🌤️ Explore Outdoors: Watch the Clouds & Identify Their Types! ☁️
Sometimes the best nature adventure begins by simply looking up! Find a comfortable spot outside, watch the sky for a few minutes, and see how many different kinds of clouds
Habitat
🌎🔎 TEST YOUR NATURE KNOWLEDGE! 🌿🐝🦋
We’ve spent this week looking closer at some amazing connections—from buzz-pollinating bees and hummingbird-like moths to underground habitats and butterflies that depend on asters. How much do you remember? Let’s
🌼🦋 BUZZ & BLOOM: White Woodland Aster & Pearl Crescent Butterfly
As summer begins to give way to fall, White Woodland Aster (Eurybia divaricata) starts lighting up shady woodland edges with clouds of small white flowers. And those little flowers can
🦋🌸 POLLINATOR SPOTLIGHT: Hummingbird Clearwing Moth
Is it a hummingbird? A bumble bee? A moth? If you’ve ever seen a fuzzy little creature hovering in front of a flower and wondered what you were looking at,
🌸⭐ NATIVE PLANT SPOTLIGHT: Shooting Star ⭐🌸
It looks as though a tiny meteor shower has landed in the spring garden! Shooting Star (Primula meadia, formerly Dodecatheon meadia) is a distinctive native wildflower with nodding flowers held
🐦 Explore Outdoors: Go on a Bird Listening Walk! 🎶
How many birds can you discover without ever seeing them? This week’s Explore Outdoors Challenge is to take a bird listening walk. Head outside in the early morning or evening,
🌎🔎 TEST YOUR NATURE KNOWLEDGE! 🌿🐝
You’ve been learning about some of the fascinating connections happening in our gardens and natural areas. How much do you remember? Ready? Test your nature knowledge with these five questions!
Buzz & Bloom
🌸🪰 BUZZ & BLOOM: Virginia Waterleaf & Bee Flies 🌿 Deep in the spring woodland, Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) produces clusters of delicate white to lavender flowers—and if you stop
🦋🐝Water for Wildlife 💧🐦
We talk a lot about providing wildlife with native plants, food, and shelter—but every habitat needs one more essential ingredient: Water. 💧 Birds need water for drinking and bathing. Bees
Pollinator/Wildlife Spotlight: Bee Fly
🐝🪰 POLLINATOR SPOTLIGHT: Meet the Bee Fly! Is it a bee? Is it a fly? If you spot a fuzzy little insect hovering over your flowers and extending a surprisingly
🌿🤍 NATIVE PLANT SPOTLIGHT: Virginia Waterleaf 🤍🌿
Walk through a rich Eastern woodland in spring and you may encounter a plant that is easy to overlook until you stop and look closely. Its broad green leaves appear
🌙 Explore Outdoors: Listen to the Sounds of Summer 🎶🦗
As the sun goes down, nature’s nighttime orchestra begins! Step outside, turn off the distractions, and spend a few minutes listening for crickets, katydids, and cicadas. 🦗 Crickets create their