Three Ways to Help the Monarchs as They Migrate

Jo Ellen Roe August 26, 2014 0 Comments

Swamp milkweed

A swamp milkweed in bloom.

As summer fades into fall, Monarch butterflies in North America are making their way from their summer homes to their overwintering locations in Mexico and California. Get the latest information on weekly migration updates for the Monarchs.

This post will cover three important ways you can help the Monarch butterflies, whose numbers have declined significantly in recent years.

Plant Milkweed

If, like the crew of Serendipity Gardens, you are concerned about the Monarchs, you may have planted milkweed in your garden this year. If you did not plant milkweed this year, you can plan to do so next year. ... Read More

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Six Cheap, Easy Things You Can Do to Help the Bees — Including How to Build a Bee Hotel

Jo Ellen Roe August 11, 2014 3 Comments

Keeping the Bees

The plight of the bees and other pollinators is frightening! Without bees, some say, humans would also cease to exist. A more likely scenario is that humans would live in a much less colorful and tasty world.

I read a book recently titled Keeping the Bees: Why All Bees Are at Risk and What We Can Do to Save Them. It’s a great read, one I highly recommend. You will  learn a lot about what is causing the bees’ distress and how much poorer our world would be without bees. You will also learn interesting facts about bee sex, bee predators, and more. It’s all astonishing and fascinating stuff! ... Read More

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From Serendipity Gardens: Three Ways to Call the Creatures and Three Reasons Why You Should

Jo Ellen Roe July 28, 2014 0 Comments

Spiral Herb garden

A spiral garden provides room for lots of herbs in a small space.

The creatures — beneficial bugs, butterflies, bees, and birds, plus a few others — add personality and fun to your garden. In addition, of course, the work they do helps make the garden a success. Serendipity Gardens blog focuses on how to make your garden more wildlife friendly. From the last quarter, here are four most-read posts that tell you how and why. Click on the titles to read the original posts:

Serendipity Garden’s New Spiral Herb Garden

This post documents the process we went through to create a spiral herb garden. Nothing much in the world smells better than a basil leaf in the hot sun, or lemon balm rubbed between the fingers. People like these fragrances, and the creatures do, too! This type of garden is also a good way to maximize the benefits of sun and water, as its design creates multiple climate zones. It’s a good idea to put the herb garden close to a garden seat, so that you can sit there and enjoy watching the visitors. It is also nice to locate it near the kitchen, so you can quickly nab some rosemary or oregano to add to a dish. This photo shows our herb spiral about two months after planting. ... Read More

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Building a Front Yard Garden at Serendipity Gardens – One Year at a Time

Jo Ellen Roe July 21, 2014 0 Comments

Front yard beauty

Most of Serendipity Gardens lies within the back fence, behind a gate that sports a frog sign saying “Welcome to My Garden.” The front yard, however, is what a visitor to the garden first sees. Over time, I am pleased to say, it has melded together into a pretty sight. Time is the key word here, though, because I have been working on this vista for at least six years. Here is the story of the front yard.

When we moved into this house, 12 years ago now, the front yard consisted of two forsythia shrubs, a Korean lilac, a dwarf Alberta spruce, and a few common hostas. The area between the driveway and the front porch had only a short sidewalk, and the part of the yard between that walk and the driveway often became quite muddy in the winter. ... Read More

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What’s Blooming in Serendipity Gardens?

Jo Ellen Roe July 11, 2014 0 Comments

It’s mid-July, and the peak blooming time is almost here for Serendipity Gardens.

Nevertheless, sitting in the back yard swing and looking across the garden, the predominant color you see is green. My husband had this vantage point a few days ago, and he said to me, “What’s blooming in the garden? All I see is green!”

I said, “Let me show you.” We began a walk around the garden, looking for beauty. We wound up finding well over 20 plants blooming away, and a few others, such as white Phlox David, getting ready to do so. True, some of the blooms were small, and some were behind other, showier plants, but they were beautiful nevertheless. ... Read More

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