I noticed him a couple weeks ago when I was bringing my morning paper in the house. He (maybe she) had spun a web extending from the eave over our small deck down to a gatepost below. Inside the web there appeared to be what was the remains of a moth. Yet, in two hours the web and its contents were completely gone. Vamoose! It turns out that Hairy, our resident spider, is a Spotted Orbweaver, … [Read more...]

I was sitting in the back yard last night puffing on a cigar and reading a two-week old Sports Illustrated when two bullets flew across my head. Feathered bullets. Tiny feathered bullets. Hummingbirds. We have a hummingbird feeder near my chair and one little hummer was an uninvited guest. The other one – the Alpha hummer – had staked his claim on the feeder and that was that. They may be small, … [Read more...]

As a backyard birder, I stick to my claim that the best way to attract birds to your yard is with fresh water. This is true summer and winter. Obviously, birds are attracted to heated water sources in the winter when the temperature drops below freezing and water is not available, but our fine-feathered friends are also drawn to baths in the summer. Birds, unlike five-year old boys, like to … [Read more...]

When I was in college I drank Old Crow bourbon. It was all I could afford, but it was (and still is) actually a good value and a decent bourbon. I currently have three old crows in my backyard. Not liquid crows, but feathered ones. They stop by daily to dine on scattered birdseed and I welcome them to my yard. While crows can be pests, especially in a farmer’s cornfield, they are handy to … [Read more...]

My friends, Greg and Leah Leffler, have a small fish pond in their yard. A few years back, they were losing fish due to algae build up and too much, or not enough, chemicals. A friend recommended a better way, an ultra violet light system. Greg installed one and within one day, the scum and algae were gone. Hadios. Vamoose. Gone. Greg says that the ultra violet light will make the water clear … [Read more...]

Crepe myrtle was first brought to the United States in 1790 and planted in the warm climate and sandy soil of South Carolina. A native to the Southeast Asia, the crepe myrtle took to the South like grits and country ham. It has since flourished and brought pleasure and beauty to millions of homeowners. Crepe myrtle doesn’t really know if it’s a tree or a bush and no one knows for sure the … [Read more...]

Besides bluebirds, the most welcomed guests in my backyard are Monarch butterflies. They are like miniature, fine-art paintings flitting from bush to bush and flower to flower. They are magnificent creatures and they are threatened. Their fiercest enemies happen to be human beings, who are rapidly destroying meadows and the milkweed plants that Monarchs must have in order to survive. One of my … [Read more...]

We originally had 17 trees on our lot when we bought our home in 1973. Many have since been relegated to the woodpile, but we still have 6 of our original silver maples, now over 50 years old. As such, there are lots of missing limbs and holes in the old trees – and that draws woodpeckers. My son Jimmie called them “woody-peckers” when he was a small child. We still use that name. Through the … [Read more...]

When is the last time you saw a meadow? Not a field of fescue, but a meadow with wild flowers and natural, warm season grasses? The kind of place that a butterfly would call home? There aren’t many around, you know, so my wife Nancy and I decided to make a meadow in our own back yard. It’s a mini meadow, really. Not very big, but it is a meadow of sorts with wild flowers of several varieties. The … [Read more...]

I grew cucumbers last year in my small vegetable garden. They did okay, we had enough to can, but my cukes weren’t happy cukes. That’s because I forced the little fellows up on trellises and lattice work. I thought they’d be happier if they climbed and went up. Turns out, my cukes don’t like to climb. They like to spread. This summer I have a special cucumber patch and the vines are doing … [Read more...]