American Monarch
Posted on April 1, 2015 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
Back when I began my Backyard Wildlife Habitat, I had a wide variety of creatures I took for granted. The Sulphur butterflies would color the place yellow, and I saw Skippers and huge Swallowtails and Wood Nymphs fairly often. A friend gave me a butterfly book to help identify these denizens. Slowly I developed the […]
Plants Under Glass: Terrariums
Posted on February 28, 2015 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
Since I was a child, terrariums have always fascinated me, with their magical quality of transforming a few plants and accessories into a beautiful miniature landscape. As a youngster, I made terrariums by planting in an old glass fish tank. Terrariums are a wonderful way for people to bring nature into their homes. They are […]
Grow Paperwhites Indoors
Posted on January 31, 2015 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
Forcing Paperwhite Narcissus bulbs to bloom indoors gives you the luxury of a garden within your home anytime of the year. Paperwhites beautify the home or can be gifted as a starter project. I usually begin after Thanksgiving with a few bulbs and add a few more the next week, and then the next. It […]
The Amazing World of Composting
Posted on November 30, 2014 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
My wife and I bought a house in 1999 with a very large back yard. There were a number of mature oaks, with much of the yard in deep shade. Due to lack of light, competition from tree roots, and damage from the previous owner’s dogs, there were large areas with no grass. Even worse, […]
Lenten Rose: A Survival Story
Posted on November 1, 2014 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
My mother has had a deep affection for the Lenten rose (officially named Helleborus orientalis), since I gave her one about fifteen years ago. She loves its purplish-pink blooms that appear during the Lenten season preceding Easter, when very little else is blooming in her garden. On April 27, 2011, my parents’ house in Cullman, […]
Family Tradition: Trees
Posted on October 4, 2014 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
My family had a tradition (or rather, mama did) of planting a tree when a child reached one year of age. I first thought of it as a ritual left over from the Dark Ages. Mama explained if a child lived for a year, there was a good chance it would survive many more years. […]
Fall Color in the Garden
Posted on August 30, 2014 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
When September arrives, and the heat and humidity of summer begin to recede, southern gardeners think about enjoying being outside in their gardens. There are many possibilities for fall plants, some well known and others not so common. There are fall blooming bulbs, shrubs with leaves that turn beautiful colors in autumn, and plants that […]
Grow Your Garden Library
Posted on August 1, 2014 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
If I could have just one book in my gardening library, it would be “The Southern Living Garden Book,” edited by Steve Bender. With more than 7,000 plant entries, 1,300 color photos, and 1,200 color illustrations, it has been called the single most authoritative source for gardening in the South. It’s the tome I reach […]
Garden in a Box
Posted on June 30, 2014 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
I have tried several types of gardening; tilling in the back yard, raised bed, and now container gardening. Each attempt has brought its own frustrations and victories. After tilling a section of the back yard, tomatoes, corn and beans were planted. The tilling created a nice turned area with good looking rows to plant. The […]
Filling an “Empty Nest”
Posted on May 29, 2014 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
With an aching heart I drove up Zelda Road to run errands. My daughter was off to college leaving me in an empty nest. What could possibly be a consolation? As I waited at the red light it suddenly struck me: I could convert my backyard into a wildlife habitat. By the standards of the […]
