To disburse to new territory some plants use mammals to transport their seeds. The seeds that traditionally were catching rides in the fur of bison and wolves are now traveling by being stuck in our socks. Gardeners sometimes introduce these species to their yards by picking them out of their socks after coming home from exploring a trail in a woods or prairie. Wildlife can also move these seeds into the garden. Desmodium grows at knee height and has a nice form with a slender stem and then a whorl of leaf stalks and the flowers sticking out. The flowers are cute little legumes in pink. Seed pods start to form into rows of velcroy triangles in fall, turning from green to brown. Demodium is often found along the edge of trails through woodlands and forest edge. With many common names including beggars lice, sticktights, and tick trefoil, Demodium is the genus name of sever-al native species. Bidens are an attractive yellow flower that will trick you into allowing it to grow in the garden with their beauty. The genus Bidens can be called Spanish needles or beggar's ticks and has sev-eral native species in Missouri. I run into Bidens in my alley, along fence rows, and other ne-glected places. The seeds are long pointy barbs that weave into cloths, gloves, and fur so they can travel to new sites. Galium, also known as cleavers or bedstraw, is another native that likes to catch a ride. Galium seeds are not only sticky but the entire plant will stick to your clothes. The seeds are small balls that often coat my gardening gloves and must be carefully picked off to not spread them to other areas of the yard. There are many species of native Galium, the common garden pest is a vining mass that grows in shaded spots. In the woods more attractive delicate species of Galium can be found but they still stick in your socks when the seeds are ripe. Agrimonia has a few native species in our state. Common names include agrimony, groovebur, and sticklewort. Agrimonia is a common garden invader, but its natural habitat is in dry wood-lands. The seed is a small ball that the plant holds at about knee height, waiting for a victim. Each round seed has a fringe of hooks that catch your clothing as you walk by. Agrimonia has cute buttercup like yellow flowers that are easy to overlook amidst the dense green leaves. I often get the common names of these beggar stickle lice mixed up so I generally stick to using the genus name when trying to talk about them. These obnoxious plants all have their charms and can be used in the garden carefully. Seeds can be eaten by birds and other wildlife and the blooms provide food for pollinators. I generally try to keep them out of my garden because I’m not a fastidious gardener and things get out of hand pretty quickly. I do not like having seeds stuck in my socks, so I admire these plants out in nature or other patches of earth they find to inhabit.

My favorite insect wings are the lacewings. Lacewings have four wings that are transparent with large veins, so the wings look like lace. Lacewings are coordinated fliers but are also calm so that they can be easily observed on a leaf. I like to put them on my finger so I can look through their wings at the different reflections of light. Lacewings also have many other good qualities, like eating aphids. The middle section of an insect is the thorax, and the thorax is made of three segments. Each segment has a pair of legs, giving insects their characteristic six legs. The second and third segments can each have a pair of wings, so only four wings. I don’t know why they don’t have wings on each segment to match their legs, maybe six wings is hard to coordinate. Some insects have modified the first set of wings to be a hard shell to protect the hind set, the hard wing shell is called the elytra. June beetles have elytra which explains why they are so clumsy at flying since they only have one set of flying wings. The front set of wings can also be only partially hardened to become leathery and are then referred to as tagmata. Crickets have tagmata and rub their modified wings together to chirp. Other insects modified the back set of wings to become gyroscopic stalks for balancing, called halteres. Flies have halteres which can be observed in photos or even better, put a cranefly under a microscope. Halteres are more useful for graceful flight but are not useful for protection, so there is a tradeoff. The different insect orders have evolved wing modifications depending on their priorities. The aspects of pollinating various species of flower have different requirements. Milkweed flowers have heavy pollen sacks that require strong wing muscles to lift. Bumblebees vibrate their wing muscles to help the flower pollen loosen, this is called buzz pollination. Flowers growing in windy habitat need agile insects that have control enough to land on each flower. Bees that must push into tightly closed flowers like gentians must keep their wings folded out of the way, so they are not ripped off during the effort. Insect wings can be very flexible, and some insects can even contort their wings to control their flight. When not in use, many insects fold their wings up on their back. Wings can be folded like a fan or layered on the back like a stack of papers. Surprisingly, they can even be folded like origami and carefully hidden under the elytra to be spring loaded to pop out once the elytra are lifted. Insect wings have nerves and fluids which help with folding and also flight. Dragonflies and butterflies do not have foldable wings. Interestingly, butterflies lost their ability to fold their wings through evolution while dragonflies have never had folding wings. I wonder what types of wings I would choose if I could have them? I would want wings that folded up nicely out of the way so I wouldn’t be knocking stuff over all the time. I would also choose halteres over elytra since I don’t have much need for armor. My wings should also be beautiful like the butterfly’s with iridescent scales. Or maybe I want tagmata so I have an additional form of communication. It is fun to imagine.

Are you looking for new ways to help the monarch butterfly beyond planting milkweed in your yard? Monarch Watch’s butterfly tagging program could be the new opportunity you are looking for. Tagging migrating monarchs is a way to participate in citizen science to help researchers learn more about monarch populations and migration. It is also a great activity to do with children to increase their participation in the garden or to bring out your own inner child. My fifth-grade teacher, Gerald Axelbaum, now retired, was always looking for new ways to bring his students outside. In 1992, he heard about a new organization called Monarch Watch that was asking citizens to help tag monarch butterflies in order to track their flight to Mexico. Gerald’s class had participated in previous research projects studying acid rain and really enjoyed becoming part of an international project; this monarch project sounded like it would also be very interesting. Monarch Watch offered an opportunity to help with the research of tracking monarchs to Mexico, giving his students an opportunity to work with scientists in other countries, as well as learn about the lifecycle of an insect. After responding to Monarch Watch and requesting materials, Gerald set about incorporating monarch tagging into his fifth-grade curriculum. Using a sewing machine, the students made their own butterfly nets out of coat hangers and cloth. Gerald says the students “had pure fun building the nets.” Net building was also a lesson for students in sewing, measuring, and taking pride in their creation. Monarch Watch mailed the class a set of stickers to tag the monarchs with and asked them to record data on sex, date tagged, and if the butterfly was wild. Because he loves to teach science, Gerald encouraged his students to collect additional data like wind speed, temperature, and which direction the butterfly headed when it was released. The fifth-grade class visited a nearby nature reserve to catch and tag their monarchs. Gerald remembers that when the project first started in the 1990s, it was common to see monarchs crossing the road in front of the school bus on the way to the nature reserve. Some days they would catch up to 120 monarchs in a day and they would run out of tags. As the years passed, however, Gerald noticed a decline in the number of monarchs available for his students to tag. It was very disappointing to have a class of excited fifth graders ready to catch monarchs but no monarchs around. To increase the number of monarchs available for his students to tag and to learn more about their life cycle through a hands-on experience, Gerald ordered larva that could be reared in the classroom from Monarch Watch. Caterpillar eggs were also collected off milkweed leaves in the garden to be reared indoors. The students quickly became bonded with their caterpillars as they cared for them, fed them, and watch them molt five times as they grew bigger and bigger. The caterpillars must be fed fresh milkweed leaves, so Gerald spent each morning biking around the neighborhood harvesting milkweed from abandoned ditches and fence lines. However, a few years in to rearing larva in the classroom, tragedy struck, and all the larvae died from disease. Gerald learned there is a need to sanitize the caterpillars’ containers and the surrounding environment, which is hard to do in a classroom. “Sadly, there are so many ways for them to die before becoming adults, and the kids get bonded to their larva,” Gerald says, “it sometimes ends in tears.” But when things went well, students had the opportunity to witness their monarch finally eclose into an adult butterfly, making all the hard work delightfully worth it. Monarch tagging is a great activity to do with kids. It is captivating to let a monarch sit on the palm of your hand waiting for it to take flight after receiving a tag. This is also a wonderful time for photos. Speaking about his experience with his students over the years, Gerald says that “any touch of an insect makes them more familiar and comfortable” creating more kids have a lifelong connection to insects. The activity can be very exciting but is also a great responsibility, for the child must be gentle with each insect. Monarchs are not easy to catch, and when you do have one in your net, if you are not patient, it is likely to fly off before you get a chance to tag it. “There is a lovely freedom children experience as they run across the prairie with a net after a monarch,” says Gerald. They are hard to catch, and if you open the net without caution, they fly out and are gone. Catching a monarch takes skill. Gerald recommends a certain method to be the most successful at catching them. “Be like a batter; be cocked and ready to swing,” says Gerald. “Wait for a monarch to perch on a flower to sip nectar. Swing your net well past the flower the butterfly is perched on, to get the butterfly all the way to the back and center of the net, keep the net moving to keep the butterfly inside. Then flip your wrist to fold the net over, closing off the opening, and gently untangle from any plants. Then hold the net up to the sunlight to find the butterfly, and while gently squeezing the wings closed from the outside of the net with one hand, reach inside with your other hand to gently grasp it and remove it, always gently pinching the leading edge of the wings together so it cannot fly or hurt itself.” You can hold them safely by the wings, even though they will lose a few scales, but not a damaging amount. You only get one chance to catch them; if they escape, they are off, flying up into the sky. Gerald describes the 30 years he has spent with his students tagging monarchs as magical, thrilling, and exciting. This is a great growth opportunity for children. One of the great resources of the Monarch Watch program is that you can see if any of your tagged monarchs has been recovered in Mexico. Gerald is proud that, over the years, twenty or so of his students’ monarchs have been recovered in Mexico, completing their great migration. Whether you are a child or not, monarch tagging can be thrilling and engaging. If you plant milkweed in your garden, the monarchs will come. Be ready, and when you see the monarch butterflies traveling south in August and September, have your tags ready. You can preorder your tags from Monarch Watch in the spring, and they will be mailed to you in late summer. Order early because supplies sometimes run out. While we impatiently await the return of the monarchs, we can also watch their progress on the Journey North website and report any monarchs arriving in our gardens.

As soon as the heat breaks in September and October, fall planting season begins. Trees do great when planted in fall because they have all winter to get their roots established for an early spring start in their new home. Perennials that have begun dormancy early don’t mind being divided and moved this time of year. It is a good idea to plant or transplant as much as possible in fall months just to lessen the load of spring gardening chores. The one hazard of fall planting is that if a plant does not get its roots established quickly it can be popped out of the ground with the early frosts. In early winter scout new beds each morning to check for frost heaved plants. If a plant is exposed, simply replant it, and give it a little extra mulch to keep it in the ground. Well mulched fall planting beds experience less frost heave. Mulch, where needed, will also reduce weeding, and maintain moisture. The seed collecting season wraps up in the fall with an explosion of ripe seeds to gather and store. Fall is when I tend to get behind on my seed collecting and forget to label everything of misplace seeds in random places around my house. If you leave seeds in your pocket and run them through the washing machine they will probably not germinate. To spread plants by seed into a new area the easy way, take the seed heads with the ripe seeds and crush them above the ground in the area you want them to grow, then lightly rake the area to promote soil contact. Before the ground becomes hard with frost is the time to remove weeds and invasive species. Bush honeysuckle is easy to spot this time of year with it’s red berries and persistent leaves. Winter creeper and English ivy stay green all winter so once leaves come down, scout them out. Once the soil softens up from fall rains it is time to dig dandelions, clematis, clover, and small trees out of garden beds. In November the garden is finally settling down for winter and many tools and garden features need to be cleaned and winterized. Clean out the bluebird and other bird houses so they are ready for spring. Bring in the garden hoses so they don’t freeze. Winterize all the rain barrels and water features. Protect container garden pots by bringing them into a protected area or emptying them before the freeze. Some garden sculptures will crack in the winter, so protect them as needed. Clean all the fresh fallen leaves out of the gutters, swales, etc. so they don’t clog up the rainwater system. One thing you shouldn’t do in fall is to clean up the leaves and dormant plants. Fall is not the time to mow mulch the leaves, cut back all the flower stems, or burn the brush piles. Leave the leaves and stem in garden beds. Many overwintering beneficial garden critters are living in the leaves such as morning cloke butterfly, praying mantis egg cases, luna moths, toads, and salamanders. Thick piles of leaves call kill lawn, however, do not pile the leaves up against woody trunks or under evergreen shrubs because they can cause mold. If an area of lawn is being smothered by leaves it might be a sign that the area should be converted to garden bed. Thick piles of leaves also prevent spring annuals like blue eyed Mary so those areas will need some leaf removal. Flower stems can be left standing in the garden to provide egg laying spots of bees, beetles, and other pollinators. Brush piles and grass clumps are necessary hiding spots for birds during winter storms. Find out more about why you should leave the leaves at https://xerces.org/blog/leave-leaves-these-invertebrates-depend-on-it

When I was new to gardening I learned that fall is the time to put the garden to bed for the winter. This meant that all yard debris should be removed from the garden, leaving the garden bare for the winter and ready for a fresh start come spring. Gardens were supposed to have leaves removed, dead stalks cut to the ground, grasses nicely trimmed, and dead wood removed. However, none of that is good for a habitat garden. Leaving a garden bare through winter is unhealthy for the plants, soil, and the wildlife that use the garden. Also, it is boring to look at in a season when we desperately need something beautiful out our windows. That was the old way of gardening, it is time for a new definition of putting the garden to bed for the winter. Our gardens should be a bed, a place of refuge, warmth, and safety through the cold months of winter. Wildlife needs safe places for hibernation, and to overwinter young to begin the spring generations. Garden soil needs a fluffy blanket of leaves to protect the life that will burst out come spring. Dead branches in trees provide a winter nest for hibernating mammals as well as chambers filled with the eggs of bees and many other beneficial insects. Dead leaves on trees hold chrysalises of moths and butterflies as well as hibernating bats. As the leaves fall they bring their sleeping beauties to the ground where they keep warm in the leaf litter. Plant stems will also provide overwintering chambers for bees, beetles, and wasps. Rotting logs, in addition to hosting many insects, will also hold salamanders and frogs. Clumps of shrubs and grasses protect birds, small mammals, butterflies, and many other creatures trying to find a place out of the wind. Beneath the layer of leaves burrows have been dug into the soil by mammals, bees, and ants. Wildlife that is not equipped to dig its own borrow will find an abandoned borrow to spend the winter in. Step lightly in the garden in winter to avoid crushing the hibernating life below. Not everyone sleeps away the entire season so the winter garden should also provide food and water. Leaving seed heads on flower stalks provides food for birds. Birds will also find food by eating over wintering bugs. Hosting a plentiful supply of insects will mean that there is plenty for the birds over winter as well as spring chick rearing, and still enough insects to pollinate the garden next year. Fruits that hang on through the winter nourish birds, wildlife, and insects. Late fall and early spring blooming flowers provide nectar on warm days when bees wake up as the ground warms. To provide water keep birdbaths filled regularly. Birds still like to bath in the winter and will flock to any source of unfrozen water. Leaf litter and last years plant roots protect soil from frost, dry winter winds, and erosion from snow melt and spring rains. Plant stalks and rotting logs slow cold winds near the soil surface, collect snow drifts, and radiate heat. Decomposing plant matter enriches the soil. Helpful decomposers like beetles and fungi transform last years debris into fresh soil, even adding their own bodies to the decomposition eventually. Perennial plants are constantly growing new roots and loosing old ones. Decaying roots provide tunnels of organic matter deep into the ground creating pathways for decomposers into deeper layers of soil. Today we understand how important our gardens can be to providing habitat for wildlife. Old methods of garden practices did not know about these connections and started in a time period when insect and bird populations were still robust. Now we have documented how wildlife populations are collapsing but home gardens can make a difference if they are managed with habitat in mind. We understand our responsibility and just need to create new habits to protect birds and insects. So this fall we can all put our gardens to bed with promoting habitat as the priority.

How do we tell which part is the seed? When collecting seeds from a new species it is a good idea to look at the parts of the seed head under a magnification. The seed will have a look of plumpness. Some of the seeds may look flattened or desiccated and these will probably not germinate. Healthy seed will often be the heaviest part of the flower head. If the flower is broken up and gently separated by stirring or blowing on it, the seeds will gather in the closest pile. Compass plant and others in the Silphium genus are composite flowers. The seeds are found along the edge of the flower disk near the base of the petals. Seeds will become plumper and darker as they mature and will not mature fully if they are plucked too early. Finches and other seed eaters work their bills around the edge of the flower head to pluck the seeds out. Watching birds probe flower heads for seeds can give us an idea of where the seeds are and if they are ripe. Seeds can be separated from the chaff by breaking the seed head up and sifting out the larger seeds or picking the seeds directly off the flower head. Some parts of flower heads, especially fleshy berries, contain germination inhibitors and should be completely separated from the seed for best germination. Using a kitchen colander to rub berries under a stream of water will wash away the pulp leaving just the skin and seed to be separated. Berries should be processed and planted immediately. In nature the fruit is eaten when ripe, digested, and then deposited in a nice fertile package of poop on the ground. Mimic natural processes as much as possible but perhaps fall short of sifting through animal scat to pick out the seeds. However, racoon poop is an excellent place to find ready to plant pawpaw seeds. Blue lobelia, cardinal flower, and seedbox have seed that looks like dust. As the seed capsule tips in the wind or is brushed by an animal, the seeds spill out on the ground. These species grow in wet areas where the seed will be washed down hill to start new populations. These plants are often found in drifts that show where the water flows. In a garden the plants seem to be constantly moving downhill, so the gardener must scatter seeds uphill from the population to keep the plants from running away. I check if these seeds are ripe by gently tipping the seed head over in my palm to seed if any dust falls out. When the seeds are ready to be disbursed, I cut off the flowering stems to collect these seeds. While cutting, be very careful to keep them still and upright, then tip them upside down into a bucket. I let the plant stalks dry for a few days in the bucket, giving them a gentle shake every once and a while. A collection of dust will form in the bottom of the bucket; that is the seeds. Spiderwort is a surprise for the novice seed collector as the seeds explode off the plant when they are ready. To collect spiderwort seeds, gather the flower heads after they finish blooming and just as they start to have explosions. Lay your plant stalks out on a tarp on the floor with a screen or cardboard lid over the top. As the plants dry you will hear the seeds popping off the cover. When the seeds all seem to have popped, remove the flower stalks and sweep up the seeds on the tarp. For many species it is more bother than it is worth to separate the seed from the chaff. Flower heads can be broken up and the whole mess can be sprinkled in the new bed or stratified. This lazy method makes it harder to know how many seeds you actually have but for the home gardener that may not matter. Often when I’m collecting seeds I save the easiest to separate seeds for trading with friends or germinating indoors, the seeds that didn’t easily fall off and the rest of the chaff are all thrown into a flower bed where I hope they will establish.

St louis has a unique program that helps homeowners pay for the costs of adding native landscapes and other rainscaping features to their yard. Project clear grant money can pay for native plants, mulch, and rainbarrels, as well as hiring a professional to do the work. Rainscaping consists of several gardening techniques including raingardens, swales, lawn alternatives, woodland restoration, invasive plant removal, native plant gardens, and vegetative buffers along creeks. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/sustainability/sustainability/sustainable-living/at-home/rainscaping-guide When applying for a grant I suggest getting your application in about 6 months in advance of when you plan to plant. After submitting your proposal, it takes a couple months to hear back if your project is approved. This will still allow some time for ordering plants and preparing the planting area. Order plants as soon as possible to make sure you get the best selection. This grant is a reimbursement program so the homeowner will need to pay all costs upfront and then is reimbursed when the project is complete. Take photos of your project before and after and during all stages in between. Also, keep all of your receipts! Project clear is designed to ease the amount of stormwater runoff entering city creeks and causing flooding of buildings and street. Absorbing rainwater where it falls also prevents pollution from being washed into our creeks and rivers by filtering water through the soil. Holding more rainwater in your garden soil means healthier plants and less need for watering. Project clear benefits gardeners, keeps the city from flooding, prevents pollution, and is better for biodiversity. https://msdprojectclear.org/what-we-do/rainscaping/small-grants/

I love to sit on my screen porch and watch the rain flow down from the gutters and fill up the rain barrels. We have a 300 gallon system and it fills quickly with a good rain. When the rain barrels overflow, the water goes into a rain garden. This rain garden is about a foot deep in the middle and 5 feet around. Soil from digging the rain garden was piled on the down hill side to form a dam and reinforced with a few big rocks. This area is planted with soft rush (Juncus effusus), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra) , hibiscus (Hibiscus spp.), and copper iris (Iris fulva). As the rain continues falling the rain garden fills up and overflows into a swale, which is a small foot wide ditch that directs the water flow to meander through the garden without washing out the paths. The winding swale keeps the water heading down hill while slowing it down and allowing it to absorb into the soil. The swale is invisible from above as the garden on both sides covers the gap. The swale ends at the lowest part of the yard. In this area I have planted species that can tolerate temporary flooding. In the wettest part stands a red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) surrounded by seed box (Ludwigia alternifolia), blue eyed grass (Sisyrinchium spp.), and grey headed coneflower (Ratibida pinnata). Slightly higher up slope aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) , purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), and blue stem goldenrod (Solidago caesia) grow. The amount of stormwater flowing through my yard used to cause erosion and muddy spots in my lawn but now the water is encouraged to soak naturally into the soil. The deep roots of native plants help to move water into the lower layers of soil while the fibrous roots hold soil together to protect from erosion. Using native plants to control stormwater keeps creeks, basements, and driveways from flooding as well as providing natural water to the garden and the plants and wildlife that depend on it. To find out more about adding rainscaping features to your landscape I recommend this website. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/sustainability/sustainability/sustainable-living/at-home/rainscaping-guide.aspx

It is high time that we put native plants in front yards and public spaces so that they can be seen. Native gardens are beautiful and full of life, and we should share them with our community. Front yard gardens can become a gathering spot for neighbors where people stop to talk about plants or bees. My garden often causes people to stop and ask questions about what I’m doing. It is a chance to connect with my neighbors and spread my love of gardening. I have told so many people to feel free to walk around any time that it is not unusual to look out my window in the morning to find someone having coffee next to my little pond. When I started gardening it was difficult to find examples of native plant gardens. There was also a lack of information about using natives in a landscape or sources for the plants I wanted. Now it is much easier to see native plants in gardens, and many more resources are available. Gardening with native plants is the new cool thing. Those of us with a little experience with native plants have an opportunity to share our knowledge and love with our community. Neighbors are more likely to plant native plants in their yard if they see that someone else is doing it. It is hard to be the first one doing something new. However, growing the second or third native garden in the neighborhood is much easier. When native gardens are established by groups of neighbors, they become more accepted by the neighborhood and are also more beneficial for the wildlife. We can each let our garden become the model of what a modern ideal landscape should look like. We should be proud of our native landscapes. Native landscaping is a challenging pursuit that requires commitment. Usually, I find working on my garden peaceful but some days I need to remind myself of why I keep doing it. I’m not only gardening for myself but also because I believe there is a benefit to the insects, birds, plants, soil, ground water, and whole ecosystem. This is one small thing I can do to protect this piece of earth. If I can influence others to do the same, my efforts will be even more effective.

“HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK™ IS A GRASSROOTS CALL-TO-ACTION TO REGENERATE BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION by PLANTING NATIVE PLANTS AND CREATING NEW ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS.” National parks are places where space is set aside for nature. Since we have run out of extra space on earth, we need to find new ways of making space for nature. There are about 40 million acers of lawn that are privately owned. These vast expanses of monoculture do not support wildlife or human health. Lawn is prime target for converting into space for nature. The goal of Homegrown National Park is to convert 20 million acres of lawn to native plantings in the U.S. This represents approximately half of the green lawns of privately-owned properties. Large amounts of land can be transformed into productive ecosystems if each landowner does their small part. If each homeowner would convert half or more of their yard to native plants, this goal could be met. Small pockets of native gardens scattered across a neighborhood would collectively create enough habitat to support species that need lots of space. Chains of neighborhood gardens would create corridors that allow wildlife to migrate to disperse to new habitat or find mates. A diverse selection of habitat gardens will provide all the pieces of required habitat for a species. An owl, for example, would benefit from homegrown national park. Owls need very large hunting grounds. The habitats owls hunt in need to support a heathy population of small rodents. Rodents need protective shrubs, seedy plants, water, and a space where they feel safe. The owls also need nearby habitats where other owls live so that they can find mates. Owls need habitat with several dead trees where they can rest, store food, and raise young. All this diversity of habitat and space to roam can be provided by a collection of personal native plant gardens spread throughout a neighborhood. Most of us do not have enough land to support even a single butterfly throughout its entire life cycle. However, we desperately want these creatures in our gardens. We want to protect diversity and we also want to enjoy it. Our gardens can do more than act as an island of beauty when we kill the lawn and connect our gardens with our neighbors to form a homegrown national park. Join the movement at https://homegrownnationalpark.org/

We need more ways to get kids out in nature. We can start close to home in our own yards by creating a garden for children. As a child, I grew up with a large garden to play in and I want to give that same experience to other children. Providing a space for children to play also has the benefit of keeping them occupied so the adults have time to garden. In my experience, children want a space to use their imagination, find some privacy, enjoy opportunities for discovery, and encounter a little danger. As a child, I had several favorite elements to the garden starting with the climbing tree. There was something magical about being up in the arms of my climbing tree. The perspective from above, the sway of the branches in the wind, and the intimacy with the insects all were part of the experience. King of the hill/stump/rock is always a popular game to play with friends. The play area always became well trampled, but we were outside having a good time. Eventually we all got tired of being king and come back down to earth to examine the smaller creatures at the base of our play area. There was no water in my garden beyond the birdbath, but I loved it when we were at the park and there was a stream to play in. A stream on a hot day is a wonder and can turn crabby kids cheerful again. The stream is also where I learned early lessons in hydrology by building dams and canals. Another activity to do at the stream is building rock piles. Sometimes our piles would just be built for size, but they were also many times built for beauty. Using natural objects to make art helps children to see the beauty in nature. Children and adults alike love a garden swing. We have an especially tall one hanging from a silver maple in the back garden that is used frequently. I like to sit on the swing during long phone conversations with my mom. Swings attract children with a magnetic pull. When friends come to visit and aren’t sure where their children went, usually they are at the swing. A play fort can be a structural element in a garden when attractively built. As a kid I was allowed to build my own tree fort which was not very attractive but hidden from sight behind the garage. I have seen many gardens with beautiful plat fort incorporated. A fort could be a platform in a tree like mine was, or take the shape of a hobbit hill or a cute little cottage. Small garden buildings are a focal point that draws the eye, and the children. A child’s garden should have a place for a tent. Sleeping outside is an excellent way to become more intimate with your garden. A hammock is also a good place to sleep in your garden or just rest. There needs to be options to rest in the garden to just enjoy it. A place of discovery is the rotting log. Allowing a log to naturally decay will attract all sorts of insects and other critters. Children enjoy poking around the log to discover new creepy-crawlies. Another crawly you may attract is snakes. Snakes, crickets, worms, and salamanders can often be found under a board left out in the garden. Teaching kids to respect snakes at a young age will help them become good stewards later in life. Adding a garden gnome village or other make-believe world to the garden gives children a place to exercise their imagination. When I was a kid, we had a restaurant where we served mud pies, my cousin had a battleground for his army men, and my friend had a village of acorn people. The garden has a wealth of material to be used in such a make-believe world, with all its leaves, flowers, sticks, and rocks. Worlds may exist just for an afternoon of play or develop over months or years. Gardening with children requires some flexibility and tolerance of damage. Include the child in planning and planting the garden to give them ownership. It is wonderful to watch something you planted grow and develop. The child and the garden will grow up together.

I think I am addicted to being out in nature. Sometimes when I’m out hiking in a natural area, I feel almost drunk with joy. It is like my brain just fills with bubbles. I feel true love for the world around me, and myself. Part of the joy is from the smell. It is the smell of the earth, all the decaying leaves and logs, the smells of coming rain or spring, and the smell of trees, especially pine, that makes me feel all wobbly inside. I’m guilty of pressing my nose up against a tree trunk just to get a good deep sniff. Research has shown that plants release compounds into the air that can affect our brains. Microbes in the earth also release scents as byproducts of organic compounds as they break down. When I give myself time to stop worrying about my normal human troubles, I am always amazed by just how beautiful everything around me is. Tor example, there are so many colors in a turkey tail mushroom it is hard to imagine why a fungus would go to such lengths to build so many rings of pigment. At a valley overlook I notice the changing sweeps of tree leaf color and texture depending on elevation and aspect. Down in the valley the surprising white skeletons of sycamore mark the path of the river off into the distance. Brushing against my hands are the perfectly aligned seed capsules of gammagrass. Such perfect alignment may simply be efficiency to the plant, but it is very pleasing to me. Part of the joy I derive is from walking. There is a meditation practice called walking meditation which best describes how my mind reacts to walking in a natural setting. My mind is at peace while my body is busy moving forward. I feel free to just experience joy, awe, and wonder at the beauty around me. “In beauty, I walk, With beauty before me, I walk, With beauty behind me, I walk, With beauty above me, I walk, With beauty all around me, I walk, With beauty within me, I walk, It is finished in beauty.” Excerpt from Yeibechai, Night Chant of the Navajos.