Hanging a feeder from an eave will attract these little bundles of near-perpetual motion to your yard; however, a feeder that is strategically surrounded by certain summer plants guarantees many repeat visitors.  Hummingbirds are attracted to a safe place to hang out, talk to each other, flirt, bathe and eat.  So, if you want to draw a large population to your yard, your landscape should include plants, trees, shrubs, and colorful vines that these little birds especially like. Continue reading Getting Hummers to Visit Your Garden!! →

A butterfly can bring a garden to life, just as a garden can nurture the life of a butterfly.  When you create a butterfly garden you create a pocket of wonder as well as a sanctuary for the butterfly. Continue reading Butterfly Garden →

Check out this list of ‘Bee Attracting Plants’: Continue reading Plants that Attract Bees →

What Wildlife Needs

Wildlife needs food, water, and cover, and can only live where these needs are met.  Florida’s plants and animals (from panthers and black bears to the tiniest insects) have co-evolved over thousands of years, resulting in a complex and wondrous web of interdependence.  An ideal landscape uses native plants to provide a year round food supply – such as berries, fruit, seeds, and nuts.  Water is essential for wildlife, and your water source can be as elaborate as a pond with a waterfall or as simple as a dish of water.  Cover needs to be provided for wildlife to breed, nest, hide, sleep, and feed. Continue reading Attracting Wildlife with Florida Plants →

Bees as a watchable wildlife, you might ask?  Don’t worry, nearly all species of bees are gentle and will not sting you.  They are simply searching for food, pollen and nectar.  Bees move pollen from flower to flower so vegetables and fruits can grow and develop.  As a bee visits a flower or blossom, there fuzzy bodies and hairy legs attract the flower’s pollen.  Upon visiting the next flower the pollen grains rub off the bee’s legs onto that flower’s stigma.  That’s when fertilization takes place.  As a result, our gardens fill with vegetables and our fruit trees bear crops.  Nothing happens in the vegetable garden without pollination.  By selecting the best bee-rewarding plants, you can attract beneficial pollinating bees and other creatures to your flower and vegetable garden or backyard fruit orchard. Continue reading Create A More Bee-autiful Home & Garden! →

Creating a Haven for Colorful Birds in Your Yard

Birds bring many benefits to our lives.  They fill our gardens with song, bring a spark of color and interest to our winter landscapes, and also eat many garden pests.  Attracting birds to your landscape is fun.  Their needs are easy to meet and just about everyone can achieve success by providing them with three basic things:  shelter, water, and food.

Continue reading Birds in the Garden: →

Today, people everywhere are discovering the benefits of “going native,”and native plant sources are becoming more numerous. Natives, after all, offer many of the benefits of exotic cultivars without the exhaustive requirements. Continue reading The Benefits of Native Plants →