Though summer may seem a long way off, now is the perfect time to be thinking about what kind of visitors you’d like to welcome to your garden. While human friends and family are a sure bet, wildlife is not. But by selecting and planting the “right” plants, you can influence what creatures will make a home in your garden over the coming months. Attracting hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, toads, salamanders, songbirds, and other fascinating garden guests doesn’t mean putting out a welcome mat; what they need instead is the appropriate habitat and a diversity of plants capable of supporting them.
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Create a moss-covered pot for spring blooms
In 2012, my mom and I went to Floriade, a horticultural expo that happens once every 10 years in the Netherlands. We stayed in the town of Venlo and one afternoon, as we were exploring all the little shops, we came across these cute little moss-covered pots.
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Hellebores offer a welcome hint of spring
Anticipating spring can be a long, tedious wait. Often the cherry blossoms are blooming in Vancouver, while here in Southern Ontario, we are still contemplating whether we should put our parkas away for good. As you patiently bide your time until you can head outdoors into the garden, consider the spring-blooming plants you may want to add to your must-have list, such as hellebores.
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Best way to start seeds: Grow lights or sunny windowsills
When it comes to seed sowing, the big question is what is the best way to start seeds – with grow lights or sunny windowsills? Are grow lights worth the expense? If you’re serious about seed starting, the answer is yes.
For me, the seed-starting season begins with early sowings of slow-growing plants like leeks, onions, geraniums, and pansies in mid-February. Today, I use a homemade three-tier light stand with simple four-foot long shop fixtures fitted with fluorescent bulbs. But, early on, I used my mother’s dining room table (sorry mom!).
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Help fireflies by doing these things in your backyard
Most folks can probably identify an adult firefly, but can you identify a larval one? I found this little guy (or girl?) this past summer on a driveway in eastern Pennsylvania. These fascinating – and garden-friendly! – insects are facing massive population declines due to habitat loss, light pollution, and pesticide exposure. You might wonder how you can help fireflies. Well, as it turns out, encouraging them to take up residence in your yard is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
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Paper wasps: Are they worth the sting?
If you’ve ever had the misfortune of accidentally encountering a gray, papery nest full of bald-faced hornets or running your lawn mower or string trimmer over the entrance hole of a nest of ground-dwelling yellow jackets, you’re well aware of how defensive paper wasps can be. Particularly in the autumn. But you’d be defensive too, if you thought your queen was under attack and you knew that the survival of your queen meant the survival of your species.
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