Benjamin Vogt's Blog, page 34

Rabbit Melancholy

A few weeks back I noticed the first monarch in the garden as she was feverishly laying eggs. I'd never seen one so early--and with last year's Texas drought, continued decimation of milkweed as more land is turned to chemical-ridden big ag, and as the Mexican overwintering forests shrink--I thought it'd be June or later until I saw a butterfly. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know in what high esteem I hold this insect; it's a symbol for other insects, for ecosystem degrad...

Snake CSI

Live in a place long enough and you see a lot. Create a thriving ecosystem in that place and each day is a treasure map or a crime scene investigation.



We found this creature in the lawn by a pile of brush I refuse to clean up. What happened? What's that thing sticking out of the stomach? Did the baby bunny get medieval on the snake? Help. I won't feel safe in the garden until I know.









Those are some teeth. I hope it ate some mice.



What is that???



This is beautiful.

First person...

The Picture Post

Who has time to read online? So many sites to visit, so much attention span to erode. In an attempt to keep my posts eclectic, have some pictures I've been taking this spring. In fact, have twenty of them.





We're halfway in the garden, past the arbor, looking south



Looking southwest, where storms come from



Viburnum dentatum, globemaster alliums, Spiraea 'Ogon'



Bumblebee hummingbird moth



Sphinx hummingbird moth



Peony bud



Moth caterpillar going to town on peony bud



Copper...

Oklahoma Fortune Teller

Two weeks ago my uncle and aunt from Oklahoma dropped off a box that belonged to my grandma. It's filled with photos, funeral announcements, farm records, and even more photos. Grandma took a picture of every car she ever owned, from a 1940-something pickup to combines balanced precariously on small truck beds to her last 1990-something Cadillac sedan. There's a picture of my 20 year old parents in front of a GTO in about 1972. There are pictures of houses going up in divisions my grandpa and...

Deere John

A lawnmower poem this morning since they woke me up at 7:30 and literally have not stopped since. Please don't think this is a good poem, like one forthcoming in any of my books. I mean, the meter is WAY off--but I did try to get some feminine and slant rhymes in to mix it up. Gosh I'm a nerd.



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Facing The Storm -- Story of The American Bison

"This land still has the memory of what the bison means to it."



I've read a lot in the last year on bison and prairie ecosystems, and the PBS documentary Facing the Storm hit every subject in under one hour (watch it here). Of course, it infuriated me and made me cry and made me leap for joy, but I'm a prairie nerd.



What most strikes me about our legacy with bison is what's now and next: that Montana continues to sponsor hunts / kills for bison who "escape" Yellowstone in the winter. How ne...

Wilkmeed (Milkweed is Not a Weed)

Let's start with a refresher--James Wright's wonderful poem.



Milkweed



While I stood here, in the open, lost in myself,

I must have looked a long time

Down the corn rows, beyond grass,

The small house,

White walls, animals lumbering toward the barn.

I look down now. It is all changed.

Whatever it was I lost, whatever I wept for

Was a wild, gentle thing, the small dark eyes

Loving me in secret.

It is here. At a touch of my hand,

The air fills with delicate creatures

From the other world.



Yes...

Egg-Static!! Monarchs!!

We preempt this blog to bring you a breaking announcement. A very attractive and talented gardener, who also writes incredibly well, just saw his first monarchs--yes, plural--of the year. Both female. One very busy tasting all kinds of plants with her feet, placing eggs on many a milkweed. In three days we'll have caterpillars! Earliest I've ever seen the butterflies here.  PLANT MILKWEED. Asclepias incarnata (swamp) is my choice for non-invasive tendencies and sheer butterfly magnetism....

Beginnings are Diversions

Today I'm feeling guilty, mostly because I've been away from thinking about my next book for several weeks, focusing on students and promoting my garden coaching endeavor. Sometimes it's a very fine line between doing things you love, and doing things for the sake of not doing something larger you also love (and maybe more). I hate the word "thing" though. Is garden coaching a diversion? Is it the flavor du jour? Writing is at the core of my identity and gauges my self worth, yet I lead an ex...

Come Visit

Monarch Gardens, my new native prairie garden coaching business, will be making some appearances. You've got a couple chances to talk to me in person over the next week--and I promise you good conversation and lots of helpful info, among other goodies. I may even wear cologne.



Lincoln Earth Day

Party at Antelope Park

Sunday 4/22

12-5pm

Our booth is right across from the farmer's market. Can't miss it. 80 vendors will be there!



Spring Affair Plant Sale

Lancaster Event Center

Friday 4/27, 6...