To help celebrate this special birthday, I decided to take a series of photos of 40 garden objects. This photo series was inspired by the blog Things Organized Neatly. My arrangements are not arranged as neatly as many photos on that blog, but you get the idea.

Here’s photo #4 – 40 flowers from plants in my neighborhood:

40 flowers from my neighborhood

I did not find 40 different flower species, though my son and I looked far and wide, but we have at least 40 flowers in this photo. Thank you to my co-worker Debbie Anderson for the lovely green fabric.

You can see past 40 garden object photos:

• 40 Garden Tools
• 40 nuts nibbled by squirrels
• 40 green leaves

Share Your 40 Garden Objects Photos!

During Garden for Wildlife month, I’m going to keep taking photos of 40 garden objects. Would you like to join me? What will you photograph? Share your photos at our Garden for Wildlife Facebook page for everyone to see.

And if you haven’t already certified your yard as wildlife-friendly, certify your yard with National Wildlife Federation this month!

A bumblebee visits a coneflower in a Dayton, Ohio, backyard. Photo by Josh Mayes.

The following week, some U.S. activists made headlines by demanding the government ban a class of insecticides, neonicotinoids, after learning the European Union placed a moratorium their use due to concerns the chemicals are harming honeybees. (Imported to North America during the 1600s, honeybees are native to Europe.) Such concerns are understandable. Beyond their honey-making prowess, domestic honeybees are worth tens of billions of dollars to U.S farmers and beekeepers, who truck colonies back and forth across the country to pollinate commercial crops such as almonds, soybeans and watermelon.

A wild bee pollinates a pumpkin flower in an Ephraim, Utah, garden. Photo by Paul Gardner.

Why We Need Natives

Yet with all the attention being paid to honeybees, I wonder if we’re overlooking an even more important story: the critical role wild, native bees play pollinating plants both in natural and agricultural systems. And unlike domestic honeybees, these natives do it for free.

Mace Vaughan, pollinator program director at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, made precisely this point when I interviewed him recently for an upcoming story in  National Wildlife magazine. Bees are by far the most important pollinators in natural ecosystems, Vaughan told me. The insects also are essential to producing more than a third of all foods and beverages humans consume. “In the United States alone, native bees contribute at least $3 billion a year to the farm economy,” Vaughan said. “We grossly overlook the critical role these animals play.”

A bumblebee feeds on buttonbush at NWF’s office in Reston, Virginia. Photo by Laura Tangley.

Wild Pollinator Champs

I learned about that role a few years ago working on another article, “The Buzz on Native Pollinators,” that described research conducted by ecologist Rachel Winfree of Rutgers University. Winfree had just published in Ecology Letters results of a study finding that on 21 out of 23 farms in the Delaware Valley of New Jersey, wild bees fully pollinated commercially grown watermelons with no help from honeybees. “If we lost all honeybees in this region to colony-collapse disorder tomorrow,” she said, “between 88 and 90 percent of the watermelon crop would be fine.”

This February, Winfree and dozens of colleagues published results of much larger study in Science that looked at a diversity of fruit, seed, nut and other crops growing in 600 fields on all continents except Antarctica (where no food is grown). They found that visits by wild bees increased production at all study sites, compared with just 14 percent for managed honeybees. The upshot: Wild bees were more effective crop pollinators than were domestic honeybees.

If honeybees continue to decline—and many experts suspect they will—wild bees will become even more important in the future. Worrisome as colony-collapse disorder is, it may have had “a silver lining,” Scott Hoffman Black, the Xerces Society’s executive director, told me. “Now many more people know that their food is pollinated, and that we need native bees and other wild animals to do that.”

Help wild bees by growing native plants they need to thrive, then turn your yard into a Certified Wildlife Habitat ® site. This month only, Garden For Wildlife Month, NWF will plant a native tree for every property certified.

To help celebrate this special birthday, I decided to take a series of photos of 40 garden objects. This photo series was inspired by the blog Things Organized Neatly. My arrangements are not arranged as neatly as many photos on that blog, but you get the idea.

Here’s photo #3 – 40 green leaves from plants in my neighborhood:

40 Green Leaves from my neighborhood

Can You Identify the Plants?

Here’s my best guesses, although I am not a naturalist:

4. Virginia Creeper

6. Viola

8. Cabbage

9. Liriope

11. Hosta

13. Holly

14. Hosta

17. Holly

18. Wild Strawberry

20. Clover

21. Dandelion

22. Yew

25.  Maple

26. Iris

27. Maple

29. Clover

33.  Fern

You can see past 40 garden object photos:

• 40 Garden Tools
• 40 nuts nibbled by squirrels
• 40 flowers from my neighborhood

Share Your 40 Garden Objects Photos!

During Garden for Wildlife month, I’m going to keep taking photos of 40 garden objects. Would you like to join me? What will you photograph? Share your photos at our Garden for Wildlife Facebook page for everyone to see.

