Sustaining Life According to the new book, Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends upon Biodiversity, we need birds, bugs, and bacteria a lot more than they need us. Dr. Eric Chivian, sharer of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, and Founder and Director of Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, was […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (Sept 2008)"
Nothing draws people’s ire as quickly as suggesting that they not plant buddleia in a butterfly garden. It’s understandable that people plant buddleias (Buddleia davidii or B. alternifolia; sometimes spelled Buddleja). After all, most garden books and websites include them in their lists of butterfly garden plants. And it’s easy to see why people like […] Continue reading "Nipped In The Buddleia (Buddleia davidii)"
It’s All One Piece: We continue to explore man’s traditional treatment of the soil, the results of this treatment, and the benefits that accrue through the planting and tending of natural landscapes, using nativeplants. Continue reading "A Mystery Explored: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Oh My!"
Project Budburst You may have read about Project Budburst in a recent Wild Ones Journal. It’s a nationwide volunteer effort to observe buds, leaves and blossoms on trees as part of tracking climatic variation over time. Herbaceous and non-native plants are also targets. You can learn more, and sign up at windows.ucar.edu/citizen_ science/budburst/. “As a […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (July 2008)"
Last summer at the edge of my yard, I spotted a vine with an unusual purplish-black, starshaped flower. In the past, I might not have noticed it. But courtesy of the hours we Habitat Gardening in Central New York (NY) Chapter members spent in intimate contact with that plant, I immediately recognized the villain: black […] Continue reading "Black Swallowwort (Cynanchum nigrum)"
In the previous article, we discussed what it is about native plants that makes them unique. We concluded that their long lives, with the resultant massive root structures, and millennia of adapting to their life space, while also co-evolving with other living organisms in their life space, were all relevant factors. Continue reading "Further Mysteries Explored"
Welcome to the Anthropocene The classic presentation of the biomes of the Earth, as seen in all our current ecology texts, has been based on abiotic environmental conditions, like climate, and the productivity of the dominant vegetation. The eight major biomes have been: Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Savanna, Desert, Chaparral, Grassland, Temperate Deciduous Forest, Temperate Boreal […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (May 2008)"
Looking for a big impact in your garden? Want to shade an undesirable view, or create a shady sitting area under a pergola? Cover a fence? How about a plant for a small garden where vertical gardening is necessary? Need a plant for erosion control? A fast-growing vine with beautiful red stems and bright blue […] Continue reading "Porcelainberry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata)"
Have you ever wondered why, specifically, we can say that native plants do not need to be fertilized or, for that matter, have any chemicals thrown at them? Is it something inherent in the plants? Is it something that we, the native planting caretakers, do, or don’t do? Is it something about the medium they […] Continue reading "A Mystery Explored"
No Child Left Inside Act We’ve all heard about the No Child Left Behind law. Before the end of this year Congress will be re-ratifying this law. In its implementation, schools have been cutting back on math, science, and environmental education. A strong bipartisan coalition has formed in both the House and the Senate to […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (Mar 2008)"