Birder’s Lounge

I built my first frog pond in the hummingbird garden that has been the backdrop for many of the photos here at the Birder’s Lounge. You’re probably wondering how many frog ponds I have Well, as it happens, I have two, but will talk about my second one in a future article.

I know that this doesn’t look much like a frog pond, but this is how it started! These hippo figures are pieces of bronze artwork. I HAD to have a mom-and-baby pair and ended up Read the rest of this entry »

Most people can probably name two kinds of bees: bumblebees and honey bees. But I’ll bet that most people do not realize that there are about 900 species of bees in Texas alone! I learned about this whopping number of bee species from Kim Peoples Bacon of Texas Bee Watchers. In her speech at the Native Plant Society spring symposium held in Austin, Texas earlier this year , Kim went on to tell us that most of these bees are solitary - not the hoards and hives we normally think of… Read the rest of this entry »

You gardeners out there probably both love AND hate your Bermudagrass (Cynodon dayctylon) lawns. If you don’t have a Bermudagrass lawn, then I think you’re lucky.

I have grown up with Bermudagrass my entire life. I’ve never given it a second thought as to whether it was native or not. To be fair, I’ve only come to REALLY understand the vital importance of native plants in the last 6 months or so. Still, in my experience, lawns are either Bermudagrass, St. Augustine (Stenotaphrum secundatum), or a mixture of both.

I happen to live in an ecological region of Texas known as the Blackland Prairie. Prairie. When I think of a prairie, I think of grass, and the old TV show, “Little House on the Prairie.” The grasses that I picture are tall and certainly not what is considered “turf” grass. The native grasses and wildflowers that make up Texas’ Blackland Prairie region support wild birds and many other types of wildlife. As with so many of our natural resources, the Blackland Prairie is all but gone or severely damaged. There is a good, brief discussion of the state of the Blackland Prairie at the Native Plant Society’s site and I recommend that you take a moment to read it. The NPSOT lists this sobering statistic:

Today, it is believed less than 1% (and possibly less than 0.1%) of the native Blackland Prairies remain.

So what am I going to do about it? First, write this article to start a discussion of the topic and raise awareness. Second, conduct an experiment in my backyard where I remove the Bermudagrass from 8′x8′ plots and plant native grass blends designed to function as socially-acceptable lawngrass and other prairie grasses. Once my experimental plots have grown, I fully expect to see some great choices for the future of my lawn areas. I also expect to meet with or at least speak to my home-owner’s association when I suggest the radical idea of changing my front yard to a native grass mix that does not require mowing, watering or fertilizing! OMG, what would the neighbors think?! I’m betting they’ll be asking how they can do the same.

This article has been a “doozie” to research! I almost took on more than I could handle, but I have learned a few things about plant and bug identification. I saw some interesting bugs with interesting baby bugs on a mystery plant in my trial garden. I decided to find out if the plant is native and if the bugs make good bird food. In short, the answers are maybe and probably.  Here’s what I found: Read the rest of this entry »

I know…seems obvious, right? As my niece taught me to say, “duh!”

I planted a pecan tree (Carya illinoinensis) in my backyard about 4 years ago. There are many pecan trees near my home and they are so beautiful, even in the winter when they have dropped their leaves. I like to say they have “good bones.” Pecan trees are the state tree of Texas and they are certainly plentiful and do very well. Whatever was on the land my home was built on had been cleared, so that is why I promptly planted a pecan tree (among others!). Read the rest of this entry »

I wrote an earlier post where I showed pictures of how I built my hummingbird garden. I started out with maybe half native plants, half non-native. I have since learned that native plants attract and support wildlife SO much better than non-natives that I have been changing out plants in my hummingbird garden over the last two seasons. Let’s look at some before and after photos… Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve just finished reading an excellent book written by Douglas W. Tallamy, called Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens(2007). Tallamy does an excellent job of explaining how each and every person can give back to nature what we have altered or taken away entirely. Tallamy’s main focus Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve enjoyed gardening for many years and like to think that I’ve developed a knack for designing my own gardening projects. But it wasn’t until early this year that a light bulb lit up in my mind and I realized HOW important my plant choices were. My love of birding inspired me to design and build a hummingbird garden a couple of years ago. Read the rest of this entry »