#biodiversitygardening — Public Fediverse posts

#WildlifeWednesday

🐝 Just posted to Habitat Gardening, this time covering the importance of native shrubs and vines to birds and other forest friends - and how to find them.

🦋 Native vines in particular 'don't get no respect' in the native plant literature. I found a particularly useful source where you can search specifically for vines.

🐦‍⬛ As usual. there are seasonal habitat improvement ideas and a long list of references and further reading. Photos from my garden are also included.

Go Native!

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/move-up-with-shrubs-and-vines

@NCConnect
#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #Pollinators #BirdConservation

Wildlflower Wednesday

🌱 Just posted my latest blog for Habitat Gardening. This time covering planting your natives (finally).

🌻 And, for those who are a little more experienced, the seasonal improvement section helps you get real about your climate and changes you may have to make to your native garden.

And I get into composting a little, because it is so important!

👉 Look for the picture of an ugly, rain starved bed of flowers!

📓 As usual, the Resources section at the bottom is jammed with related information for new native gardeners.

Go Native!

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/planting-time

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk #WildflowerWednesday

#WildflowerWednesday

Just posted again to my blog Habitat Gardening. This time, I cover

🪱Preparing soil for native plants - by not doing hardly anything.
and
🪲Protecting #wildflowers that bloom early - by just relaxing and not ripping them out.

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/prepare-your-garden-soil

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Conservation #Wildflowers #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk

Did you ever think you could be important to the survival of a rare, threatened, or endangered species?

👀 Look for an endangered species of insect that lives near you and see if you can help it out.

I'm doing this by growing and eating blueberries. 😋

🐝 Really! There is a type of native bee here that ONLY pollinates blueberry bush flowers like the ones from my garden I photographed below.

🌼 Notice how the flower has a tiny opening at the bottom. Bees who can extract the pollen use specialized high frequency "buzz pollination".

🐝A local bee, the Southeastern Blueberry Bee (Habropoda laboriosa) does this. So, by having blueberry bushes, I help a population of rare pollinators.

💪 You can help populations near you, even if it's just by planting native plants.

📸 One day I hope to capture a photo this bee. It looks like @Da_Gut may have just seen one:
https://dice.camp/@Da_Gut/116233929671304022

#SolarpunkSunday #NativeBees #Bees #Pollinators #BiodiversityGardening #Conservation #Nature #Environment

📸 Here's a pic from my neighborhood showing a nest on top of a previous nest. Check out all the different materials used for a single build.

🔹 Twigs
🔹 Moss or decayed vegetation (hard to tell)
🔹 Pine needles
🔹 Leaves from grasses and slender flowers
🔹 Flower stalks
🔹 Mud

🐦 The more you provide, the more you help. Different birds prefer different materials.

2/ 🧵

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Bird #SolarPunk #WildlifeConservation

#WildlifeWednesday

🐦‍⬛ Has Spring nearly sprung in your hemisphere? Then it's time to think of your local birds!

🧹 [Edited to remove meanness] Unaware people near you cleared away leaves and debris last Fall, leaving precious little building material for our feathered engineers.

📉 You can help by taking a little time to make available twigs, last year's dead slender plant leaves, even natural fiber string and yarn. This will help reverse the bird declines we are seeing globally. More nests mean more chicks - and more bird song!

📒 Details are in my Habitat Gardening blog post, "Support Bird Nesting".

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/support-bird-nesting

1/ 🧵

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Birds #SolarPunk #WildlifeConservation

HELP BUILD BIRD AND BEE POPULATIONS

🌱 New post in HABITAT GARDENING for those considering purchasing native plant seeds: Know germination requirements.

🐝 Also, store-bought bee houses can be dangerous for bees, unless you manage them correctly.

📒 Finally, several FREE resources that help you help the 30% of native bees in North America that live above ground. You can bee a hero and help for zero dollars.

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/know-before-you-buy-native-plant-seeds

#WildlifeWednesday
#HabitatGardening
#BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk

🪰 This very small fly landed on my finger last summer. Look at the bands on its tiny, tiny wings.

📷 Pic is a little blurry (had to use one hand quickly to get the shot), but it looks like a "biting midge" (Culicoides spp.). They need a better publicist, evidently.

