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.

October 15^th, 2018

Winter Gardening for Birds and Pollinators

The goldenrod has gone to seed, and honeybees are scouring the last of the fall asters. Here at EMSWCD, we employ a few simple practices to reduce the fall garden work and help birds and pollinators survive the winter. Read on to learn what you can do!

• 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!

Read more →

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.

June 18^th, 2018

June 18th-23rd is National Pollinator Week!

This week, EMSWCD is celebrating all the things pollinators do for us, and all the things we can do for them.

• 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.

Read more →

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.

May 7^th, 2018

May is Native Plant Month!

This month in celebration of Native Plant Month, we’ll be highlighting a variety of native plants, all of which you can come see any time at our Conservation Corner!

This week we’re seeing purple everywhere with common camas, Henderson’s shooting star, Menzie’s larkspur, and Oregon Iris in full bloom. Read more →

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!