Nature Needs Us Now

10/05/2024

PLEASE 🙏STOP BUYING FOREIGN IMPORTED PLANTS

🌱 We have learned since importing began in America that our native ecosystems have been seriously harmed by doing so.

🌱 Imported plants carry foreign diseases, pests, funguses, harmful bacterias, galls etc. all living in the soil, on and in the plant itself that our native plants, insects, wildlife have no natural resistance against.

🌱Imported plants can be invasive overshadowing, killing out, preventing native plants from thriving.

🌱Imported pests that live in the soils/ in and on the imported plants- many are invasive and are killing important native insects, trees, plants, etc, Asian longhorn beetle comes to mind and the spotted lanterfly as well, absolute devastating pests to our ecosystems. Brought to America by importing plants.

🌱 Some Imported plants can be like candy to our native wildlife but yet aren't nutritious for them and don't provide them enough nutrition to be strong, they'll avoid nutritious native plants, which in turn harms the native species of wildlife. Butterfly bushes come to mind.

This is one way we can help our native ecosystems thrive- please stop importing plants from foreign countries- they have proven do more harm than good to our natives 💔

🌻🌳🪴🌲🐞🦋🦊🐛🌼🌿🍀🐝🐜🐸🦎🦆🦨🦇🦔🦫🐿🐾❤

04/21/2024

We have introduced so many diseases and invasive species into our lands since man has begun to import. Each ecoregion: I'm talking about worldwide has unique ecosystems with regards to flora and fauna that they rely on to thrive. Some areas are large some are small but none are less important than the others.
My ecoregion is the Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens, each person lives in one specific to their location, if you don't know yours it's easy to look up.
It is our responsibility to respect and keep safe our specific regions from invasives and diseases, basically we are doing cleanup for our ancestors that didnt know any better, getting rid of invasives and making sure we dont introduce new ones.
When we buy/import a new plant, we risk bringing a plant that we may enjoy but it very well could be a nightmare for our local flora/fauna, reeking havoc for years to come.
It's best to research each and every plant, tree, etc. that we bring into our lands, by looking up the new plant and then checking if it's safe to bring in first place to our ecoregion. Check if it's invasive first and foremost. We may be doing more harm than good if we don't do our due diligence to protect our native lands.

04/10/2024

If you left the leaves on your garden beds during the cold winter months, thank you so so so much! Those leaves helped feed our wildlife, made healthier soil and created a better tomorrow for our world, thanks to you!!! 🐛🐌🦋🦝🌳🐾🍁🐿🦅🦆❤

10/27/2023

Without native plants many wild birds wouldn't be able to feed their young the necessary 6-9,000 caterpillars needed to raise them up healthy. Baby birds need the native plants for the native caterpillars and insects they eat from them. Much of these caterpillars live in the leaf litter that falls. Oak trees and the leaf litter that fall from the trees support so much food for our wild birds-raking it up and throwing it out is such a sad thing that happens this time of year. Leave the leaves please 🙏❤

10/23/2023

Hi All!
This beautiful native plant-The Native blazing star Liatris specifically the "spicata" aka "dense liatris" gayfeather is in the daisy family called the Asteracea family. It's a monarch butterfly magnet for most of the Eastern part of North America!🦋❤ They can't resist.
There are so many different liatris such as the tall aspera, Texas mucronata, rough mountain ligulistylus, grassland pychostachya, Ontario cylindrical and many more. All are a tad different with their region they're from, the size, shape flower spacing and colors and soil they tolerate.
Today I'm just going to focus on the Spicata (from Latin spicatus meaning bearing or resembling a spike) also called the "thick" or "dense" variety. I love to photograph these flowers because of their constant visitors of butterflies and other critters. It's a very active flowering perennial, herbaceous, deciduous plant.
It grows 1-5' with a nice clumping form that over the years can spread wide so every 3-5 years its recommended to split them up to keep them where you want but it's basically just personal preference of gardener. You can leave them alone and watch them grow wider and blanket a garden. Just make sure to have good airflow and sunlight.
They are slow to grow which makes them perfect for landscapes in the most stately property to helping a cottage garden come together with textual visual interest. It stands tall with gorgeous purple/lavender spikes that are sure to please any gardener's landscape, great for borders.
They love full sun and good drainage, this one does well in a wet garden but tolerates dry as well, its versatile. It can get root rot so keep that in mind, it likes to get a good drink but doesn't like to stay in water full time, needs its roots to dry out a tad to avoid rot. It's low maintenance, easy to grow anywhere in my yard but in shade it puts out shorter blooms. The flowers will bloom from July to September. When the flowers die off the foliage has a nice spikey texture that remains till first frost. Best to leave spent stalks on for wildlife or when you cut them bundle them together and leave in a water free vase so that the birds can find the seeds.
Liatris are host to numerous small moths such as the glorious flower moth, three lined flower moth, wavy lined emerald, blazing star borer moth. They're loved by pollinators- honey bees, bumbles, little carpenter, miner and large leaf cutters adore this plant.
They're also favored by hummingbirds, painted ladies, spangled fritillaries, swallowtails, monarchs, sulphur, skippers, red admirals and more!
The seeds are sought after by goldfinches, indigo bunting, black capped chickadee, tufted titmouse and so many more songbirds and insectivourous birds. You can't go wrong with this one!
This plant makes a great native non invasive alternative to the invasive purple loostrife.
All of the plant is non toxic and safe around humans and pets so no need to worry about this one at all.
It has been used by native Americans for years for many medicinal benefits such as: an antidote to snake bites, antiseptic wash, easing tummy aches, easing sore throat (called colic root made from burning roots to relieve cough) reduces inflammation, pain relief for headaches, ear aches and even arthritis. Oh, I can't forget to mention that the leaves have an anti blood clotting properties if applied to cuts and wounds! Basically it's a little pharmacy plant ❤
Really you can't go wrong, if you want a gorgeous native flowering plant, this one is a beauty and a grocery store for wildlife!! Wildlife loves this plant- its nectar rich, lots of seeds for birds on those stalks at seasons end and a host plant for multiple moths and more! If you love watching wildlife- this one won't disappoint, you'll be planting one of their favorites!❤🐦🦋🐝🐛