And if you haven’t already certified your yard as wildlife-friendly, certify your yard with National Wildlife Federation this month!

A male northern cardinal feeds its mate a beetle larva in a Brandon, Mississippi, backyard. Insects, which rely on native plants, are critical food for birds, particularly during the breeding season. Photo by Paul Brown.

I didn’t appreciate just how important native plants are, however, until I began to work a story, “Urban Renewal,” published in the current issue of National Wildlife magazine. Reporting for the article, which describes various ways residents of cities and suburbs can help birds, I interviewed wildlife-gardening guru Doug Tallamy, an entomologist at the University of Delaware, and read his book, Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants.

Tallamy’s key message was that native plants are essential to producing the insects birds need, particularly during the breeding season. “Birds do not reproduce on berries and seeds,” he told me. “Ninety-six percent of terrestrial birds rear their young on insects.”

Carolina chickadees can feed their offspring up to 590 caterpillars a day. Photo by Patricia McCairen.

And they need a lot of caterpillars. Recently, Tallamy spent 16 days observing a Carolina chickadee nest in his Delaware backyard. He discovered that the birds fed their offspring between 300 and 590 caterpillars a day. The chickadees needed 4,800 caterpillars to rear a single clutch of chicks.

“We’re used to thinking of the plants in our yards as decorations,” Tallamy says. It’s wonderful when plants are attractive, he adds, but if they’re exotics such as gingko, crape myrtle or European privet—all unpalatable to insects—they do not pass along the sun’s energy to birds and other wildlife. “You might as well install a statue,” Tallamy says.

Learn more about choosing and cultivating native plants, then turn your yard into a Certified Wildlife Habitat ® site. This month only, Garden For Wildlife Month, NWF will plant a native tree in your honor when you certify your property.

NWF Naturalist David Mizejewski with an alligator, from the Today Show’s Instagram page.

In honor of this annual celebration of National Wildlife Federation’s 40-year-old Certified Wildlife Habitat program, I brought some “backyard wildlife” on my Today Show segment this week.  But these animals are definitely NOT the songbirds and butterflies that typically show up in a wildlife-friendly garden.

Instead, I brought species that might surprise you if you spotted them in your garden.  My goal was to let folks know that species other than birds and butterflies need our help and can benefit from wildlife-friendly gardens, and also to point out what to do to avoid conflict with some of these species.

I mean, groundhogs, alligators and beavers aren’t necessarily the most welcome species in the garden.  But two other predators I featured in the segment definitely are species you want around.

Here’s the full segment.  Watch it and then head over to our Garden for Wildlife Month page and certify your garden as wildlife-friendly with NWF!

Click here to view the embedded video.

See more of David’s TV appearances and find out where he’ll be appearing next! 

Meet the contenders, vote for your favorite, and help us decide this year’s winner!

Swallowtail Butterflies

Swallowtail butterfly. National Wildlife Photo Contest entry by Martha Hitchiner.

Swallowtail Butterfly. National Wildlife Photo Contest entry by John Kinney.

Chipmunks

National Wildlife Photo Contest Entry by William Heban.

National Wildlife Photo Contest entry by Danny Brown.

The American Goldfinch

National Wildlife Photo Contest entry by Lara Hardesty.

National Wildlife Photo Contest entry by Gregory Fisher.

Hummingbirds

National Wildlife Photo Contest entry by David Bahr.

National Wildlife Photo Contest entry by Chris Zink.

These photos were donated by participants in the annual National Wildlife Photo Contest. See more photos or sign up for the 43rd Annual National Wildlife Photo Contest.

Winning Meme

Congratulations to Angie for winning the 2012 Garden for Wildlife Month Meme contest!

Till next time…

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest– your entries were fantastic!

Congratulations again, Angie!

With Urban Organic Gardening expert Mike Lieberman at my side and encouraging me that “you don’t need a green thumb, just two opposable ones,” to garden, I set out  to show gardening who’s boss, and instantly became a paranoid, first-time grower.

Will they grow? Why aren’t they sprouting right now? What if “my babies” don’t make it? Because just like the Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers song: The Waiting really is the hardest part.

And then…

It happened.  Three weeks after I put seed into soil, it happened.  I lifted up my homemade greenhouse and my little cherry tomatoes had sprouted. A few days later, the bell peppers and jalapeños also sprouted.  I’ve never been more proud of myself in my life.  Maybe this gardening stuff isn’t so bad after all.

For the first time ever, I’m excited about the idea of eating produce that I’ve grown from a seed– a fresh salad, veggie stir-fry and jalapeños poppers have never sounded so good. And for NWF’s Garden for Wildlife Month, I’ve added a few native plants to my garden that will attract wildlife, including butterflies and birds.

Today, my garden is HUGE, and I’m happy to share with you photos of my garden’s progress:

My bell peppers on April 21. Such babies!

