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Gardening & Nature Info Sheet What's in Bloom Gardening Tips Gardening & Nature Info Sheet

Gardening and Nature Information

January

• Look for wintering ducks, like buffleheads, on the lakes.
• Flocks of robins and cedar waxwings gobble up every holly berry in sight.

February

• Bluebirds begin to scout for nesting locations.
• Spring peepers begin to call at night.
• Purple martins arrive from their winter homes in South America.
• Watch for a mourning cloak butterfly in flight on a sunny day.

March

• Listen to the cheery  music of songbirds (cardinals, chickadees, flickers, Carolina wrens) as they begin the nesting season.

April

• Ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive from their overwintering grounds in Mexico and Central America.  Watch for them nectaring on azaleas.

May

• Songbirds (cardinals, robins, titmice, woodpeckers) are busy feeding their young.

June

• Fireflies light up summer evenings.
• Female water turtles wander across dry land searching for places to lay their eggs.

July

• Tiger swallowtail butterflies nectar on plumleaf azaleas.
• Bullfrogs bellow from the lakes at night.
• Colorful dragonflies dart through the air near the lakes.

August

• Purple martins depart for their wintering grounds in South America.

September

• Watch kingfishers dive for fish in the lakes.

October

• Monarch butterflies migrate through this area on their way to Mexico.
• Cloudless sulphur butterflies are commonly seen nectaring on fall-blooming flowers.

November

• Chipmunks and gray squirrels are busy eating the fall bounty of acorns.

December

• Look for woodpeckers, titmice, chickadees, cardinals, and many other species of birds visiting the birdfeeders located thoughout the Gardens.

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