There Were No Fences

Wildflower Planting, January 31, 2021 Wetland Planting, January 31, 2021 Charles Darwin first wrote about the concept of natural selection in his book, The Origin of Species , published on  24 November 1859.   In it, he wrote extensively about how nature tends to sort species out within natural communities over time - choosing the ones most adapted to survive and those that are not to disappear. It remains one of the most important concepts in understanding ecology to this day and it influences planted communities as much as natural ones. We sometimes fail to understand this fully when we design landscapes, whether at home or in restoration projects. What we fail to fully comprehend is that our artificial plantings will adhere to the same tenets of natural selection that direct the natural plantings in the world around us. Our landscapes are communities, even if they are artificial ones. We can try to put our meddling hands on them, but eventually nature and natural selection ...

 I spent a good part of my early days in Florida eschewing the use of bird feeders. As Bob Dylan once wrote: "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."  I've mellowed, and with the installation of my bird feeders here in my new landscape, I've come to appreciate their value. Bird feeders do not replace the value of a well-planned landscape designed for them, but they augment it.  I sit daily in my backyard developing woodland and I watch birds. It is likely true that none of the birds that now come to my feeders would starve if I stopped my feeding program, but they would certainly find life harder without them. As they visit daily, I know that what they are gaining is energy that will assist them later this spring or when they migrate north to their breeding grounds. I live in an urban desert. There is very little for them in my immediate neighborhood and my landscape is still in its infancy. My firebush has generated fruit that the mockingbirds and c...

Cockspur haw - Crataegus crus-galli Much has been written lately about the importance of choosing which native trees to add to a landscape designed for wildlife. Included in this are lists of the 10 best trees. It is a thinking that I find no real fault in, but it ignores one very important concept - the importance of context. Landscapes do not exist bereft of one's surroundings unless you live in a space surrounded by nothing. That is highly unlikely. Neighbors have plants too even if they are largely devoid of native plants. These plants add something to your landscape. Your landscape is not alone in the universe. As we plan for our wildlife-friendly landscapes we need to consider much more than our planting zone and our own growing conditions. We need to evaluate the context of our landscape. I have never been a proponent of planting zones. It is true that where we live must determine what is possible. As I moved to the deep south, I had to give up on plants I loved from my nati...