Growing Gardeners
Dig into our online garden classroom featuring urban gardening advice, fun projects for kids, and recipes straight from the garden.
Learn to foster a garden that supports your community and local ecology.
Bad Bugs, Good Bugs
As I brushed against the beautiful blue flowering Salvia guaranitica I saw a burst of movement out of the corner of my eye. I would have loved to ignore it and just keep on pruning, but I’m an old and wily gardener, and I know it’s best to investigate anything unusual I see in my garden immediately. Sure enough, when I brushed the Salvia again, there was a burst of action. Tiny white insects swarmed for a moment and then settled back onto the undersides of the leaves. Oh no. Whitefly.
The Birds and the Bees
Spring is in her prom dress now, and all the birds and bugs are zooming around, finding mates, showing off, and building nests. If your garden is planted to attract hummingbirds, you may be puzzled by some unusual behavior. Occasionally you may see a hummingbird ignoring all the beautiful red tubular blossoms you have provided and instead zooming around under an old porch or dead tree. What the heck is it doing?