Author Archives: Maraleen

Monarchs Endangered

December 11, 2024:  The USFWS declared that they were proposing putting the monarch butterfly on the endangered species list. They will finalize their decision after a ninety-day period influenced by public comment submissions.  I believe it is important that each … Continue reading

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Drama and Beauty in the May Garden

Drama and Beauty in the May Garden Bears:  Hummingbirds return here around May 11th. This year, I put out five feeders for them on May13th. In the middle of that night, our dog, Amanda, started barking wildly; we knew something … Continue reading

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March 22, 2020 PLANTING SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

I had first posted these instructions  on February 24th and March 13th 2019: How to turn milk jugs into mini-greenhouses. Since I use milk for cappuchinos, I save the plastic jugs throughout the year. Preparing the ½ gallon and gallon … Continue reading

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Early Spring Notes from the Garden March 2020

The warm weather is wonderful and worrisome.   The sap is running, little buds are forming, snowdrops, aconites, and the tips of daffodils are pushing up through the winter’s litter of leaves, and the air smells sweeter.   It was 75 … Continue reading

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Notes From a Winter Garden December 2019

December 1, 2019 My dog, Amanda, and I were home alone last week; actually, my cat , Samantha was quietly napping upstairs. Sweet Amanda barks when deer are close by, but this evening her hair stood on end, her barks … Continue reading

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September 26, 2019 A Monarch Emerges

On this mostly rainy day, a monarch emerged, the one that had made its chrysalis in the ear of the Butterfly Horse sculpture.  As the rain became heavier, I brought him into a safe enclosure, filled with flowers: tithonias, black-eyed … Continue reading

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Migrating Painted Ladies September 16, 2019

Every day for the past couple of weeks, dozens of Painted lady butterflies, Vanessa cardui,  flutter through my gardens, feasting on the many glorious flowers still in bloom.  Painted ladies are found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.    … Continue reading

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September 2019 – Catching Up

I lost three weeks of August to a terrible summer cold that had me sleeping inordinate amounts of time rather than be in my gardens six to ten hours a day. Be that as it may, this summer has been … Continue reading

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July 20, 2019: The Heat is On: The View From My Cool Room

July 20, 2019: The Heat is On: The View From My Cool Room Bless air conditioning on a hot, steamy day. The only room that has AC in our mountain aerie is my office. Saturday morning, as has been my … Continue reading

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Deer Repelling Bon Bons

In the continuing challenge of keeping deer from eating so much in the gardens, including monarda, lilies, sedum, hollyhocks, raspberries, and so much more, my latest invention is deer repelling bon bons.                 … Continue reading

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