AS BECKY, A READER ON FACEBOOK, said when I posted this the other day: “Duckweed is the new black.” Yes, this frogboy (a male green frog in all-over yellow mating color…with duckweed spangles) is hotness personified. I’ll let you know how our first date goes, and if I manage to get a kiss.
THE LECTURE that he’s been giving for a number of years is not-so-subtly called “Kill Your Lawn.” Ecological horticulturist Dan Jaffe Wilder knows that starting over and creating an entire native habitat instead of a lawn isn’t for everyone. But Dan just wants to grab our attention and get us to start to make some changes at least in the way we care for the turfgrass we do want in our landscapes. And maybe give up a little square footage of it to some other kind of more diverse planting, too, like the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana, inset). Alternative, more eco-focused styles of lawn care, along with some lawn alternatives is what he and I talked about on the podcast. Dan is Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Wales, Massachusetts, and its 8,000-acre sanctuary. He’s also co-author with Mark Richardson of the book “Native Plants for New England Gardens.”
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
I’m so relieved to find other kindred spirits out there. I thought I was the only person over the age of 12 who adored all these garden creatures! Thanks for sharing your little fellows, Margaret. They are not at all like mine!!
Looks like half frog, half chameleon to me – perfectly blending into the surroundings.
To Barbara above, you’re obviously not hanging out with the right people if you thought you were the only one over the age of 12 who loves frogs (or snakes, or mice, or grasshoppers, or…). LOL!
Hubby was just lamenting the other day that we never go on rigorous hikes anymore because we and our kids (14 and 16) stop and admire/ID/talk about everything along the way, from ants to birds to fungi to trees.
Bet you turn into a frog if you kiss him…just saying… ;)
Hello Margaret, hope all is well with you. Do you grow tropicals? I have been doing so for several years now (Logee’s) and would love to hear about yours. Can’t believe you got a handle on the squash bugs. When they strike my garden it is usually lights out. We had 107 degrees here today. The heat is killing all the new blueberry plants I planted this year, but I am bound and determined not to lose the new apple trees. Do you ever have major nature issues in your garden? I would love to read about them.
Hi, Donna. Yes, lots of tropicals, many from Logee’s. They are probably tucked into this archive category (annuals and perennials) and you can see some of them in this overwintering tactics piece and so on, or try searching through the container-garden archive here.
I’m very jealous, and dreaming of my own water feature attracting toads, etc.
We had a crisis with our frog population a week and a half ago. Something got into our pond in broad daylight. I came home from work to find the taro turned over into the pond and the lotus (which was just about to bloom) tattered. It didn’t dawn on us for a couple of days that it was REALLY QUIET–all of our big frogs had disappeared. The nice lady at the water garden supply shop said that a great blue heron might indeed eat frogs. I comforted myself with spotting a very tiny frog and the thought that there must be tadpoles after all the vigorous and noisy froggy sex this spring. After a week I was overjoyed to hear croaking again–one of our frogs has reappeared from wherever it was hiding. Hallelujah!