Written by Education and Events Assistant Cheri Collins April 10, 2017 I thought this week we would have the answer to Bluebird or Chickadee. But no. Now as you can see in the photo there is the pine straw of the bluebirds on the bottom, then there is the moss of the chickadees and now we have twigs from Carolina … Read More
Plant for Pollinators
Plant for Pollinators! By Garden Manager Lisa Bartlett Pollinators need your help! They are disappearing in alarming numbers. In fact, the first bee has been added to the endangered species list. There is increasing evidence that many pollinators are in decline. However, there are some simple things you can do at home to encourage pollinator diversity and abundance. 1) Plant … Read More
SGG Bluebird Box Update- April 4, 2017
Written by Cheri Collins April 4, 2017 A twist in the SGG bluebird nesting story; it looks like our bluebird nest box has been taken over by Carolina chickadees. Did the bluebirds abandon the nest or did the chickadees show dominance and evict the bluebirds? And who will end up with the box as their home? Even if it is … Read More
SGG Bluebird Box
SGG Bluebird Box By Cheri Collins December 13, 2016 Our first bluebird box was installed at Smith-Gilbert Gardens with the help of Jim Bearden, Board Member at Green Meadows Preserve and bluebird trail builder and box monitor there as well. Eastern bluebirds nest in open fields, in boxes that are about 6 feet off the ground. They need a lookout … Read More
Ephemerals
Written by Garden Manager Lisa Bartlett spring ephemeral noun any of various woodland wildflowers that appear above ground in early spring, flower and fruit, and die in a short two-month period. That is what makes these spring flowering plants so very special, though they go dormant and don’t really die. Spring ephemerals are some of the first plants to … Read More
Birds of SGG
The Great Backyard Bird Count by Pat Pepper If you helped to count birds at SGG on Feb 18, 2017, then you were part of the SGG group that participated in the 2017 GBBC (Great Backyard Bird Count) sponsored by Cornell Labs, Audubon, and Canada Bird Studies. This count ran from Friday, 2/17, to Monday, 2/20. I arrived at … Read More
Falcon Fever
Falcon Fever By Pat Pepper Could this be the year our beloved Falcons finally win a Super Bowl? If a team’s chosen mascot can influence its performance on the field, then we stand a very good chance of winning. The Atlanta Falcon’s logo is, of course, a very stylized, artistic falcon. However, as I stared at that red and … Read More
Hellebores Are Far From Boring
Written by Garden Manager Lisa Bartlett It’s Hellebore bloom time at Smith Gilbert Gardens. They are some of the first plants to bloom at the gardens and they are putting on quite the show. Hellebore some of the most idiot-proof plants in the world. Unless you plant them in a bog, they just can’t be killed. Hellebores are even deer … Read More
Camellia Fun Facts
Written by Garden Manager Lisa Bartlett Whenever someone wonders what there is to see at the garden in winter, I ALWAYS point them toward our Palladino Camellia Garden. Camellias are a wonderful wintertime treat, offering a variety of bloom colors and types that bring life to the bleakness of winter. … Read More
Birds of Smith-Gilbert Gardens
Written by SGG Volunteer Birder Pat Pepper On December 17, 2016, I and five other birders gathered at 6 a.m. to participate in the largest Citizen-Science Project in the world, the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC). These counts go on internationally all through December and the first week in January. December 17 in my assigned birding area … Read More