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10/21/2023

Doug Tallamy- This man is just an amazing human with his knowledge of nature. He shares priceless information on understanding and explaining our ecosystems food webs and how it all works, this video is no exception. If you watch this you'll understand why I want to help spread awareness and why I started this page❤🌍

Doug Tallamy Webinar - Launching Nature at Home sponsored by the North Carolina native Plant Society, Cape Fear Audubon, New Hanover County Coop. Ext. and Ar...

10/20/2023

Hi all! Today, this post is an extremely important post for everyone!! This is about the 🚫SPOTTED LANTERN FLY 🚫 you've probably seen them on the news lately and wondered what the big deal is, right? I'm going to fill you in.
Okay, so to start off I've educated myself as much as I can regarding this invasive species. Said by many scientists that this is THE WORST invasive species of insect to enter our country in the past 200 years!!!! THATS SAYING ALOT RIGHT THERE! So pleeease read on so you are informed why they say this.
The Spotted Lantern Fly (Lycorma delicatula) a plant hopper (feeds on sap of plants) invasive species of insect that was accidentally imported here from China to Pennsylvania in 2014 and it's spreading fasssssst. Its from Northern China, Vietnam and Taiwan. There it has natural predators to take care if it so it doesn't take over. Here though, it has no natural predators to do this by the masses. They've tried to contain it in Pennsylvania but have not had much success as it has now spread to many other states including Massachusetts and are still continuing to spread. They've spent over 50 million dollars in Pennsylvania so far to try and irradicate them, still they're there.😢
What they do is climb and attach onto trees like willows, maples and birch, then they also love grapes, fruit trees especially apple and food crops like soybeans, stone fruits and so many more just devastating them.
These little guys, once a colony has set in to a host plant/tree- they will suck the sap right out of the trees, leaves and stems causing serious damage of wilting, leaf curling and die back. Once a trees health is affected by them, its vulnerable to diseases of all kinds, so in the long run this a a very bad thing for our hardwoods.
Other damage they do is they are very messy insects. They p**p a lot! Their p**p is a honeydew sugary substance. This substance encourages the growth of black sooty mold. That substance also attracts ants, yellow jackets and wasps.
The tree of heaven is the preferred host tree of the insect. Which is a highly invasive tree everywhere in America, please stop planting this tree no matter where you are in America.
Right now in fall the females are laying about 100 eggs each on the sides of trees, plants, buildings and any structures. Virtually anything they can find, they'll lay their eggs, they're not picky at all, so, basically anything will do.
RIGHT NOW is the best time to look for the eggs, which resemble hardened chewing gum stuck to the sides of the surfaces. It's soooooo important to scrape those eggs off with a putty knife, credit card, anything you can find then place in a tied bag and crush that bag, stomp on it, don't let them live. The thing is the eggs are the only thing that survives the winter on those surfaces, the actual living insects will die with first frosts.
In the spring those eggs hatch and they will start feasting on their first victims. So right now, scraping those eggs off is soooo sooooo important, our local news stations aren't saying that here which reeeally bothers me, I wish they'd report this part!! It's truly the key part!
Another method we can use when they're active on a tree is sticky tape around trees (replace every few days) but be sure to wrap hardware cloth over it with a space so that birds and other animals won't get stuck in the sticky tape.
We can help now, if you see one or more, kill them, squish them. Do whatever it takes. You even can use a shop vac if squishing them grosses you out.
They do not bite, sting and are not dangerous around pets or humans and they are not poisonous. So no need to worry about coming in contact with them. They're also terrible flyers and can't jump backwards so if you corner one it'll probably jump on you because it has nowhere else to go, remember it's harmless to us and pets.
The damage these little guys will do is going to be terrible for our future generations when whole trees are gone, landscapes are taken and changes will take place we've never even thought would occur with our ecosystems! Like scientists have stated, this is possibly the worst invasive insect to ever enter America and predictions are it's going to devastate our landscapes for years and generations to come!
Pleeeease share this, tell anyone you know that has a pulse to be on the lookout!
Massachusetts State department of agricultural needs your help identifying where they're traveling so if you see any please report it. Their number is 16176261700 they'll want to know right down to the number house you're at. They can send professionals out to access and help try to irradicate from your property and public lands. If you're in another state please contact your states department of agriculture to report where you've seen them.
Please take this seriously. OUR future generations need our help now before It's too late and whole ecosystems all over America are affected. Im begging you, take this seriously, it's not a joke, it's not being over exaggerated, it's science backed and will devastate our America if we don't stop them!!!🙏🙏🙏🙏❤

