The Beauty in Nature: 2 Sphinx Moths

About the size of a carpenter bee, a mysterious, 1.5-inch creature hovers like a hummingbird before flowers during the day and pokes its long proboscis into each bloom to sip nectar.

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Melinda’s Garden: Keep Plants Thriving despite Summer Heat

Last year’s record-high temperatures across much of the country took a toll on gardens and landscapes.

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The Beauty in Nature: Upland Sandpipers

One afternoon, late in July, several years ago, I was driving on a country road in southern Lebanon County. Suddenly, a group of a dozen dove-sized birds flew swiftly and low across the road, close in front of me.

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The Beauty in Nature: Brown Pelicans

In April, every so many years, I have seen wavering lines and V-shaped flocks, one after another, of low-flying brown pelicans migrating north along the Atlantic Ocean shores and beaches of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

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Melinda’s Garden: Who’s Dining in My Garden?

You take a walk through the garden and find branches trimmed, flowers missing, or bark damaged. Of course, the culprit is nowhere to be seen. You may have suspects in mind, but a close look at the damage and surroundings can help you identify who is dining on your plants.

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The Beauty in Nature: Ghost Crabs and Fiddler Crabs

Summer weather has arrived, and many people vacation along the Atlantic Coast, where numerous kinds of semi-aquatic creatures live, including related ghost crabs and fiddler crabs.

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The Beauty in Nature: Eastern Coyotes

I have enjoyed seeing several eastern coyotes at Lake Onalaska off the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, at Rowe Sanctuary along the Platte River in Nebraska, at deer feeders in Maine and Iowa, and at other places through live cameras and our home computer screens.

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The Beauty in Nature: Tulip Trees and Sweet Gums

Tulip trees and sweet gum trees are attractive, native species that dominate much of the Southern Coastal Plain of extreme southeastern Pennsylvania to Georgia.

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Melinda’s Garden: Plant and Protect Trees to Honor Arbor Day

Celebrate National Arbor Day, the last Friday in April, by planting new trees and caring for established ones in your landscape and community.

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