Kiss the Earth

Compared to a lot of the folks I meet on the job, I'm a relative newcomer to the native plant bandwagon. Turns out I have quite a few in my garden, but until a few years ago, that was coincidence. Now I look for them, having learned that they were here first, this is where they grow best and they're an integral part - a boon, really - to the local ecosystem.

Last fall, I planted a bunch of native plants I'd bought at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, a dandy place in New Hope that, turns out, I'd visited with my Brownie troop long, long ago. That news comes by way of my mother, who at 82 has a far better memory than I ever will!

(Bowman's Hill: www.bhwp.org)

Anyway, on the more recent trip, the preserve was in the midst of its plant sale. Who can resist a plant sale? I loaded up on native ferns, Indian pink and foamflower, rushed home and planted them in my little woodland garden.

This spring, it's been an absolute delight to watch them all come up and begin to grow. The foamflower bloomed early on and looked great next to some Japanese iris, heuchera and hosta. The ferns are still kind of small, but they all have different shapes that are becoming clear as they get bigger.

My favorite - this week, anyway - is the Indian pink or Spigelia, still small but outstanding to look at. The flowers look like little firecrackers, bright red tubes with yellow starburst tops. I bought quite a few - so glad now - and in the shade of my old Siberian elm tree they are really bright and cheery.

They're attractive to hummingbirds, though none has been sighted yet. Whenever there's a hummingbird in the garden, I stand there in awe. Magnificent creatures, aren't they?

Lately, other creatures seem to be everywhere. The other night, after a late dinner on the patio, we watched as bats zoomed in every direction. With any luck, they were feasting on mosquitoes by the hundreds. I don't really care that they ignore my bat hotel - are those bat boxes a racket or what? But I sure hope they're pigging out on skeeters.

The birds are out of control, waking us up at 4 a.m. every single day even with the windows closed! Wish those guys would sleep in sometime, especially weekends. A friend who knows lots about birds says the really loud ones are catbirds, but we have several wren families living in our birdhouse condos and they're no slouches when it comes to loud chirping.

Bees, bugs, worms ... no snakes or grownup butterflies yet.

But little by little, I'm building a habitat that shelters, nourishes and delights all manner of creatures. Which includes humans, of course.