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I learned this very important step in gardening for pollinators and wildlife as I attended more workshops, read articles, and even listened to podcasts. I didn't realize that a large portion of insects overwinter under the leaves. Some, like the Tiger swallowtail butterfly and Luna moth, have chrysalises that look like leaves to help them blend in while overwintering. Also, one of the biggest reasons we are seeing fewer fireflies everywhere is that we are all removing th

While transforming my yard to support pollinators and wildlife, I searched for many ways to obtain native plants. During that search, I discovered the Wild Seed Project , an organization in Maine dedicated to repopulating landscapes with native plants. One way they support their mission is by collecting native seeds and selling some of them to raise funds. One year, I purchased seeds from them and learned an entirely new way to grow plants. Up until that point, I was used to

Once I had a lot of new native plants in my yard, I was excited to see which pollinators I would attract. The most exciting part was discovering two species of pollinators I didn’t even realize existed: metallic sweat bees (yes, they do like sweat and may actually land on your skin for a taste—don’t be alarmed!) and bee-mimic flies. The metallic sweat bees I’ve seen are very small (smaller than a honey bee, which is actually not native) and have the most beautiful metallic gr

As a nature photographer, I naturally take a lot of photos, but I was still pleasantly surprised to realize just how many I captured of my yard throughout its transformation. I’m excited that these images will clearly show the process and provide visual inspiration for any of you looking to make changes to your own yard! My front garden all cleared of pachysandra and flaunting its pretty new path. My favorite addition to my garden, Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale). Regardless