Nature's Garden
By Phran Novelli
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Some of the best things in my garden, I didn't plant.
The goldenrod seed was likely dropped by a bird, because they hang out in the hollies where the goldenrod is growing - as those winterberries on the hollies are turning from green to red, the goldenrod is dramatically draped over them like it was placed there by a decorator who said - 'these two are going to look fabulous together in the Fall!' And they do.
Stopping by the goldenrod patch the other day I found a lot of feasting - happy honeybees perhaps from a neighbor's hive, and I hope the pollen they were packing away helps them stay strong through the winter. There were also butterflies feeding and fluttering around; a locust borer beetle in a brilliant black and yellow costume munching away, and ladybugs in their ostentatious orange-red outfits cleaning up by eating lots of aphids.
So I'm enjoying a stunning display of color for weeks in the fall, plus entertaining wildlife everyday from a plant I didn't have to purchase, plant, or fertilize one bit.
Now, if I can just teach the birds to prune, water and weed, I'll be all set.