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10/18/2023

🚫Japanese barberry🚫
TERRIBLY INVASIVE!!!! Hands down, One of THE WORST bushes ever imported to America! Originally imported to America sometime back in the 1600's before we knew any better.
Thankfully, this plant has finally been banned here in Massachusetts and banned from sales and propagation in America but for years this was considered the "perfect hedge" 🙈
I can remember when it was recommended to me to plant this imported "beautiful" 🙄barberry bush for a hedge around my first house. I had a family member come by with tubs of barberry shoots and we spent a Saturday planting them. I had no idea the hell I was in for with these plants.
This IS in my opinion the PLANT FROM HELL. 🤬I absolutely hated having it.
This plant is covered with dense thorns, thorns that nightmares are made out of, hard thin needle like thorns and a mix with thick too and they puncture deep in the skin. Cleaning up the branches that fell down into it after trimming was painful on my hands so heavy gloves were key. I stuck those trimmings straight in the garbage. No composting those, I wanted them gone. Finding those laying around my yard or stepping on one with bare feet, ouch, ouch ouuuuch!
It was also wayyyy too much work to trim and maintain those hedges. I was "that one" outside constantly shaping it and trying to keep up with the asthetic every chance I got. It grows like a w**d, so trimmings were constant. I despised those hedges with a passion.
So here we are years later and the truth about them is finally out! They're absolutely horrible for our ecosystem. This is an extremely hardy plant will survive through all our winters here in Massachusetts, no problem at all.
What happens with this plant is that the birds will eat the berries from our residential areas and deposit them in the woodlands, wetlands etc by the masses. Those seeds will then grow shoots producing these berries, they drop, birds again deposit them and shoots will pop up ALL over again and again. Its a recurring cycle.
Each plant can get several feet high and several feet wide, branching out in giant thickets, intermingling in each other. They dominate over our native landscapes plants. Displacing them one by one. They even change our soil properties! It's such a sad thing to know is happening by the masses and all by humans in the first place, we brought this here, but we didn't know how awful it was in defense, it was just innocently imported as the "perfect hedge." We know better now.
Another reason to hate this plant here is that it is a tick magnet. Yes, ticks LOVE this plant. It's well known for harboring lots and lots of ticks and also a lovely place for black stem rust (terrible parasitic fungus thats detrimental to many plants most commonly known to attach to wheat plants devastating our food crops)
So please, if you have this plant in your yard, get rid of it! You'll be doing so much good in the long run!(I'll do another post on great native replacements, there are so many great ones) Our ecosystem needs our help. If you see it in the wild, pull it up but wear gloves! You'll be helping save our native plants by getting rid of this bully of a plant. If you see it on public property in your town, report it! Its not one we want taking over any more!🙏❤

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10/17/2023

❤Mother nature needs our help now!❤
thank you!

