Table of Contents
- Shannon’s Note
- New for 2024: Native Plant Plugs!
- Opportunity for Ongoing Support
- Nursery News
- Upcoming Sales and Events
- November Tasks When Gardening for Pollinators and Wildlife
- Backyard Ecology Resources
- Subscribe to Newsletter
Shannon’s Note
November is traditionally a time for giving thanks, and we want to say thank you for all your support this year. Whether you subscribe to our newsletter, purchase plants from us, tell others about us, or hire us for a private habitat consultation, we appreciate and are grateful for that support. Thank you for allowing us to support you and help you create the pollinator and wildlife habitat of your dreams. We have lots of exciting plans for 2024 and hope that you will allow us to continue to serve you in the coming year.
Have a great day!
Shannon
New for 2024: Native Plant Plugs!
We are super excited to offer a new product in 2024 – native plant plugs. Plugs are younger seedlings that haven’t put on as much vegetative growth but have already developed good strong root systems. Because they are smaller plants, plugs offer a more budget-friendly option if you want to purchase larger quantities of plants.
Our native plant plugs will be sold in flats of 50 and you can mix and match between 38 different species. Some species will be available in the spring (May) and some species will be available in the fall (September).
You must pre-order your plugs so that we have time grow them for you. The order deadline for spring plugs is January 1 and the order deadline for fall plugs is July 1. You can find all the details including which species will be available and how to place your order at the link below.
Gain Ongoing Support for Your Pollinator and Wildlife Projects
🦋 Are you tired of spending countless hours researching how to grow native plants and attract pollinators and wildlife to your yard, only to end up confused and unsure about how to implement everything you just read or watched?
🦋 Have you ever wished there was a way that you could ask questions and get expert advice and guidance that was tailored to your unique situation, property, and goals?
🦋 Would you like to be part of an ongoing program designed to help you improve, maintain, expand, and enjoy your pollinator and wildlife habitat?
Then we encourage you to check out the Backyard Ecology Community. We created the Backyard Ecology Community for people just like you – busy homeowners in the eastern U.S. who love nature and want to attract pollinators and wildlife to their properties.
The Backyard Ecology Community will help you improve, maintain, expand, and enjoy your pollinator and wildlife habitat. Our goal is to empower you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to confidently create and maintain a functioning ecosystem on your property that attracts lots of pollinators and wildlife, while also giving you time to sit back and enjoy what you’ve created.
Nursery News
The nursery is officially closed for the season, but we’re already making plans for next year. We plan to offer multiple new species in 2024 and will be adding them to the tentative 2024 plant list over the next couple of months. These species will be offered in quart, gallon, and/or 3-gallon sizes depending on the species and age of the plant.
As described above, we’re also excited to offer native plant plugs for the first time in 2024. If you’re interested in placing an order for plugs, don’t forget that January 1 is the order deadline for spring pickup. See the link above to learn more about placing a plug order.
Upcoming Sales and Events
November marks the start of our winter deliveries. During the winter season we have books, honey, and gift certificates available. (All of which make excellent holiday gifts. Hint. Hint. 😀)
We’re taking things a little easy this month. If you are interested in ordering something in November, let us know and we’ll work with you to arrange a time and place to pick your order up in Glasgow or Bowling Green. From December through March, we’ll have a scheduled delivery each month.
Available Items:
Books, Gift Certificates, and Honey
(you choose the amount)
November Tasks When Gardening for Pollinators and Wildlife
- Leave as many seed heads and other vegetation standing as possible. This will:
- provide valuable food and shelter throughout the winter for our songbirds.
- provide overwintering sites for insects developing inside of galls within the stems and other vegetation – many of our songbirds will raid those galls during the winter as an additional food source.
- provide places for butterfly chrysalises (often disguised as crumpled leaves) to develop.
- allow you to create better nesting sites for our solitary, stem nesting bees and wasps in the spring.
- For the vegetation that you can’t leave standing,
- leave 12-24 inches standing to serve as potential nesting sites for solitary, stem nesting bees and wasps in the spring. (Waiting until next spring to do this will provide better nesting sites, but sometimes we have to make compromises.)
- if possible, stand or loosely pile the vegetation that you cut nearby so that any insects or chrysalises associated with it still have a chance to develop.
- Leave as many of the leaves on your property as possible.
- Clean out in birdhouses that you have on your property.
- Make any necessary repairs to the birdhouses at this time as well.
- Most of us have experienced our first killing frosts and most of the goldenrods, asters, and other fall wildflowers that grow in open fields have gone to seed.
- If you have a field that you typically mow, you can do so now without taking floral resources away from our migrating butterflies.
- Now through March is the best time to cut down trees if you need to remove one because you don’t have to worry about nesting birds, maternity colonies of bats, or active hornet nests in the trees.
- Think about what field guides, gardening tools, binoculars, seeds, or similar items that you want to add to your holiday wish list.
- Now is a good time to kill woody invasive species and scout for poison hemlock populations.
- If you are using herbicides, be sure to read and follow the label.
Backyard Ecology
Did you know that Anthony and I produce a variety of free educational resources every week to help and encourage you as you grow native plants, create miniature ecosystems on your property, and attract pollinators and wildlife?
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Busy Bee Nursery and Consulting
Helping you create the pollinator and wildlife habitat of your dreams, so you can enjoy your land and care for the plants and animals that also call your property home.