Welcome to EMSWCD’s Nature Notes series! Nature Notes shares small moments and interesting observations from our property, as well as related natural history tidbits, on a weekly to monthly basis.

December 2nd^th, 2019

Leave the leaves!

As 2019 draws to a close, you can help birds and pollinators (and save yourself some yardwork!) with some simple actions.

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  Leaf cover provides valuable cover for beneficial insects and is also healthy for the soil

  
  

  In your yard:
  Leave the leaves — and everything else! Beneficial insects (those that eat garden pests, pollinate flowers and vegetables, and feed birds) need shelter through the winter just like people do. They hide in the soil under leaf litter, between layers of bark and wood, in rock piles. Many pollinators also spend the winter in hollow standing stalks of woody shrubs. Birds depend on these insects for food through the winter and into the spring. Help them survive by leaving your garden natural this winter!

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  A variety of mason bee shelters

  
  

  On your balcony, porch, or window:
  Many people help winter birds with feeders, but did you know you can also ensure a good crop of wild fruit and seeds next season by raising mason bees? These efficient early spring pollinators are safe and easy to raise, and their shelters take up no more space than a bird house. This is the time of year to start — call your local nurseries and farm supply stores to see if they have mason bee cocoons and nest supplies in stock.

July 1st^th, 2019

Summer and vacation season are in full swing! As we head to the beach though, we are also hearing story after story of an environment in trouble. The good news is that there is a lot we can do. From the plants in our yard to the type of sunscreen we wear, our daily choices really do matter.

March 26th^th, 2019

November 30^th, 2018

• Two-stroke engines emit hundreds of times more air pollution than cars. This pollution contributes to global warming, smog and acid rain.
• Air pollution also raises risks of cancer, heart disease and asthma, especially in children.
• The forced hot air damages plants and soil organisms, and compacts soil which makes plants more vulnerable to summer drought.
• Electric leaf blowers create less air pollution and are somewhat quieter, but raking is still a better alternative.

October 15^th, 2018

• Birds feed on seeds and insects through the winter. In the spring they will need lots of insects to feed their young. You can help birds by leaving lots of habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects to shelter safely through the winter.
• Adult butterflies, ladybugs, and many other beneficial insects overwinter in rock crevices, under bark, and in leaf litter. They lay their eggs in stems, on twigs, and under leaves. Pollinators and their larvae shelter in hollow standing stalks, and beetles take refuge in clumping grasses.
• A natural winter garden is a healthy pollinator hotel!

June 18^th, 2018

• One third to one quarter of our food - and nearly all our flowers - depend on pollinators! Do you want to live in a world without chocolate or coffee? Without roses or honeysuckle? Neither do we.
• Wild pollinators are more efficient than honeybees, so many crops produce higher yields when wild bees are present.
• Wild pollinators are generally less aggressive than honey bees, since most are solitary and don’t have a large hive or store of honey to defend.

May 23^rd, 2018

May is Native Plant Month!

May 7^th, 2018

May is Native Plant Month!

Welcome to EMSWCD’s Nature Notes series! Nature Notes shares small moments and interesting observations from our property, as well as related natural history tidbits, on a weekly to monthly basis.

March 27^th, 2018

Early spring bloomers!

Right now the non-native cherry trees, forsythia, and daffodils are dazzling us with their showy displays, but many other native species are blooming as well, such as kinnickinnick, trilliums, and bleeding heart.

Kinnickinnick is an evergreen, drought-tolerant, low-growing native shrub that is an excellent groundcover for tough spots such as parking strips. Its small pink flowers are not showy, but are important sources of food in early spring for pollinators like bumblebees, syrphid flies, and mason bees. White trilliums are long-lived herbaceous perennials of the forest floor; many do not bloom until they are seven years old! They are mostly pollinated by moths, beetles, and bumblebees. Dicentra, or bleeding-heart, is another long-lived understory perennial. Its delicate pink flower is an important spring necter source for hummingbirds.

Flowers that bloom early in the spring and late in the fall are very important to wildlife, so the longer you have flowers blooming, the prettier your yard will be for wildlife as well as for humans!

When EMSWCD purchased this property for our office, the yard consisted of a weed-filled lawn with a few trees. Our staff kept the trees, removed all the grass, and began landscaping and installing hundreds of native plants. Every year since then we’ve continued to add plants and make adjustments as needed, and the landscape is now totally transformed!