We have been enjoying some great weather this past week. With that gift has come the ability to get out in the yard. While I was cleaning up the new native garden bed by the road, I found this maple seedling pushing its way out of the seed coat. I couldn’t help but write a…
“Hi Carol. Dad.” How I miss those words; the words he said when he called to talk to me. I wonder how long it will be before I can no longer clearly hear his voice in my head. Sadly, with time, I know it will fade. With my Dad’s recent passing, my thoughts naturally turned…
Today is Silent Sunday. All photos are copyrighted by Carol Labuzzetta with all rights reserved, 2004-2017. Represented today are SOME of the self-made posters for the elementary garden clubs I taught for 15 years. Information on posters came from various scientific publications and was documented in the lesson plans. Since we did not have any…
All photos and videos on this page are by Carol Labuzzetta. No permission exists to duplicate any of the photos or videos in any fashion whether watermarked or not. Thank you.
The native wild blue lupine is blooming in my yard! This is a host plant for Karner Blue butterflies. Like monarchs, the Karner Blue larva feed off of only one plant – the wild blue lupine. It is necessary for them to live and survive. Although endangered, this butterfly is doing well mainly due to…
We did not see much wildlife in the national parks. Exceptions were elk grazing as we entered the Grand Canyon, causing a flurry of cars to pull off the road to watch these giants eat. While at the Grand Canyon we also saw Pinon Jaybirds and lots of ravens. A tarantula was spotted by the…
During my limited free time this week, and as a method of stress reduction, I collected seeds and ordered seeds for native plants. This is a great conservation activity with school aged kids. Seed Sources for Ordering Over the last month, researching native prairie seed sources has occupied some of my time. If you live…
Plants have always interested me and when I imagine the myriad of different careers I might have chosen, a botanist or even a horticulturalist easily comes to mind. In the last couple of years, I’ve had the opportunity to observe some unusual plants, right in my own backyard or neighborhood. Last fall, I saw my…
A few years ago we let a bordered garden bed in which we used to grow pumpkins and other vegetables go unplanted. I was learning about native plants and the importance of prairies, so I had an idea to let this garden be a mini-prairie patch in our yard. The space is 36 feet by…
Sunday morning I missed a golden opportunity to take some really awesome photos of winter in the Coulee Region – where I live in Wisconsin. The conditions, over night – from Saturday into Sunday – were ripe for the development of both hoarfrost and rime ice. What? You say? What are those?! Even as an…