More pocket meadows

I'm been on the lookout for informal plantings of native grasses and forbs (herbaceous perennials) --- these are the pocket meadow plants and plantings that I'm wanting to promote in an upcoming talk. More expansive meadows (at least in the eastern U.S.) are hard to manage, as they want to become...

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Interesting daylilies

I'm not really a daylily person, much preferring plants that are covered over with pollinators and flower visitors of various sorts. But a daylily farm, in a valley outside of Weaverville, NC was quite the site this morning.  I was tagging along with a friend who's writing an article about the...

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"It Raineth Every Day," Wm. Shakespeare

Tropical Storm DebbyOur wet season has started early and furiously!May's 30-year average rainfall for Jacksonville is 3.48"--we received 10.58".June's 30-year average is 5.37" and it is the start of our five-month wet season (and hurricane season). So far we've had 21.25" with 12.5" in the last three...

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A firefly June

We've seen almost as many fireflies this year than we used to see in the summers we spent as (young) researchers near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, many years ago.They're flashing again tonight, at all canopy levels.  It's probably the tail end of the mating season; they're definitely not as as abundant as earlier in June.  Fireflies are a seasonal component of living in the eastern U.S....

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Garden tours

I've been going on garden tours the last few weekends. Totally fun and often inspirational.I love seeing how gardeners create their gardens.  Everyone is different -- what plants they like, how they maintain their gardens, what sorts of elements they include, etc., etc.This pot vignette was...

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Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

Lonicera sempervirensNormally, Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle) flowers heavily in the spring, sporadically (one or two periodic flower clusters) through the summer, and then a bit more in the fall.This plant is looking fabulous in late June -- practically in spring form! I imagine the cool...

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We have Met the Solution and It is Us

"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo's wise words (via Walt Kelly) have been repeatedoften in environmental circles, but have "people" beenlistening?? I hope so.I agree with Pogo and one of the reasons that I continue to write about green gardening and environmental issues is to convince others...

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