My bell peppers on May 30-- getting so big!

Petunias remind me of my mother She always grew them in Georgia when I was a kid.

My cherry tomatoes on April 21.

My cherry tomatoes on May 30. These are my pride and joy-- they're growing so well. I don't know why the one is so much bigger, but all three are healthy!

The plants add that special touch to my balcony-- so homey!

The waiting continues…

Even though today, May 31, is the last day of Garden for Wildlife Month here at NWF, the fun is just beginning in the gardening world.  As I continue watering my plants every other day, The Waiting has moved from seeing sprouts to eating fresh produce!

Happy Growing, My Fellow Friends!

Wildlife-Friendly DMV Garden for Wildlife Month Edition

Wildlife-Friendly DMV connects wildlife enthusiasts in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia to local wildlife and the National Wildlife Federation. I will share with you the wildlife and nature where I “roam,” and bring to life the stories of people around our region who speak up for wildlife.

Offer Up Some Nourishment

Bringing the hummingbirds to you will create plenty of photo opportunities. Attract them to your yard by setting up a feeder or putting in flowering plants. Red, pink, and orange blossoms with a tubular shape — like trumpet creeper and columbine — are especially appealing to hummingbirds.

Broad-tailed hummingbird feeding on zinnias. Photo by Bruce Gill.

Be Still. Be Patient.

Hummingbirds are skittish around motion. Try to minimize your movements and if you accidentally spook the hummingbird, just stay still and wait for a couple minutes. It will likely be tempted by the food and come zipping back for more.

Observe First

Watching hummingbirds’ behavior can help you better predict where to aim the camera and when to snap the picture. Typically, hummingbirds will alternate sipping and hovering next to the feeder or flower for a few cycles. So, if you want to get a photo of the hummingbird feeding, you can be prepared to snap a picture after it hovers by the food source for a couple seconds.

Check your background ahead of time

Go out and frame up a couple shots as if the hummingbird was there, making sure the flower, feeder, or perch is in focus. Now look at the background. Is there anything that could distract from your subject — such as bright spots or reflections in a window?

Try a variety of positions to see which gives the best background for your photos.

Male ruby-throated hummingbird. Photo by Harold Korn.

Use a Fast Shutter Speed

To capture a crisp hummingbird photo, you’ll need to use a shutter speed like 1/1000^th or 1/2000^th of a second. Experiment with different shutter speeds and look at the difference between the photos to determine what works best.

Keep in mind that fast shutter speeds mean less light will reach the sensor or film in your camera. Which brings us to our last tip…

Getting Enough Light

Avoid dark photos by putting your feeder, flowers, or perch in an area that gets a good amount of sunlight. Also, set a wide aperture (smaller f-stop value) to let in more light.

If your camera has the setting available, try shutter priority mode. This lets you choose the shutter speed and the camera will adjust the aperture accordingly.

Do you have any tips for photographing hummingbirds? Share with us by leaving a comment below!
 
 

Create a haven for hummingbirds and other critters
in your own backyard and have it designated as an official Certified Wildlife Habitat site.

If you certify by May 31st, we’ll plant a tree in your honor!

The photos in this blog were past entries in the annual National Wildlife Photo Contest and were generously donated to NWF. You can enter your own photos or vote for your favorites in this year’s contest by going to www.nwf.org/photocontest.

Monte Sano Civic Assoc, Pres. Marylynn Perry, Roxanne Paul & Team Leader Susan "Soos" Weber proudly display certificate. Photo by Jerry Green.

The “mountaineers,” as they are often called, decided to make it a priority in their community to provide wildlife habitat in home gardens and community sites. A team of volunteers led by Susan “Soos” Weber gave workshops on how to garden for wildlife by supplying food, water, cover and places to raise young for wildlife in over 100 sites around the community. At a time when towns and cities across the country are losing green spaces and wildlife habitat to development, Monte Sano stands out as an example of reversing the trend. In all, 84 homes, the elementary school, the fire station, a museum, two churches, a community garden, the local TV station and the community center became NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat® sites.

The Community Wildlife Habitat team also offered numerous nature hikes and programs for adults and children. Again, they were reversing the trend of an “indoor childhood” that is so common for the younger wired-in generation.

The celebration was held at the recently renovated CCC-built Gatehouse to Monte Sano State Park. The Gatehouse had been closed since the 1950s, but volunteers applied for and received a grant for nearly $10,000 to renovate and restore the stone and wood structure. It will now serve as a nature center, full of interpretive exhibits on the local natural history.

Clearly, the residents of Monte Sano steer their own course, and it is not the usual one that we see across the country. As a Certified Community Wildlife Habitat, Monte Sano is a healthier and more pleasant place to live for humans and wildlife alike.

Want to participate in Garden for Wildlife Month? You can get started today and soon enough your garden could be a Certified Wildlife Habitat.