Convivial Landscapes LLC

04/10/2023

The word is bird.

Rappers, creatives, and fashion brands are all going birdwatching.

02/28/2023

‘Tis the season of native, mining bees! ❤️❤️❤️

The grassy area near the entrance of CSD Decatur High School in City of Decatur GA- Government has long been the location of an aggregate of mining bees. These harmless, solitary bees are native to Georgia. The bees buzzing close to the ground are males seeking female mates. These bees will be active for a couple of weeks and then won't be seen again until next year's generation emerges in 2024. They are not ants, yellow jackets, wasps, honey bees nor bumble bees. They are non-aggressive / harmless and no action is necessary to control them in your home lawn.
For more on mining bees see:
http://ow.ly/SCSx50N47H9

02/11/2023

“Birding is an accessible way to invoke awe, an emotion that can improve your mental and physical health. According to a review of research published in Perspectives on Psychological Science in August 2022, awe—a distinct feeling of wonder, veneration, and relative smallness that is inspired by something sacred or sublime—can increase levels of oxytocin (a “feel-good” hormone), lower stress, and help people think outside of themselves, leading to greater social connection, cooperation, sharing, and altruism.”

I’m young, I live in a city, I’m not outdoorsy…but I love it anyway.

02/03/2023

Excellent resource for birding families!

K-12 Education has created these Educational Guides to help educators of all kinds use Cornell Lab Publishing Group books to inspire learning and fun. The hands-on activities within the Guides are tied to national education standards, and are parent and teacher tested and approved! Check back as the

02/01/2023

Aesthetic backyard birdscape & pollinatorscape renovation ✔️
Contoured, woodland berms and swales to control and recycle stormwater ✔️
Over 100 beautiful, native trees, shrubs, and perennials installed ✔️
Wildlife habitat food chains dramatically enhanced with plants providing food, shelter, water, and cover ✔️
Natural moss lawn aesthetically defined ✔️
Complimentary bluebird house installed ✔️
Very, very happy Convivial client ✔️

01/27/2023

Working with a client who has a beautiful, natural moss lawn. Addressing significant water run off from neighboring properties. Woodland berms and swales will capture run off and recycle the water in the woodland landscape. Installing ecologically-healthy trees, shrubs, and perennials next. Supervision today by an eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe).

01/19/2023

Are you a fan of crocus bulbs? Their annual, winter resurrection is a favorite of ours.

(‘Barr’s Purple’ and ‘Dorothy’ pictured.)

“I had a dog who loved flowers. Briskly she went through the fields, yet paused for the honeysuckle or the rose, her dark head and her wet nose touching the face of every one with its petals of silk with its fragrance rising into the air where the bees, their bodies heavy with pollen hovered - and easily she adored every blossom not in the serious careful way that we choose this blossom or that blossom the way we praise or don't praise - the way we love or don't love - but the way we long to be - that happy in the heaven of earth - that wild, that loving.” — Mary Oliver

01/12/2023

❤️❤️❤️ 👂 🦅

Hear Birds Again, an iPhone app, is only the latest in Lang Elliott’s long line of inventions to solve a challenge that affects more birders as they age.

01/10/2023

“There is room now for even more of the native plants that my husband and I have been cultivating for years. We’ll replace the skip laurels with native mountain laurels, the aucuba with American hollies, the euonymus and nandina with inkberry and devilwood and hobblebush. These plants can play the same landscaping roles as their nonnative counterparts, but unlike the nonnatives, they will also produce flowers and berries that feed an amazing array of insects and songbirds, often during winter and early spring, the times of year when other food sources are scarce.”

When the big storm swept through, it left an important lesson about survival.

01/10/2023

A ‘Ruby Falls’ weeping redbud tree paired with a memorial bluebird house creates a fantastic focal point. This weeping redbud is a win-win-win for client and Mother Nature:

1. Four season aesthetic.
2. As a native, redbud leaves feed butterfly and moth caterpillars which enhance bird habitat and biodiversity, plus early flowers with nectar for pollinators.
3. Weeping, arching branches and leaf cover will create a living “clubhouse” structure for intentional neighborhood nature play by kids.

01/05/2023

Front yard ecological landscape renovation in progress: bioswale, boulders in bioswale, and plantings to come. Also, a memorial bluebird house installed. Copper tag, inscribed messages attached to the birdhouse.

12/21/2022

A blessed winter solstice to all from Convivial. Shortest day longest shadows; longest night of renewal.

For you, again, on this winter solstice, or for someone you love. Because for so many folks, it has been a year of achingly long nights. So I am sliding this under your door in blessing and in hope. And to friends in the Southern Hemisphere, blessings of the summer solstice to you!

BLESSING FOR THE LONGEST NIGHT

All throughout these months,
as the shadows
have lengthened,
this blessing has been
gathering itself,
making ready,
preparing for
this night.

It has practiced
walking in the dark,
traveling with
its eyes closed,
feeling its way
by memory,
by touch,
by the pull of the moon
even as it wanes.

So believe me
when I tell you
this blessing will
reach you,
even if you
have not light enough
to read it;
it will find you,
even though you cannot
see it coming.

You will know
the moment of its
arriving
by your release
of the breath
you have held
so long;
a loosening
of the clenching
in your hands,
of the clutch
around your heart;
a thinning
of the darkness
that had drawn itself
around you.

This blessing
does not mean
to take the night away,
but it knows
its hidden roads,
knows the resting spots
along the path,
knows what it means
to travel
in the company
of a friend.

So when
this blessing comes,
take its hand.
Get up.
Set out on the road
you cannot see.

This is the night
when you can trust
that any direction
you go,
you will be walking
toward the dawn.

—Jan Richardson
from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief

Image: "Longest Night"
© janrichardsonimages.com