Mother Earth's Garden

I have a variety of beneficial insects in my garden, and I attract beneficial insects to my garden by providing cover, moisture, and avoiding the use of pesticides whenever possible.
Some of these beneficial insects help pollinate my garden, others help guard it from unwanted pests, but they all help my garden be a better place.
Here are 5 of my favorites.
1. The Praying Mantis ~ I never get tired of seeing these beautiful creatures. When I see them in my summer garden I know they’re consuming all those pesky little bugs.
2. The Butterfly is a beautiful pollinator. I …read more

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One of my absolute favorite beneficial insects is the the ladybug. Ladybugs are small round beetles that range in color from red to orange, with black spots.

If you want to avoid using chemical pesticides, attracting beneficial insects to your garden becomes very important. It’s a vicious cycle, once you use pesticides it’s hard to get beneficial insects like lady beetles to come to your garden.
So how do you attract ladybugs to your garden?

Ladybugs love strong scented herbs and flowers with plenty of pollen. Some of their favorites include dill, cosmos, cilantro, fennel, tansy, and yarrow.
Provide plenty of …read more

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I love praying mantis’ and I look forward to seeing them in my garden, but one scared the be-gee-zees out of me this morning. Yikes!
I usually let the dogs out first thing when I get up in the morning, and this time of the year it’s not light outside yet. Of course they can’t just go outside and do their business, they have to make sure I go out there with them. I think they’re scared of the dark or something.
So I went outside with them, and they did their business. When I opened the door to go …read more

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Sandy knows her holidays, and she sent me some important information on National Pollinator week.
The Pollinator Partnership declared June 22 to the 28th National Pollinator week to help raise awareness of the decline of bees and other pollinators. Honey bees have been hit especially hard in the last couple years with Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, which has devastated a large portion of the honey bee population.
The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign is releasing a set of guides over the next couple years to help people determine the best plants in their region to help pollinators thrive.
The …read more

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Earlier I wrote about how to attract beneficial insects to your garden. Here are a couple photos I took today of the beneficial insects already in my garden this spring.
Here are some early spring ladybugs, I was picking up sticks around one of my border gardens, and a ladybug fell on my foot. I looked down and there were about 20 of them at the base of the tree.

Every summer I have a couple praying mantis in my garden, so every winter I hunt for their egg casings. Here is one in my perennial garden. I’ve never …read more

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Everyone needs more beneficial insects in their garden. From bees to butterflies, lacewings, praying mantis, and ladybugs how can you make more of these garden helpers visit your little corner of the world?
This praying mantis lived in the borders around my house last summer. He liked to hang out in the thick cover of iris’ around the outside faucet.
I think his chosen spot provided him with plenty of bugs, a source of moisture, and cover.
Here are 5 ways to attract more beneficial insects to your garden.
1. The number one way to attract beneficial insects to your garden, do not …read more

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Last weekend I wrote about Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, this Sunday 60 Minutes is running a segment called What’s Wrong With The Bees? If you’re interested in finding out more on this subject check it out. I hope to watch.
On a related subject Garden Rant has a post on the reappearance of a disease that’s wiping out the bat population.
Many people don’t like bats, but they’re an important part of our ecosystem. I enjoy watching them fly around our barn catching mosquitoes on hot summer nights.

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Bee Colony Collapse Disorder is a phenomenon that Scientists have been trying to understand for the last couple years. Worker bees leave their hives and never return. Whole hives disappear within a couple hours. Leaving the queen and her offspring to fend for themselves.
Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, also known as BCCD is an epidemic in the bee community, and is threatening the worlds food supply even more than Global Warning. Scientists have been scrambling to determine the cause of BCCD, and have narrowed it down to a combination of things. One of the main culprits is a virus. The virus …read more

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Over the next few weeks I’m going to talk about planning your garden. This is the time of year to plan out new gardens, and remake old gardens that aren’t working. Over the next couple weeks I’m going to go into detail on some of the different types of garden you can create.
Some of the gardens I’ll be covering include gardening to attract birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects. I’ll also dive into plants to include in cutting, vegetable, kitchen, shade, border, and herb gardens.
I want to know what types of gardens you’re interested in finding out more about. Sooo, I’m …read more

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