Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
Gardening with wildlife and creating wildlife habitat in your backyard or garden can bring you a lot of joy. I love to watch the birds, butterflies, frogs, lizards, bees, and small mammals visit my garden, even if it means I sometimes lose a few plants. These articles talk about how to create backyard habitat, what plants can help wildlife in your garden, and even talks about some of the critters you might see in your garden.
Monarchs make a nearly 3,000-mile journey each year from Mexico to the northern U.S. and Canada. Along their travels, they rely on native milkweeds for food and host plants for their caterpillars. Growing plants in your butterfly garden than provide food and are also a host plant will attract lots of butterflies, including monarchs. And monarchs …
Continue Reading about 5 Great Plants for A Butterfly Garden in the Southeast
The slender, bright red, tubular flowers blooming at the ends of the coral honeysuckle vine (Lonicera sempervirens) will add a bright spot of color to your garden. The interior of the honeysuckle flowers is often yellow, making them stand out even more against the green leaves of this vine. Although the flowers of this vine don't have a strong …
Continue Reading about Coral Honeysuckle Vine: How to Grow This Native Vine for Hummingbirds
When I was young, I thought all the Blue Jays that I saw in our backyard were males. They had the crest, the bright colors, and the size of a typical male songbird. So, it just made sense to me. But I always wondered, why did I never see any female Blue Jays? What did they look like? This was my first encounter with what biologists call a …
Continue Reading about Male and Female Birds that Look Alike – Monomorphic Birds
Hummingbirds were sighted in Alabama and Louisiana in mid-February. They were spotted in Mississippi just a short while after that, so if you haven't seen some yet, they're headed your way! You can see the birds as they are sighted on the map below. 2022 Hummingbird Migration Map by Hummingbird Central Now is the time to clean your …
Have you discovered that something is eating the leaves of your tomato plants and damaging your green tomatoes? You probably have a tomato hornworm or a tobacco hornworm. If you look around, you will probably find a giant green caterpillar on your tomato plants. What Does a Tomato Hornworm or Tobacco Hornworm Look Like? These big worms can …
The pink-hued blooms of native eastern redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) are one of the first signs of color that I see in March. It’s a sure sign that spring is on its way and that more color will begin to pop up in the lawns and gardens in our neighborhood. After months of cold weather and the barren landscapes of winter, the hint of mauve and …
Continue Reading about Eastern Redbud Trees Provide Early Spring Food for Bees
