garden. We … [Read More...]
Turning Farms into Wildlife Habitat
I recently had the opportunity to tour several coffee fincas (farms) in Guatemala and I was very impressed that these farmers are passionate about creating habitat for birds and other wildlife on their farms. I’m also encouraged that these farmers are pursuing certification for their fincas as … [Read More...]
Ultimate Guide to Attracting Native Bees
This past Saturday I had the pleasure of being a panelist for the launch of BeeGAP(Gardeners Adding Pollinators), dedicated to solving the problem of the loss of honeybee pollinators for our food supply and teaching gardeners how to attract native bees to their Ecosystem Gardens. The Ultimate … [Read More...]
Attracting Birds And Birders
I returned this week from a birding FAM trip for almost 2 weeks in Guatemala, where I saw some amazingly beautiful birds and got to visit some of the coffee fincas and preserves that are working to protect, preserve, and create habitat for birds so that they can attract international birders to … [Read More...]
Birding Asa Wright Nature Center
The morning sun rose to the most beautiful sounds of bird song coming from near and far. I was waking up to my first morning at Asa Wright Nature Center on the beautiful tropical island of Trinidad, and I was so excited to be starting my vacation on the veranda of this world-renowned birding … [Read More...]
The Quest to See the Horned Guan in Guatemala
Would you want to go see a bird if it was described as a "Death March?" How about if people said "I thought I was going to die?" The Horned Guan is found only in remote locations at high elevations in the cloud forests on extinct volcanoes in southwest Mexico and Guatemala, and has been listed … [Read More...]
Birding Tikal
What happens when a thriving city (from 1000 BC to 900 AD) is abandoned and swallowed up by the surrounding rain forest, only to be rediscovered about 1000 years later? I had the opportunity to find out on my recent visit to Guatemala. When humans give up control in a place, Mother Nature has a … [Read More...]
The Scarlet Ibis of Trinidad
One of the highlights of my recent trip to Trinidad and Tobago was the visit to Caroni Swamp in Trinidad, a boat tour through the swamp that ended with the spectacular sight of thousands of Scarlet Ibis coming in to roost as the sun set. I made a short video so you can imagine yourself watching … [Read More...]
A Review of Field Guides Birding Tours
I recently had the pleasure of birding in Trinidad and Tobago on a tour I booked withField Guides Birding Tours Worldwide with our guide Megan Crewe. And my experience both with the company and with our guide was exceptional! In fact, we are already planning our next trip with them. Why use a … [Read More...]
A Review of Field Guides Birding Tours
I recently had the pleasure of birding in Trinidad and Tobago on a tour I booked with Field Guides Birding Tours Worldwide with our guide Megan Crewe. And my experience both with the company and with our guide was exceptional! In fact, we are already planning our next trip with them. I have … [Read More...]
Team Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens Celebrates 2nd Blogiversary
Two years ago today a team of 30 writers heartily agreed to participate in the creation of this site to bring you up-to-date information and discussion about the importance of native plants in our landscapes, the value of creating welcoming habitat for wildlife in our gardens, green roofs, teaching … [Read More...]
Ultimate Guide to Butterfly And Moth Gardening
Continuing in the vein of collecting all of the best information around various themes from both Team sites as well as Ecosystem Gardening, I've created The Ultimate Guide to Butterfly and Moth Gardening. "Butterflies around the country are in danger from habitat loss and pesticide spraying. You … [Read More...]
Can Milkweed be Bad for Monarchs
We’ve been hearing for years from scientists and Monarch organizations that we need to plant more milkweed to support the phenomenon of Monarch Butterfly migration. I have been an avid teacher of this principle myself, sharing with the workshops and classes that I teach and writing often about how … [Read More...]
Team Spotlight Carol Duke and The Bestiary
I’ve started a new series to introduce you to our team members so that you can get to know each of the passionate people who write for Team Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens each month. Over a year ago Carol Duke began working on her ongoing series The Bestiary: Tales From a Wildlife Garden. … [Read More...]
Team Spotlight: Ellen Sousa
I’m going to be writing a series of posts to introduce you to each of our team members because they are an amazing group, and I want you to meet all of them and learn about all the wonderful things they are doing. I’m a little sad to be writing this first post in the series today, though, … [Read More...]
Success For Authors? Build a Tribe
Bill Schaffer and Kris Kratt The husband and wife team of Bill Schaffer and Kris Kratt are the creative geniuses behind the successful Floral Design team at Schaffer Designs of Philadelphia, PA, who recently created The Stars Project, a huge floral pop-up art sculpture on the lawn of the … [Read More...]
Marketing Lessons From the Lucky Old Souls Burger Truck Failure
Marketing Lessons From the Lucky Old Souls Food Truck Epic Failure As writers we know when building our platform that a combination of a poor quality product combined with pitiful customer service is a recipe for failure. We are always striving to make our product (our writing) the best it can … [Read More...]
My Interview With Pamela Wilson and Kelly Kingman
Why is it so hard to get an eBook done? If you’re like me, the thought of writing an eBook may seem a daunting task, the idea of making it look good may seem insurmountable, and marketing it may seem impossible. Kelly Kingman and Pamela Wilson have teamed up to help us overcome all three of … [Read More...]
When To Keep Your Mouth Shut
I know, we live in a free-for-all, let it all hang out, be transparent social media world where anonymous commenters hurl flaming arrows of ugliness across the web. It’s very easy to respond to one of these comments with your own sarcastic response to prove your prowess in this realm. Face it, we … [Read More...]
