WHEN I WENT DOWN TO MAKE TEA the other morning, there was a peace rally going on in the kitchen. This sometimes-angry guy was just waking up, too, after slumbering atop my 1970s stone peace symbol on the windowsill. I escorted him to freedom in a dish towel, and he was off…presumably to spread the word about peace among the races. If a wasp can get this message, then why not us?
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.)
Welcome, Keith. A vintage possession I unearthed when doing a major housecleaning last winter.
Love that stone peace sign.
Hallelujah!
Beautiful photograph.
Welcome, Boodely. Funny you should say that…besides plants, one of my other obsessions is collecting songs from around the world and through the ages and styles that contain the word “hallelujah” in any of its forms (alleluia…etc.). So yes, hallelujah!
Your blog is just all the buzz. ;->
great picture. wasps are cool. wasps love water, so its a regular thing to see the wasps and birds sitting all together around the edge of the bird bath….very funny love that you rescued it