Beetles are infamous creatures in the minds of most gardeners, mere mention of the moniker conjuring up memories of Japanese beetles devouring grape foliage, flea beetles shot-holing broccoli leaves, cucumber beetles, Colorado potato beetles, asparagus beetles, Mexican bean beetles, lily … Continue reading →

February may have the fewest days, but it is the longest month for this gardener.  I have grown weary of winter, want to see the ground again, to plant a seed.  Most of all, I long to smell sweet peas … Continue reading →

Far less conspicuous than butterflies are the thousands of North American moth species, their muted colors and nocturnal lives keeping most of them out of sight and thus out of mind.  I am was reminded of their existence, however, when … Continue reading →

“Our fellowship with other creatures is real, our union with the creation is already achieved, because we all rise and fall on a single breath.  You and I and the black-footed ferret, the Earth, the sun, and the far-flung galaxies … Continue reading →

“A recent tally of threatened species by the World Conservation Union lists more than a thousand mammals, nearly a quarter of all those we know, and more than a thousand birds.  Each year’s list is longer.  We can reverse those … Continue reading →

Walking through the garden after the big snow, the sun shining bright, the temperature in the mid-teens, I see few signs of life other than two crows in the top of a spruce tree, a mixed flock of pine siskins … Continue reading →

Leaving the warmth of bed, my first stop each winter morning is a downstairs window that looks out on an old rhododendron, a pink-flowering catawba of forgotten pedigree planted years ago against the  north wall of our home.  “Rhody says … Continue reading →

Over the past several months, Marjorie and I have shared the past summer’s success in attracting monarch butterflies with readers of my weekly Bangor Daily News column (http://gardeningintunewithnature.bangordailynews.com/2014/09/02/ecologicaly-functional-garden/a-monarch-summer) and with gardeners who came to hear us speak on our favorite … Continue reading →

Two years ago, when a friend emailed that he planned to add a new tree to his garden, I asked if I could help and take photographs of the process, images I would use in a magazine piece on selecting … Continue reading →

For as long as I can remember, I have been a birder. Going back over fifty years to my childhood in Georgia, I recall early mornings sitting with my father in front of the patio door, looking out on the … Continue reading →