Tomorow's Garden Planting is being rescheduled

We needed to postpone tomorrow's planned planting due to logistical challenges, we will reschedule in the coming weeks and will let you know! thanks.

Garden Plans- Check it Out!

 NWF Habitat Stewards
Johnson Pollinator Garden
610 S. Jason Street

This garden demonstrates some basic habitat garden principles and will provide color and variety from spring to fall. The Colorado natives chosen for this site are host and nectar plants for a variety of bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Shrubs provide shelter and create diversity in height, shape and texture. Differences in flower shape and color attract different pollinators. All of these plants should thrive in local weather and soil conditions.

This plan includes stepping stone paths for gardener access and to encourage exploration – this might not be feasible at this time.

Concepts that can be taught by the garden include:

1. Food for pollinators/ how do plants “advertise” to their specific pollinators?

2. Shelter for pollinators (examples of bee houses in the future?) and habitat structure

3. Seasonality – providing habitat all year long

Habitat Garden Installation on Father's Day, 6/19/11

As some of you know, (and are directly involved) NWF is partnering with Butterfly Pavilion and Colorado Native Plant Society in an effort to provide ongoing training to our volunteers. We have a very neat opportunity to improve wildlife habitat along the South Platte near Alameda and I-25 at Denver's Johnson Habitat Park. This is very cool for a couple of reasons: 1. The area we will improve is alongside the South Platte River Environmental Education (SPREE) building. 2. The site is the "base camp" or kick-off site for a growing project called the Children's Forest Corridor. The corridor will provide a continuum of opportunities for kids and families to engage in the outdoors along the South Platte. This habitat will be a demonstration site -helping kids and families understand what a native wild flower garden looks like, and how they can create one in their own yard or community space.


We have scheduled the installation of the habitat (dig and plant!) for Sunday, June 19, at 9 AM and we would love to have you there! If you have young people that would like to participate in this planning just let me know. As long as they are old enough to help with digging, planting or watering and can stay clear of the river, we'd love to have them too.

The site address is: 610 South Jason St. Denver, CO 80223 This link provides directions: http://www.auroramedteam.org/maps/jhabitat.pdf

PLEASE RSVP to me, so I can bring enough equipment and snacks, My cell phone is 720-273-5247
We'll give a shout out to any and all dad's that elect to join us on their day too!
I hope to hear from you soon.

Julie Gustafson
303-441-5152

Garden for Wildlife Month is NOW! Happy May! Happy Gardening!

For the first time ever, National Wildlife Federation is declaring May as “Garden for Wildlife Month”. This is a unique opportunity to rally, assist and encourage anyone who is passionate about wildlife to make a difference right in their own backyard.


In celebration of Garden for Wildlife Month and our 75th anniversary, NWF will be planting a tree for each new certification in the month of May. Our goal is to plant 7500 trees!

Please help us reach this goal by spreading the word in the online community. The Web team has put together a handy page that includes badges for download and tweets you can share as well as instructions for following Certified Wildlife Habitat™ on Facebook and Twitter.

http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outdoor-Activities/Garden-for-Wildlife/Share.aspx

Thank you for your support!

Little Sprouts

Little Sprouts

My father was in the military, but we grew a vegetable garden in just about every place we were stationed. One of my fondest memories was the jumble packet of seeds he would buy me every spring (only a dime!). He’d give me an empty row in the garden, and I would plant these little mysteries, wondering what they’d become- radishes, okra, marigolds, watermelon? I relished having a space of my own and contributing produce to the dinner table. And that joy and pride might be the reason why I got into horticulture as a career.

Not everyone is going to choose horticulture as a career, but gardens and kids are a natural combination. Gardens can teach children everything from art and science to the art of patience. Get a kid into a garden, and they’ll get fresh air and exercise without even thinking about it. Now, those of you who have witnessed the convulsions inspired by a simple request to weed the flowerbed might believe otherwise. However, I’m going to offer some tips to get your kids outside and in the dirt.

