Many denominations within the Christian religious tradition observe the season of Advent. It includes the four Sundays and weekdays leading up to Christmas day. Hope, peace, love, and joy are central topics of reflection. The timing of Advent overlaps with Hanukkah (the festival of lights) in Judaism and the winter solstice (the shortest day of…
Author: Randy Litchfield
Winter Appreciation and Assessment
Now that the leaves are down from most trees and shrubs, it is a good time to get into the landscape for a bit of appreciation and assessment. Without foliage and the colors of the growing season, beauty emerges from the form, flow, texture, and earth tones present in the landscape. You can see the…
Thankfully, Still in Eden
In her last post “Stop What You’re Doing”, Terri referenced Margaret Renkl’s book, The Comfort of Crows. Renkl ends the book’s introduction with these words: We were never cast out of Eden. We merely turned from it and shut our eyes. To return and be welcomed, cleansed, and redeemed, we are only obliged to look….
Appreciate Flies
Many types of flies are actually beneficial insects but are instead considered pests. Some types of flies are certainly pests as annoyances, transmitters of disease, and damagers of crops. However, beneficials types like hover, robber, snipe, and tachinid flies are creatures we want in our landscapes. Flies can function as pollinators. If you like chocolate,…
Appreciate Wasps!
Wasps are beneficial insects!! Yes, they are creatures we want in our landscapes. Certainly, there are good reasons to be careful about being stung by wasps and hornets. As in our appreciation of bees, we need to move past our fears and understand wasp behavior and their contributions. Wasps are pollinators and help control other…
Helping Pollinators Overwinter (Part II)
In Part I of Helping Pollinators Overwinter, I concluded by saying the dormancy of pollinators varies a lot. They are dormant in different ways and in different stages. The location of nests and shelters are also varied. This means as we garden in fall and winter that we need to give care to ground disturbances,…
Helping Pollinators Overwinter (Part I)
Ensuring our landscapes have host plants, nectar, and other aspects of native habitat during growing seasons is very important for biodiversity. The increased awareness of this is making a positive impact on how people garden. Unfortunately, this progress can be undermined if we do not also help insects and other creatures survive fall and winter….
Native Grasses
Grasses are important plants to include in native landscape plantings. They can provide structure in a design and can provide beauty with their foliage and blooms. Functionally, grasses can support other plants, fill gaps between plants thus suppressing “weeds,” host Lepidoptera, and provide wildlife shelter. (1) Native grasses are either “warm-season” or “cool season.” Most…
Caterpillars and Moths at Night
One night this week I set up the sheet and lights for mothing. I also went looking for caterpillars at night with the aid of a blacklight flashlight. Erin, our adult daughter, came over and joined me. She confessed that she only planned on staying 30 minutes but she got caught up in the treasure…
Being Out Front with Natives
The idea for this contribution emerged after seeing a post on the Sustainable Delaware Ohio Facebook page in mid-July 2023. It recounted a very painful encounter between a home-owner who created a pollinator garden and the city’s enforcement of ordinances. We have not faced this situation ourselves because our native landscape is mostly in the…
Catchfly Commons 