🍂 It's one of a population in the thick layer of decaying leaves being used as a natural mulch nearby. Bugs like these are what Brown Thrashers and other birds are after when they are looking through leaves for food. We can support declining bird populations by just keeping leaves on the ground or as mulch in beds.

#InsectSaturday #HabitatGardening #Gardening #SolarPunk #BiodiversityGardening #Thrutopia

#WildlifeWednesday

👀 Check out the latest post to Habitat Gardening.

🐦‍⬛ This time I cover where to find sources of native plants so you can prepare for the next growing season using *Keystone Plants* that are critical in your area to supply food for birds and butterflies to bolster their falling populations.

🐝 But there's more! For winter season improvement, I described how to keep a spot for ground-dwelling bees. I give you a link to a helpful guide from the Xerces Society that provides you with details.

🔗 And, as always, there are links to expert resources.

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk #Thrutopia

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/where-to-purchase-native-plants

#HabitatGardening

🌱 If you want to support birds, butterflies, and native bees in your area, you need to grow the plants that will (1) support the most populations, and (2) be appropriate for your garden space.

✍️ For details on how to do this, see today's post to Habitat Gardening, my blog explaining how to gradually transform your garden (or a section of it) into a supportive conservation zone.

#BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/selecting-specific-natives-for-your-garden

🥾 Spring wildflower hikes are very popular and rightly so, but Fall wildflower hikes are nice as well.

🌻 They are also instructive for what native pollinators and beneficial insects should have available in my own garden at this time of year.

💮 The path of my recent hike in South Mountains State Park was full of asters, which come in many shapes colors.

Snakeroot (from the aster family!)
Calico Aster, pale purple rays and
Calico Aster, white rays (in forest shade)

Asters are very important for insects and wildlife in the Eastern U.S.

🧵 #SouthMountainsSP #Bloomscrolling #Aster #Asters #NativePlants #BiodiversityGardening #HabitatGardening #Nature

🧵 continuing

Dappled light on a branch of a Dogwood tree in the understory at Wing Haven, a historical garden refuge for birds, created by Elizabeth Clarkson. (see ⬆️ for more)

The berries can be seen. They are eaten by robins, thrashers, dark-eyed juncos, bluebirds, the tufted titmouse, and more.

#PhotoMonday #PhotoMontag #WingHaven #Autumn #HabitatGardening #Gardening #BiodiversityGardening #Nature

🦋 Just saw this ragged Gulf Fritillary, surviving to the end of the season. Not surprised to see it because I do two things:
🔹 Maintain late-blooming flowers for butterflies to feed on
🔹 Allow native Passionvine (Passiflora incarnata) to grow in a large area. This is the *only* host plant for the caterpillars of this species.

🐛 Back in the Spring, I actually saw a caterpillar on a Passionvine leaf. Could this be the same individual?

😋 I add myself to the natural interconnection, a consumer of the Passionfruit and spreader of seeds.

#InsectSaturday #HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #Nature #Environment

Just published my latest Habitat Gardening post.

Includes (as usual a main topic and seasonal topic)
🔸 design tips for starting a habitat garden and
🔸 how to maintain winter housing for beneficial insects in late summer / early fall by NOT CLEANING UP the garden
🔸 free detailed fact sheet from the Xerces Society!

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #Nature #Environment

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/start-designing-for-native-plants

#InsectSaturday

🦋 We have been seeing bad news about the decline of insect populations. But building back some of that insect habitat is not difficult. And scientists say it's necessary!

🐛 If you have a garden, check out this simple organizer which will help you support any local butterfly population. I used an example from my garden.

🐝 It's in my new blog, Habitat Gardening
https://write.as/habitat-gardening/how-you-can-build-back-butterfly-habitat

Bonus seasonal tips and recommended resource.

🦋 Let's bring out more butterflies!

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment

#FlowerFriday

The Magnolias evolved before bees, so flowers invite beetles and many other types of pollinators, some of whom are very messy, with large protective "tepals" (like petals) and plenty of pollen.

They don't really create 'nectar', but produce sweet-smelling sugary secretions that make them wonderful in your garden.

