Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: A Northern Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators

I am so excited to share this new book with you. I received a copy from the publisher to review and, I have to say, I am more than happy to report “A Northern Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators, creating habitat in the Northeast, Great Lakes and Upper Midwest” by Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla, is even better than I anticipated.

Sharing knowledge on ALL things in  … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Assessing wildlife damage on plants

The weather was warm enough to start shoveling out the 4 ft. pile next to my back door to melt!

I’m now wearing a brace on my elbow. BOY that stuff was frozen! And then…

I’ve been continuing to tread lightly in my gardens but I DID see life! 

Have you been assessing wildlife damage? I have damage on nearly all my shrubs and even some perennials. 

Rabbits, voles and squirrels can all  … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: For the Birds

There are some awesome native plants to attract birds to your landscape.

I’m sharing some from my friends at Prairie Moon Nursery. Of course, since the birds love them for insects it’s only natural that the pollinators dig them too!

An early blooming tree would be the Downy Serviceberry … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Buckthorn, bunnies and blue pee

Years ago, I lived on 5 acres in Lakeville, MN.  While wandering through the woods, I discovered smurf blue stains in the snow!  The property had been a “farm dump”.

After cleaning up a bunch of barbed wire, old farm implements and plastic toys, that blue stain was worrisome. I knew it wasn’t mouthwash that I’d spit out or what I called “Blue Juice” back in my traffic reporting days, out in the  … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Prairie up – your lawn converted

Many years ago I interviewed Benjamin Vogt on his book “A New Garden Ethic’. Last December I mentioned his latest book, “Prairie Up – an Introduction to Natural Garden Design”. It was just released last Tuesday, January 24th.

Vogt is a native to Minnesota, growing up in the western suburbs when they were NOT suburbs. He talks about when, during an exploration of the undeveloped land, a flock of geese flew  … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Birds are feeding!

 It’s full-on winter in much of the country. Last week I talked about ice and snow collected on our trees and shrubs and whether to knock it off.

I admit, the snow DOES look lovely resting on those branches. The birds feeding on some fun ornaments made of seed is also lovely to watch.

Note: the video I have isn’t formatted well for this space so I had to delete it. It’s on my  … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: The case for the Northern long-eared bat 2023

 I’ve written before about White Nose Syndrome and the Northern long-eared bat, and their situation is getting much worse.  The US Fish & Wildlife service just announced that, starting in January of 2023, the state of Minnesota will reclassify the Northern long-eared bat from “threatened” to “endangered”.

In a press release, the Director said, “White-nose syndrome is decimating cave-dwelling bat species like the northern long-eared bat at unprecedented  … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Preparing your trees and evergreens for winter

The blend of winter sun, wind, temperature fluctuations, snow and ice can make for a deadly combo for some of our trees and shrubs. 

And there’s critter crunching too. Wildlife needing sustenance during winter may gnaw on your nannyberry and other woody plants, especially young plantings under 3 years old. Tree wraps and guards can help substantially with that AND are a pretty decent guarantee against sunscald.

Sunscald happens when the  … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: November to-do’s 2022

It’s November 1st! Weather at this time of year is a crapshoot. Some days still light jacket worthy (for some) other days get out the parka! I actually rode my motorcycle on October 29th… I didn’t even have to wear chaps!

The two  … [Continue reading]

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: The Poweshiek Skipperling – the Endangered

The Star Tribune has been doing a series on endangered native species. I was shocked to read this line from their latest article on the Poweshiek skipperling, “This prairie butterfly suffered one of the most sudden and complete population collapses of any species in North American history”. Let THAT sink in.