Fit the garden to the child. The great thing about gardening is that there’s a garden for every kind of person. Is your daughter a disciple of Fancy Nancy? You can grow a fairy garden with tiny groundcovers and dwarf shrubs and sweet little houses, or even grow your own chamomile and mint for a tea party. Does your child love animals? Any garden can be habitat for birds, butterflies and other wildlife, if you know what to grow. Gardens can be formal or wild, they can fit the smallest spaces or fill the biggest lots. A younger child might only be able to care for a few small pots, while a middle-schooler might have plans for the whole backyard. Ask your child about their “perfect garden” and you’d be surprised how some of those ideas (okay, maybe not the spaceship or the gumdrop tree) can fit into your landscape.

Slow down and love the mess. I do laundry. I know just how incredibly muddy one small child can get. But my memories of my own son digging in the kitchen gardens, helping to plant tomato plants, were worth the bother of dirty clothes. Did he plant the tomatoes straight? Not exactly, and his weeding left a lot to be desired. But I wasn’t going to let my adult-sized expectations get in the way of his enthusiasm. The joy he got from eating something he grew himself…and his desire to do it again…was more important to me. Now he’s nine and practically a pro.

Food is always a good thing. Some kids love flowers – they’re colorful, smell terrific and attract very interesting bugs. But for many kids, flowers would only be interesting if they shot lasers and turned into robots. However, we all have to eat, and if you include a cherry tomato plant here, some raspberry canes there, you’d be surprised at what you can get your child to eat. Once, my son dared himself to eat purslane, a weed, because I told him about a purslane salad recipe I found in a magazine. We pulled a whole bucket’s worth of purslane, then ate some right in the garden. He felt like such a food adventurer after that…even though we both decided that one nibble of purslane was plenty.

Short bursts are best. I have a long garden attention span, eagerly spending hours caring for my plants. I don’t get weary of weeding, I get energized. However, a child can get easily overwhelmed by a garden full of work to do. And who wants their nature idyll spoiled by an epic meltdown? If a child wants to take a break from weeding to explore for bugs, remember that finding bugs is a worthwhile activity. They’re learning and having fun outside, which is a gift in our chaotic, overscheduled world. Our next generation of ecologists and conservationists may very well come from these children dabbling in the dirt.

Note: For those Habitat Steward volunteers curious to learn more, the Butterfly Pavilion will be offering a family-friendly training, “Gardening With Kids” on July 24 from 11 am to 1 pm. Please RSVP by contacting ayarger@butterflies.org.

Posted by Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion Horticulture Director

April 2011

You can create habitat for wildlife A personal Eden

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_17719252?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com

You can create habitat for wildlife A personal Eden



By Joe Kovack For the Camera

Posted: 03/29/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT

Use plants, preferably natives, to attract birds and butterflies.
(Courtesy Julie Gustafson)Photos Courtesy of Julie Gustafson

Birdsong, butterflies fluttering from plant to plant, a rabbit hopping by: It's not a meadow; it's your backyard.

As spring arrives, turning your yard into a wildlife habitat can beautify your outdoor space and provide refuge to local animals. Whether you live on a multi-acre plot near the foothills or an apartment in an urban area, possibilities are plentiful to create a unique wildlife habitat. Need a little guidance? The National Wildlife Federation has a wildlife habitat certification progra to help turn garden and outdoor space into a refuge for local animal life.

"It's a program meant to engage people where they live," says Julie Gustafson, regional education manager for the Rocky Mountain Field Center of the National Wildlife Federation. "It's hands on conservation, making a difference in your own community for your own benefit and that of local wildlife,"

Beginning in the '70s, the Wildlife Habitat program has evolved to help people understand that providing refuge for local animals doesn't start and end with the backyard. Anyone with a garden, side yard, backyard or just a windowsill for potted plants can attract local fauna to their home.

The National Wildlife Federation works with individuals to evaluate their outdoor space and to understand their goals for the refuge. The nonprofit provides information on native plants species and sustainable gardening practices that minimize the use of chemicals that affect smaller wildlife such as insects and birds.

Ony five elements are needed to create a refuge. Food and water sources are among the most important and easiest components. Depending on the animals you want to attract, knowing which plants and food to supply is key. A water source such as a pond, stream or water garden is also essential. An advanced refuge requires places for cover for small animals to raise young and sustainable gardening practices.

