Tips from National Wildlife Federation---De-stress while helping wildlife

[Tanuki]

https://blog.nwf.org/2020/03/de-stress-while-helping-wildlife/

..."In these stressful times it’s now more important than ever to carve out some ”green time”, and gardening for wildlife is a great way to do so. Here are some Garden for Wildlife® tips for creating healthy, beautiful spaces that can get you and your family outside.

Planting with a Purpose

While we can’t host a potluck with friends and neighbors right now, we can get outside in our own yards and garden spaces while we practice physical-distancing. Now is a great time to make a plan to create a wildlife habitat garden. You can plant a natural buffet to attract beautiful birds, bees and butterflies to our yards and balconies. Even a small space, with the right plants or supplemental feeders, will invite colorful wildlife.

Studies show gardening can help the brain, calm blood pressure and stimulate a positive mood.  Exercise in general can help sleep habits, but purposeful activities, like gardening, provide even greater sleep benefits. In addition, everyone benefits from the Vitamin D that working in the sun produces as well as getting some fresh air.

Gardening with members of your household can be an empowering experience as you help restore habitat for native and declining monarch butterflies, bumble bees and birds. The results are gratifying in a relatively quick period of time as new spring blooms attract wildlife in short order.
.....

1) Create a butterfly container garden on your porch or balcony. Start with a large pot or several containers to design a garden that is a combination of flowering edible herbs, native milkweed and other nectar providing plants. Dill and parsley host swallowtail caterpillars; low growing milkweed species like orange butterfly weed and swamp milkweed are suitable for some larger containers. See tips and other plant ideas here.

(More at link)

[2naSalit]

1. Gardening is great therapy!

I don't know if I could have made it through grad school if I couldn't go out and pull up weeds by their roots or enjoy the beauty of my garden while watering in the early evenings watching the hummingbirds and others coming to share the environment with me. It was so helpful when I had to ponder long papers I was writing, helped me calm down and think through my points and proof, made writing so much easier.

[Mariana]

2. We've had an Eastern Bluebird pair

building a nest in the birdhouse this week. It's early enough that they may be able to raise two broods.

I've started extra parsley plants for the Black Swallowtail butterflies.

I'm supposed to get some honeybees the first week of April. Not sure if that's going to happen - the guy I'm buying them from has to make a pretty long road trip to get them. He may decide to cancel it.

[Tanuki]

4. Did you know that you can have bees mailed directly to you through the U.S. mail?

I live in Tennessee and there are apiaries that do this. I was at the post office once when a guy was unloading wire cages of bees from a pickup truck, getting ready to mail them!

Check this out:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.stamps.com/2018/02/16/shipping-bees-usps-stamps-com/amp/

[Mariana]

6. Thank you.

I arranged to buy bees from this man months ago. As of now, his trip is still on. If he has to cancel, I'll look for other sources.

[Bayard]

3. Planted lettuce in one of the raised beds last night

Major weeding in the flower garden. Saw the first butterfly (Fritillary), and first honeybee yesterday. Bluebirds have started checking out the birdhouses.

[StarryNite]

5. I love this!

Thank you.

[Tanuki]

7. I love that they include small scale ideas for people who might only have

a balcony, porch, or window box. I am fortunate to have a yard but there were times in the past when I took a lot of pleasure in my little container gardens. I think it is a wonderful way to add beauty to life, and the creatures definitely benefit!