Bewitching Butterflies and Moths with Fall and Winter Habitat
As the weather begins to cool, many species begin to prepare for fall and winter. What happens to butterflies, and how can we help them with our gardens?
As the weather begins to cool, many species begin to prepare for fall and winter. What happens to butterflies, and how can we help them with our gardens?
Five often-asked questions answered here!
What in the world is a paw-paw? Paw-paws (Asimina triloba) are America’s forgotten fruit. These trees with mango-like fruits can be found throughout moist woods and along streams in Maryland. There are even a few local farms that grow paw-paws!
Oftentimes, the word wasp incites fear and anxiety. However, many of Maryland’s 1,200+ wasp species are relatively small and docile in nature. One neat group is potter wasps; they serve as both pollinators and predators in the garden.
BAM! Have you ever had a bird hit one of your windows? Nearly a billion birds collide with windows each year, half of which happen with home windows. Unfortunately, the majority of birds die as a result of their injuries; even those that may be able to fly away often sustain life-threatening injuries. The good Read the Rest…
It’s a bee! No, it’s a fly! Have you ever seen a fly masquerading as a bee in the garden? If so, then you may have encountered a flower or syrphid fly. More than 130 species of flower flies are found in Maryland, and these animals serve both as important pollinators as well as predators Read the Rest…
Are you in need of a good, native groundcover? Moss phlox (Phlox subulata) is a creeping groundcover in the Phlox family (Polemoniaceae). This herbaceous perennial grows up to 9 inches tall and forms mats across the ground. It prefers full sun, but it can grow in sandy or rocky soil just as well as loamy Read the Rest…
Now that nesting season is over, it’s time to take care of your nest boxes. This is a great time of year to inspect any nest structures that you have and replace any potentially rotted material.
In winter, the weather gets colder and the days get shorter. Animals deal with these changes in different ways. Some animals—like Baltimore orioles—migrate, or travel to other locations. Others—like little brown bats—hibernate, or go through a deep sleep. Others still—like gray squirrels—adapt to the cold by changing their daily activity patterns and layering on fat Read the Rest…
Have you ever noticed an almost straight line of holes gracing the trees in your yard or neighborhood? Most people generally identify these holes as belonging to a woodpecker, but only one species in our region feeds in a horizontal line: the yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius).