Nurture Native Nature

Creating Healthy Local Ecosystems

Welcome to Nurture Native Nature, a blog about my ongoing journey creating a wildlife sanctuary in my own small piece of our precious earth. Hopefully I can help

make it easier for you to do the same.

oakleaf hydrangea, chipola river ticksee

A December Butterfly Brings Hope

In the middle of the brown landscape of winter a flash or orange and silver movement caught my eye. It startled me and when I looked a...

ljmarkson

Dec 26, 20214 min read

What a Mushroom Eating Squirrel Teaches Us About Nature

After a rainy spell a couple weeks ago, mushrooms appeared in a section of my rewilded yard. About a week later I started noticing...

ljmarkson

Dec 21, 20213 min read

The Future is Dependent on Connecting Children to Nature Every Day

"Today’s children, growing up on lawns and pavements, will not even have nostalgia to guide them, and soon the animals will be not only...

ljmarkson

Dec 17, 20214 min read

The Squirrel and Acorn Connection

I wish I spoke Eastern grey squirrel on a warm day a couple weeks ago when I saw an industrious young squirrel think he was cleverly...

ljmarkson

Nov 29, 20215 min read

Connecting the Rodenticide and Backyard Ecosystem Dots

My biophobic, eco-clueless neighbor found dead snakes in her driveway and posted in our neighborhood group because she wanted to know if...

ljmarkson

Nov 23, 20215 min read

Update on My Mini Nature Center

I appreciate how social media can connect me to so many like-minded people who are also working to restore nature where they live. It’s...

ljmarkson

Nov 19, 20215 min read

Reclaiming My Leaves and Restoring Nature

My advocacy for nature puts me outside my conflict comfort zone. I find myself consistently protecting my rewilded yard from neighboring...

ljmarkson

Nov 3, 20213 min read

Reclaiming Nature and Letting Go of Stress

Nature is such a powerful cure-all that ecotherapy uses it as a tool to professionally boost growth, healing and reduce stress. It is...

ljmarkson

Oct 22, 20215 min read

I'm Done Tidying Nature For an Outdated Aesthetic

I’ve recently had a paradigm shift about spending so much energy making my rewilded yard more approachable, neater, or more traditionally...

ljmarkson

Oct 17, 20215 min read

Rehoming Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars

Last year I posted about not being the only nature lover I know who moves gulf fritillary caterpillars from native passionflower vines...

ljmarkson

Oct 13, 20213 min read

Don't Overlook Bidens Alba as an Essential Georgia Native Pollinator Plant

The idea to profile 30 native plants growing in my yard in September may have been a bit too ambitious. The more realistic number is 10...

ljmarkson

Sep 30, 20213 min read

White Turtlehead Spreads Slowly But Steadily

My Georgia native plant pick #8 for September is called white turtlehead (chelone glabra) although I haven’t ever seen white flowers...

ljmarkson

Sep 22, 20213 min read

Native Aquatic Milkweed Is a Pretty and Petite Monarch Host Plant for Damp Areas

My September native plant pick #5 is white swamp milkweed or aquatic milkweed (asclepias perennis), one of many native milkweeds in...

ljmarkson

Sep 17, 20212 min read

Native Climbing Boneset is Loved By Pollinators!

My #3 September native plant pick is a rambling perennial vine I've only noticed growing at a nearby nature park in my intown Atlanta...

ljmarkson

Sep 8, 20212 min read

Frog Fruit Is a Valuable Native Groundcover!

My September native plant pick #2 is a fantastic low-growing, semi-evergreen groundcover called frog fruit (phyla nodiflora, formerly...

ljmarkson

Sep 4, 20212 min read

Help Our Insects By Participating in the Great Georgia Pollinator Census 2021!

I want to encourage everyone to set aside 15 minutes this Friday, August 20 or Saturday, August 21 to participate in the Great Georgia...

ljmarkson

Aug 17, 20213 min read

Hummingbirds and Windows

Drama unfolded in my small semi-urban rewilded yard recently when two ruby-throated hummingbirds, probably engrossed in a territorial...

ljmarkson

Aug 16, 20212 min read

Robber Flies are Ferocious Insect Hunters!

Yesterday, when a robber fly landed on my backdoor window I felt like it wanted to say hi and have its picture taken because it...

ljmarkson

Jul 31, 20212 min read

We Can Teach Our Children How to Interact with Nature One Squirrel, Earthworm and Ladybug at a Time

OR Teaching Our Children How to Appreciate Nature Using the Peter Parker Principle. I was in earshot of hearing a neighbor’s young child...

ljmarkson

Mar 16, 20213 min read