Category Archives: Sustainablity in your garden

Love your honey… bee that is!

Celebrate National Honeybee Day, August 20th

Honeybee on Prickly Poppy

 
That lovely honeybee isn’t just another pretty face… she works for a living, providing important services to humans and the ecosystem.  Honeybees are solely responsible for pollinating more than a third of our daily food supply.  Most people have heard about the honeybee crisis, but the honeybees aren’t the only ones in trouble these days. Pollinators including butterflies, native bees, and other beneficial insects are all in decline. But… there are little things–little pleasurable things–you can do to help. Even the smallest home garden can play a big role in the effort… and supporting larger scale efforts–like public gardens such as Tilden Park and the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens, and agricultural projects like the California Agricultural Pollinator Project–is another way we can make a difference.
 
Take a minute today to celebrate the honeybee… she’s done a lot for us. 

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The above photo of a honeybee on Prickly Poppy, Argemone munita, was taken at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, spring 2006, on a photo-shoot with my hubby.

Sustainable Solar Fountains for Wildlife Gardeners

When I create a garden haven for my clients and their beloved wildlife visitors, I also want to use sustainable practices. Adding a greater electric load to the planet feels out of sync with my sensibilities and values. Yet, wildlife need water, people are soothed by the presence of water, and birds are attracted to water’s tricking sounds and the bright sparkling reflections. One key ingredient to a successful wildlife garden is a water feature, preferably one with moving water.

Here’s a great article on what you need for a solar fountain for your garden…

http://bit.ly/HowToSolarFountains

More on this topic in future blogs…

A native plant revolution!

It all started a few weeks ago when I saw a call to action on Twitter “Native Plant Lovers Unite!”  As things happen, on the same day I was reading a very good blog about native plants, Native Plant Wildlife Gardening. The author, Karyl, is in Georgia. Georgia?!?  Suddenly the lights went on! What the heck is happening in the rest of the country in regards to native plants?  Could there a native plant movement? If so, how close is this movement to being mainstream? All kinds of questions started swimming around in my brain. I got so excited that I started looking up native plant societies state by state.

Well the answers to my questions surprised me…
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