Tag Archives: Gardening

Going Native

Our yard—front and back—is a curious place, located at a cultural and environmental crossroads.  Depending on one’s point of view, our yard is a treasure, an eyesore, an oasis of biological diversity, a blight on the neighborhood, something to be … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening, Landscaping, Musings, Native Plants, Society, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Backyard Gooseberries are Saucy Little Things

The gooseberries in our backyard try to get our attention with their tart little green offerings every year in the mid- to waning days of spring, but mostly they end up being overlooked as contributors to our partly wild larder.  … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Native Plants, Photography, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Columbine Time (Aquilegia canadensis)

When the spring columbines began popping up and blossoming in our backyard, we know it’s time to keep our eyes open for the arrival of the hummingbirds.  Sure enough, after several days of gorgeous blooms, we have now spotted at … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening, Landscaping, Native Plants, Photography, Seasons | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Butterflies and Beer: Get Ready for Spicebush Season

Spicebush is leafing out!  Normally it would be blooming by now, like this: But it seems that the hard winter and long spring have slowed it down like everything else, since ours aren’t blooming just yet. At any rate, you … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Gardening, Landscaping, Native Plants, Seasons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Backyard Food of the Gods

Still catching up on backyard native plants articles, and the latest is this unseasonal look at the American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), whose Latin name is often said to mean “Food of the Gods”. Some disagree: “…Linnaeus called the persimmon tree … Continue reading

Posted in Cookies, Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Fruit, Gardening, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pawpaws, Mastodons and Zebras

Snowed in today and dreaming of warmer times.  A good time, it seems to me, to play more catch-up on the backlog of articles on the native plants we have in our yard.  This time it’s  Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)!  What … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Fruit, Gardening, Landscaping, Photography, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Looking Ahead: Plant Your Peas

I know it’s unseasonal, but it’s way past time to start catching up on our Native Plants pages.  The latest entry is here.  It’s in our yard.  It should be in yours!

Posted in Gardening, Landscaping, Native Plants | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Swallowtail Odyssey: Life among the Spicebushes

It’s Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) time in our backyard, which is good for us curious yard-watchers, but a bit hard on our spicebushes (Lindera benzoin).  We’re watching the little ones grow up and they do it fast!  Now, I am … Continue reading

Posted in Insects, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pests and Parasites

A very effective agent of biological pest control, this tiny wasp in our backyard is preparing to lay an egg on (or in) the little green aphid.. When the egg hatches, it will live inside the aphid, munching happily away, … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening, Insect pests, Insects, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Return of the Stinker

Hard to believe but stuff’s coming up!  Not just the ubiquitous daffodils that pop up just in time to tease us about a yet-distant spring, but other stuff.  Like Wild Leeks.  Yeah, smelly old Allium tricoccum. What is this plant … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Edible Native Plants, Foraging, Gardening, Native Plants, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment