Planning a Nature Garden

resources to help you plan all kinds of nature [...]

The Grackles’ Loss is My Gain

Hummingbird by Hart Curt

Most years, in spring, grackles come along and nest in a group of eastern red cedars on the fence-line of my property. I feel mean saying this, but over the Thanksgiving break I’ll be outside helping to fell those eastern red cedar trees. You might well be wondering why.

Eastern Red Cedars

Eastern [...]

Red Berries You Don’t Want!

Lonicera maackii by D. E. Herman

Here is a shrub with red berries you DON’T want in your garden or nature area. Looks pretty, don’t it?

What Is That Shrub With Red Berries?

Maybe you recognize the photo as Amur Honeysuckle, or Loniceri maackii. On the other hand you might be like me and have a hard [...]

Chasing the Beauty of Red Maples in Kansas

Red Maple Goodness by Clearly Ambiguous

Fall in Kansas wouldn’t be fall without the red, yellow, and orange of maple leaves dancing in the sunshine, swirling, gusting, and drifting to set the ground on fire. Maples in Eastern Kansas include red maple Acer rubrum, silver maple Acer saccharinum, and sugar maple Acer saccharum. Sugar maple [...]

Beautiful Fall Berries - Kansas Natives

Fall is the perfect time for Mother Nature to show off her beauty in our nature gardens, fields, and woods. The dogwood trees in my neighborhood are sporting red leaves and beautiful, shiny, red berries.

Dogwood Tree – Cornus florida by Fuzzy Gerdes

Flowering dogwood Cornus florida is an attractive small tree with white spring flowers [...]