Last year, my beloved Aunt Evelyn passed at the age of 96. She left me a generous inheritance, which I’m using to create the Evelyn Jackson Wild Life Garden in my backyard. (She lived a wild life.) Last year, we put in a set of ponds with a stream and a big rain garden to help deal with increasing storm runoff. I’ve planted over hundreds of native plants and will add more this fall.
So far, we’ve see the first monarchs in our yard in years. We have several types of frogs, plus lizards, dragonflies, wasps, and lots of native bees. Birds splash in the stream.
I give tours to neighbors and friends, often to people I haven’t met before. Almost everyone responds positively to the idea of creating welcoming place for pollinators and some are as captivated by the frogs as I am. I hope this project provides a haven for several species struggling in our increasingly overbuilt and poisoned suburb and that it leads others doing the same.
I usually tell them about iNat, which continues to be a source of learning, wonder, and community for me. Thank you for being a forum moderator. May you find strength, happiness, and ease.