#NativePlants #HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Magnolia #Bloomscrolling #Nature

#InsectSaturday

🎞️ New short video released on my Habitat Gardening channel (Fedi's Spectra Video)

🦋 In my garden, a monarch feeds on Mexican sunflowers. Look at the details of the wings. They are perfect. Can't see any visible wear even out to the wing's outer white ovals. I saw this individual for the first time two days before.

🐛 I have been lax in checking for monarch caterpillars on the many clumps of Butterfly Weed growing in the garden, but it is clear that this butterfly emerged very recently.

🌼 In this neighborhood and surrounds, there are likely no other possible locations for Monarch caterpillars than my garden, so it is safe to say that it was here that this butterfly was born and developed.

🎉 Success! This is just as I have designed and planned for years. 😀

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #Butterfly #Nature

https://spectra.video/w/gbvRRMqnSQ1ucSfSMzQtQP

#FootpathFriday 📹

Wanted to share this moment with you.

🌻 A short stroll by #NativePlants on a path in my garden. It's a quiet misty morning, after a rain, with birds singing.

💮 When this was recorded in early summer, the large patch of butterfly weed flowers had gone by. Mostly on the left terraces, there were black-eyed susans, but also coreopsis and fleabane in bloom. Anise hyssop was beginning to flower.

🌼 Waiting in the wings for their show are goldenrod and beautyberry, maybe some thistle in there, for late season feeding. But I need to clear out some competion so they can grow.

#Bloomscrolling #HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #Nature @gardening
@lonelinesscorps

#InsectSaturday

🪷 Looks like I'll be getting gifts from local pollinators. First, I let locally native Maypops (Passiflora incarnata) grow in my #garden. Complex and beautiful flowers.

🐝 Then I enjoy Carpenter Bees, very important native pollinators, while they do their thing. The caterpillars of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly also eat the leaves as their sole source of food. So I enjoy those butterflies as well.

🥝 Later, when the fruit grows and turns purple, I get Maypops to eat with their tropical tartness. And I don't have to go to the store. Thanks, pollinators!

#BiodiversityGardening #HabitatGardening #Gardening #Rewilding #Nature #NativePlants
@gardening #NativeBees #Pollinators

#WildlifeWednesday

Wait. What's that over there by the pond? On that Canna Lily leaning over?

#Nature #BiodiversityGardening #HabitatGardening #Gardening #Wildlife

The American Beautyberry is known for bright purple berries late in the season, but its bundles of small pink flowers give it charm in the summer.

The berries are eaten by dozens of songbirds when other preferred foods have run out. The berries are a reason we have towhees, cardinals, thrashers, and mockingbirds in our garden.

#Bloomscrolling #NativePlants #HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening @gardening

Report: State of the Butterflies in the United States

🦋 More than one-fifth of our butterflies disappeared between 2000 and 2020.

🦋 Over 40% of assessed species fell in numbers by 50% or more—and two dozen species suffered more than 90% losses.

🦋 "Butterfly habitat should be woven into all parts of our landscapes—farmland, utility corridors, solar arrays, bike paths, roadsides, natural areas, and backyard and community gardens—to provide homes for common and wide-ranging butterflies as well as rare and at-risk species."

🦋 "To recover butterflies, we must combine efforts across towns and cities, working lands, and natural areas as well as in the linkages and stepping stones which provide connecting pathways."

👉 All is not lost! Have a garden, pots or access to a natural area or park? Join me in building back habitat for butterflies. I will post useful resources and share my experiences and tips. Share yours as well.

🌷 I'll also post butterfly gardens from my travels. Many have a head start in this.

https://xerces.org/publications/scientific-reports/state-of-butterflies-in-united-states

#ButterflyConservation 🧵
#Butterflies #Nature #Conservation #Gardening #HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening

#WildlifeWednesday

Always trying to get a shot of Goldfinches but they are very skittish. Finally, when I'm far away, a trio, known in this #garden as The Marauders, pick seeds from Coneflowers while a Tiger Swallowtail feeds on a Shasta Daisy.

They should continue to have food through the early winter because I have made sure to maintain flowers and shrubs that will support them, like Beautyberry, Asters, and Thistles.

Edit: Replaced with functional gif, I hope.

#Wildlife #BiodiversityGardening #HabitatGardening #Gardening @gardening #Nature