The Joys of a Wildlife Garden

My wildlife garden is “magical” … I can have breakfast with chubby groundhogs … lunch in the midst of exotic butterflies’ flights of fancy … high tea with wild turkeys … and dinner with cuddly bunnies and majestic deer.

Mother Nature is extraordinarily generous when you take care of “her” earth. I use no chemicals, preferring to enrich the soil every year with a “mulch” of organic compost. . And, in appreciation, she showers my garden with flowers that appear in the most unlikely of places. My “problem” now is not with too many weeds but with too many flowers!

And there is plenty of natural stuff for the birds, butterflies, deer and turkeys to eat – I make sure of that! And there’s always a bowl full of cracked corn for my special friends … the squirrels, raccoons and opossums. And, they all, in turn, serenade me with the sweetest of sounds and songs … although, at times, I laugh at myself because the beauty of some songs – like my friends’ the crows - is most definitely in the eyes and ears of this beholder!

If you would like to share the magic with me, come to my garden on Saturday, September 8, at 10 a.m. Marisa Nelson, Program Director of the Quogue Wildlife Refuge, Suzanne Ruggles, The Barefoot Gardener, and yours truly will discuss creating backyard wildlife habitats in beautiful garden settings. My native and natural wildlife garden is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a backyard wildlife habitat and is also certified by Monarch Watch as a monarch way-station.

For reservations and information, call the Quogue Wildlife Refuge at 653-4771 or visit www.quoguewildliferefuge.org.