humanegardener

Stop Squishing Spotted Lanternflies

They’re not the monsters they were once made out to be, and stepping on them isn’t effective. So why are people still unleashing their fury on spotted lanternflies, and what should we be doing instead? I dreaded the day the first spotted lanternflies would show up in my habitat, but not for the reasons you might think. I dreaded it because I knew what would accompany the arrival of these insects…

Twinkle Twinkle Little Firefly

If your habitat sparkles, congratulations! You’re doing something right. If it doesn’t light up with insects twinkling their way through the night, read on to learn how to welcome firefly friends.  The common Eastern firefly, also known as the Big Dipper, starts displaying at dusk. (Above photo: Nancy Lawson; featured image, top: Terry Priest/frfly.com) oon the Big Dipper fireflies will start…

Fallen leaves provide foundational year-round habitat for countless animals (in ways that might surprise you!)

How do brambles, jays, thrushes and squirrels contribute to land restoration? In this interview about passive rewilding, British ecologist Richard Broughton explains   Above: Shrubland, wetland, and grassland have meandered their way back onto once-degraded land in Noddle Hill Nature Reserve in East Yorkshire. Featured image, top: Agricultural lands at Monks Wood National Nature Reserve in…

When Plants Protect Plants: Thorny shrubs are a tree's best friends

Thorny shrubs are a tree’s best friends. Enlist these and other plant partners to protect trees from browsing while still feeding an abundance of wildlife he redbud seemed to appear out of nowhere, rocketing above other plants like a gangly teenager whose mother has to buy him new pants every three months. I hadn’t noticed the sapling before, probably for the same reason the deer hadn’t: it was…

Life in the Places Between: The Writing Spider and the Wrens

Wrens were here. Then a writing spider came and went. Together they left a well-loved nest and silken grafitti to remember them by—treasures that serve as beautiful reminders of the importance of structure and hiding places. et the madcap birds dash from bush to vine to tree. That kind of lifestyle holds little appeal to the spider outside my office window, who thrives on patience and…

The Call of the Catbird

Life in the Burnweed: American burnweed is a free spirit, throwing caution and seeds to the winds. What's not to love about Erechtites hieraciifolius?

American burnweed doesn’t care what you think. But you should think more about this plant anyway. It just might surprise you! American burnweed (Erechtites hieraciifolius) towers above the meadow, radiating in the autumn light. American burnweeds are free spirits, throwing caution and seed to the winds and popping up irreverently in new places each year. And why shouldn’t they? Life is short when…

A leaf floats downward, released from the hard work of summer. But there is a stop along the way, a moment of suspended animation when the leaf dances with the butterflies, twists in the wind, makes friends with the bumblebee who gives the leaf a final blessing. The winds carry us until they don’t. All it takes is a crosswind to buoy us indefinitely. All it takes is a crosswind to let us down…

Above: My father, Roger Lawson, was always happiest among flowers; here he and his colleague Mark Roh posed for a magazine article in their greenhouse at the USDA’s Florist and Nursery Crops Laboratory. Featured image, top: After I transplanted ferns from my dad’s garden to our pond, a green frog took a liking to them. (Photos by ARS/USDA and Nancy Lawson) here were many beloved beings I tried…

Monarch Rx: Calling All Butterfly Watchers

Got milkweed for monarch caterpillars? Check. Nectar plants that feed the adults all season long? Check. Dead and dried plants that contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids? … Say what? On a dried late boneset in my garden, a female monarch butterfly gathers substances that may help bolster her defenses. Using her proboscis, noted by the red arrow, she applies fluid to create a liquid solution that she…

Love is in the air, in the water, on the leaves, under the logs, and everywhere else we nurture enough habitat for animals to safely breed and nest. Love is also in this post for you—an expression of my gratitude for all that you do to nurture the animals and plants in your own wildlife gardens. Though you haven’t heard from me in a while as I devote my creative energies to a new book project,…