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

Gardening Advice Turns a Corner

Out of curiosity I visited a popular gardening guru’s FB page. Winter lawns, various Roundup products and a flowering (invasive) mahonia...

ljmarkson

Feb 5, 20224 min read

Cedar Waxwings Reveal How Pervasively Disruptively Invasive Nandina and Honeysuckle are to Wildlife

Soon after I started working on a post focused on invasive nandina (Nandina domestica), I went down a rabbit hole and ended up in a...

ljmarkson

Dec 30, 20215 min read

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

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

Create Local Change by Building Community Support for Native Plants

The native plant community in Atlanta grew stronger yesterday with the first event of the newly minted Intown Atlanta Chapter of the GNPS...

ljmarkson

Nov 9, 20214 min read

A Handful of Late Blooming Fall Native Plants

I love profiling native plants but have a growing list of other topics I also want to write about and feel like I’m always running...

ljmarkson

Oct 31, 20214 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I'm Done Tidying Nature For an Outdated Aesthetic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

Native Georgia Aster is a Rare Southern Belle

October is aster time so I’m starting off my list of ten October native plants with the stunning Georgia aster (symphyotrichum...

ljmarkson

Oct 6, 20214 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

Enjoy Native Spotted Beebalm's Whimsical Complexity

My September blooming native plant #9 is spotted beebalm or horsemint (monarda punctata), a fragrant herb in the mint family with a...

ljmarkson

Sep 23, 20212 min read

Atlanta Area Fall 2021 Native Plant Sales and Nurseries

Even though September is Georgia Grows Native for Birds month, I try not to plant until October. Fall plant sales have me itching to add...

ljmarkson

Sep 15, 20217 min read

Boneset is a Thoroughly Valuable Native Plant

My September native plant pick #4 is common boneset (eupatorium perfoliatum), also called thoroughwort because of the way the stems go...

ljmarkson

Sep 13, 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

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

Have You Seen a Non-Native Adventive Sculptured Resin Bee In Your Yard?

A couple weeks ago I was excited to see a giant bee I had never seen before pollinating my clustered mountain mint (pycnanthemum...

ljmarkson

Jul 18, 20213 min read

Pollinators Can't Resist Native Mountain Mint Flowers!

Clustered or short-toothed mountain mint (pycnanthemum muticum) is by far the most popular plant in my yard right now. All day long it is...

ljmarkson

Jun 29, 20214 min read

Be Greedy About Supporting Wildlife in Your Yard!

OR How to optimize the habitat value of your yard. In his book Nature’s Best Hope Doug Tallamy explains how “greedy” he is when it...

ljmarkson

Jun 20, 20213 min read

Add a Mini Nature Center to Your Wildlife Habitat Yard

OR How I created the Homestead Nature Center with a little help from my family As restorative as my naturescaped yard is for the...

ljmarkson

Apr 26, 20213 min read