10/16/2023

I'd love to bring attention to the Pillbug aka roly poly, curl up bug which may surprise many people to know that it's not even an insect but it's a crustacean and closely related to crayfish shrimp and lobster!🦐 (armadillidium vulgare) is a terrestrial crustacean isopod (Terrestrial isopods are arthropods. Arthropods have an exoskeleton on the outside of their bodies made of chitin, a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Approximately 75% of Earth's known animal species are arthropods.) These isopods are land bound. They are animals without a backbone as they are curved in sections of armored sections. They are often mistaken for a sowbug (similar looking but can't roll into a ball for protection from predators) also, these guys actually breath through gills!
NOTE: They are NOT native to North America, they originated from Northern Africa/Southern Europe.
They are detritivores meaning they consume decaying organic matter. They are wonderful at protecting groundwater by removing heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic from soil containing them from leaching and reaching to our groundwater when other critters can't. Theyre quite valuable to be able to do this.
A quick Google search will reveal that heavy metals change our soil, water and air we need making it poisonous and endangering life. So these little roly polys help remove these metals! Theyre really quite fascinating.
These little guys are so nutritious to many critters like spiders, wasps, millipedes, centipedes, birds, reptiles, and even humans will eat these in some cultures! I've heard they taste like shrimp, I've never tried eating them so I can't tell you firsthand if this is accurate.
So the down fall of these little guys is that they are interested in eating root crops, like radishes, onions, carrots and crops like tomatos, cucumbers. However, they do tend to be a sign that your plants are suffering or dying because they tend to favor feasting on decaying plants - its said it's usually a sign theres a problem with the crop but not always the case. Never the less I love how nature has these subtle, great ways of giving you signs of an issue❤ I have never found it to be an issue as I use a lot of logs and branches to make raised garden beds so critters can seek refuge in the peeling bark and undersides. I'm quite sure they're happy there and they leave my crops alone.
They are also fabulous at cycling nutrients by breaking down organic matter to finish composting. The soil left after a roly poly and friends/enemies under logs after they have done their thing is a beautiful thing to see if you garden and appreciate great composted soil!
A couple interesting facts is that roly polys can drink water from both sides of their bodies! They do it through these strawlike structures called uropods. They also carry their eggs around with them in a pouch and they also can live for two to five years!
These little critters aren't able to bite, sting, transmit disease so there's no need to fear them. Don't worry they will actually curl up into little balls to protect themselves from predators and doing that is called conglabation.
Another thing I really want to mention is they aren't like termites and they will not invade your home like termites do. If you see them there's usually a leak, moisture somewhere in the home and when you get rid of the moisture, the roly polys will leave- another sign nature helps with❤!
Okay so to sum up roly polys- they're not native and technically not considered invasive because they leave the earth better than when they got there and what's better than that? So, I like having them around. They're little recyclers and they've been nothing but beneficial in my yard and garden for our waterways, soil and feeding our wildlife. Personally I consider them as a beneficial as they do more good than bad in my yard and garden ❤ You decide how you feel about them, I can only hope you let them thrive in some parts of your yard due to the postitive impact they make where they go!

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10/13/2023

I can't stress this more-pleeeease DO NOT BUY BIRD NETTING!! Sold as "bird netting" to keep birds out of eating your berries etc. What they really are, are death traps for our wild birds!!!!! They're awwwwwful, the netting traps their little wings, beaks, feet and heads strangling them more and more everytime they try to get free. Help our birds, please don't support buying these!
If you must protect crops use tulle or insect netting, safer for our birds. Also here's a great idea- if you grow blueberries or berries inside an enclosure, plant some outside of it so the birds CAN have some ❤. Share with them 🥰, you'll enjoy watching them enjoy what you planted for them to snack on❤

10/12/2023

❤NARROWLEAF VERVAIN❤THIS ONE REEEEALLY NEEDS OUR HELP!🙏❤ (Verbena Simplex)
Narrowleaf Vervain is listed under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act as Endangered also in New Jersey it's endangered as well. (Endangered means: species are legally protected from killing, collection, possession, or sale and from activities that would destroy habitat and thus directly or indirectly cause mortality or disrupt critical behaviors.) It is also listed in Connecticut, Minnesota and Wisconsin as special concerning (basically meaning the step before reaching endangered. So it's almost there)
Narrowleaf Vervain is in the Genus verbena and the family verbenaceae.
Native range is basically Eastern North America from southwestern Quebec and Ontario down to most of New England to west to along the Mississippi River from Minnesota down to the south in Texas and as far south and east to Florida.
This perennial is beautiful, such a pretty plant. It has these little white with a hint lavender color flowers on tall stalks, blooms from June to August. It can grow up to two feet tall and doesn't like to be shaded out. So do not put plants taller than two feet around it, it won't do well and those will over shadow it. The foliage is full on this plant, so keep this in mind too, it can shade out shorter plants.
It likes full sun, pasture conditions, dry soil and doesn't like to be wet. It does well in dry rock gardens and dry rocky terrain where drainage is frequent so it doesn't get its roots wet for too long. No planting this plant in wetlands.
Its host plant for the common buckeye butterfly.
Feeds various bees, moths, skippers, cuckoo bees and leaf cutting bees with its flower nectar and foliage.
I feel like I'd be doing this plant a diservice if I discussed any medicinal benefits due to the fact of it being endangered in Massachusetts and New Jersey. If it rebounds I'll revisit and discuss but I don't believe any time in the next 50 years it would be okay to harvest this for any human consumption. We need to get it off endangered lists first and foremost for many years before those discussions.
So in conclusion, this plant needs our help! Please consider adding it to your landscapes. Mother nature will be so thankful! ❤🐝🦋🌱

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