Habitats can be designed to attract a wide variety of species.

"The more layers of cover you provide, the variety of flowers and a variety of bloom times within the flowers you plant, results in a variety of birds and bugs and butterflies you'll see in your yard," Gustafson said. "That way you can have the best diversity of wildlife from the first spring blooms to the latest fall blooms," Gustafson said.

Birds need fruit-bearing shrubs for food and nesting, cover and a water source. A birdbath isn't necessary; a small stream, pond or special feeders can work just fine. Petrea Mah, president of the Boulder County Audubon Society, says it's simple to attract the roughly 25 bird species common locally.

"Mostly you need to get rid of the bluegrass and put in native shrubs and native types of grasses," Mah says. "Then there are covers for the birds who like it on the ground, like the juncos who like to eat on the ground as well as sparrows," Mah said.

Boulder County's unique geography affords a great amount of opportunity for wildlife, but people need to be prudent. Just as in the wild, some animals attract predators, and precautions are needed to ensure the safety of your family and home. For those who live near the foothills, keeping deer from your habitat makes it less attractive to bears and mountain lions.

"Most communities across the country don't have those particular challenges like we do in Boulder," Gustafson says. "And we recognize that, we don't want people to be afraid of their yard. We want them to find it as a refuge for themselves as well as a refuge for local wildlife."

Read more: You can create a habitat for wildlife - Boulder Daily Camera http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_17719252?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com#ixzz1JVeXfLDU

DailyCamera.com

Spring has Sprung! A post by Megan Bowes

Spring has sprung! I see the wild salt in pepper in bloom in the grasslands and friends have shared the first pasque flower and Easter daisy finds of the season. My two year old native plant berm is waking from dormancy and soon I will see blooming sand lilies and blue flax. My primary reason for planting natives in our urban Boulder yard is to provide habitat for wildlife. My best find last year were the numerous garter snake skins! But also admit I grow natives because I think they are gorgeous, adapted to our climate and promote our local botanical heritage.


My berm project was quite a few years in the making. Initially I thought I wanted to create a tall crevice garden to symbolize the nearby Flat Irons—then I realized I’d kill the plants as quickly as they were planted since I really can’t duplicate the precipitation patterns and cloud veil effect of the foothills behind our home. Instead I stacked up our traditional concrete front walk on its end and piled topsoil, squeegee (extra small pea gravel) and sand on top to create a 3-4 foot high berm. Then I planted whatever I could get my hands on: seeds, wild plants I salvaged from local construction projects, donated plants from friends, and purchased plants from a number of local garden centers.

My partner wasn’t entirely sure about this project—and neither were the neighbors at first. One friend who regularly drives up and down our busy street liked to comment on the continuously moving piles of rock and dirt. But things finally fell into place and I can now step back and evaluate if plants need to be moved or if I should dig up and compost the extra Porter aster and other seedlings. My street is busy enough that I could alternatively pot the extras up and leave them with a sign saying "free to a good home".

One word of caution: many of the "wildflower" seeds I scattered weren't Colorado natives--instead they were European species that have long been naturalized in the Western US. Is this a problem? More and more of the research will tell you "yes", since many introduced ornamental species can become invasive or noxious in the absence of their home predators and other checks. But there's another, possibly more important (but much less obvious) reason for planting natives. Having evolved with native herbivores and other wildlife, native plants have the right chemistry! And this is important because many plant-eating insects are specialists and feed on a very selective group of plants with just the right chemistry--which in turn are fed on by birds and other wildlife. In fact, some 96% of all North American birds (other than seabirds) feed their young with insects since insects, ounce for ounce, contain more protein than beef. So while we may think that by planting a butterfly bush (native to China), we are helping butterflies, we are merely attracting the adults who sip the nectar--and not any developing caterpillars.

So think about planting natives not just for yourself or your water budget, but also for the botanical (and chemical) heritage that they promote. For we are just now realizing how this heritage may impact the birds and other wildlife visiting your yard. Happy Spring, Megan