Monarchs Need Our Help in 2024
The new year arrives and with it a new urgency to help our beloved monarch butterflies. Last year was a very bad year for Eastern monarchs. Anecdotally, those of us with pollinator gardens reported seeing only a few monarchs (and other butterflies) all season whereas in past years there would be far greater numbers. What’s going on?
Turn your garden into a Winter Wonderland
Now that winter is almost here and our beloved deciduous plants have mostly shed their leaves, who says you have to settle for a drab-looking garden for the next 4 to 5 months?
Beyond the usual evergreens, there are many other beautiful native plants that offer visual interest and color through the dark winter months in addition to offering food for our migrating and resident birds. Why plant only one when you can have them all?
Vanquish the Vines and Leave the Leaves
Halloween may be over but there are still scary monsters lurking in many of our yards, reaching out their tentacles to smother any unsuspecting tree or plant within reach. These bad guys are the invasive vines encircling our valuable trees and covering our shrubs throughout Westchester. Some of the very worst are porcelain berry, English ivy, oriental bittersweet, Chinese wisteria and others. Left unchecked they will smother and kill mature trees, destroying the very base of our native ecosystems and diminishing your property values. The first place to start battling these invaders is at home, in your own yard and there is no better time than now, late fall and winter.