Edaphic Garden Consulting

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Even if you aren't a big fan of bugs, maybe these guys will soften your position a bit. Clearwing moths are diurnal (mot...
08/26/2026

Even if you aren't a big fan of bugs, maybe these guys will soften your position a bit. Clearwing moths are diurnal (moths that are active during the daytime), hovering in place while they sip nectar from flowers like this wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). These moths exhibit Batesian mimicry, which is a fancy way of saying they have evolved to look like other animals that predators would generally choose to avoid, like bumblebees.

Plant some native viburnums or cherries to support clearwing moth caterpillars and some nectar producing flowers like wild bergamot to support the adults. Fall is the best time of year to add new plants to your garden!

🎥 and 📸1: Snowberry clearwing moth (Hemaris diffinis)
📸2 and 3: Hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe)

05/25/2026

A pond, a stream, a basin, even a shallow dish on a hot afternoon. Every bird needs water to drink and bathe, which makes a water source one of the simplest, highest-impact things you can offer wildlife. And it pays you back fast.

Ours brings in Baltimore orioles, blue jays, American robins, grackles, northern cardinals, northern mockingbirds, and more, all stopping by to drink and splash around. You don't need acreage or a landscaping budget to make it happen. A few gallons of clean water in the right spot does real work.

If you've been meaning to add a water feature, this is your sign. Start small, keep it fresh, and the wildlife will find it. 💧🐦

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05/11/2026

Groundcovers like this are an important, but often overlooked part of a landscape. A dense groundcover layer:

• Shades the soil surface and reduces moisture loss
• Moderates root-zone temperatures
• Suppresses w**d germination
• Protects against erosion
• Feeds soil microbial communities and builds organic matter over time
• Provides nectar, pollen, and host-plant resources for pollinators and other insects
• Offers habitat and cover for ground-dwelling invertebrates
• Adds seasonal bloom, foliage texture, and year-round visual interest
• Eliminates the cost and labor of annual wood mulch applications

This is Packera obovata (round-leaf groundsel), a semi-evergreen native perennial that spreads by stolons to form dense colonies and provides early-spring nectar and pollen — a critical resource for emerging queen bumblebees and other pollinators when little else is in bloom. Golden flowers in May and then returns to a 1-3 inch tall textured groundcover for the rest of the year.

05/01/2026

What’s blooming right now in central CT 🌿

Ten species in the garden this week — including three different Phlox, each suited to a different spot: two for shade, one for dry, sunny ground.

In order of appearance:

1. Black chokeberry — early nectar for native bees; berries feed waxwings, thrushes, and overwintering songbirds

2. Wild strawberry — fruit for birds, small mammals, and you if you’re quick

3. Foamflower — small native bees and syrphid flies working the woodland layer

4. Jacob’s ladder — supports a specialist mining bee (Andrena polemonii) that visits only Polemonium flowers, nothing else

5. Woodland phlox — butterflies and hummingbird clearwing moths

6. Creeping phlox — mat-forming groundcover for the woodland floor

7. Moss phlox — the sun-loving outlier, thriving in dry, rocky sites

8. Red columbine — coevolved with ruby-throated hummingbirds; their bills match the spur length perfectly

9. Toadshade trillium — seeds dispersed by ants in a process called myrmecochory; the ants carry them off for the fatty elaiosome attached and plant the seeds in their colony’s garbage pile

10. Flowering dogwood — fall berries are critical fuel for migrating songbirds

Which one would you add to your yard? 👇

WildlifeGardening NativePlantGarden EdaphicGarden

When I'm building a planting plan, I start with April.Not because it's the showiest month — it's not. But designing for ...
04/16/2026

When I'm building a planting plan, I start with April.

Not because it's the showiest month — it's not. But designing for bloom succession means planning for every part of the season, including the sometimes temperamental month that is April. These are the species that keep the first emerging insects fed before anything else has opened. Mapping this phenology — who blooms when, and for how long — is central to how I design.

A good design doesn't start in July. It starts here.

🟡 Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)
⚪ Smooth serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis)
🟣 Violet (Viola sp.)
⚪ Field pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta)

Introducing Edaphic Garden Consulting — native plant garden design rooted in Connecticut soils.I'm Todd, and I started t...
04/08/2026

Introducing Edaphic Garden Consulting — native plant garden design rooted in Connecticut soils.

I'm Todd, and I started this business because I believe residential gardens can be more than just pretty. With a PhD in microbial ecology, I bring a scientist's lens to garden design — selecting species that support specialist pollinators, provide habitat structure, and work with your site's specific soil conditions. Every species is placed intentionally based on ecology AND aesthetics.

Swipe to see a skipper butterfly visiting joe-pye w**d, and what one of my planting plans looks like from above. The plan spans from a shaded garden of groundcovers and spring ephemerals to a sunny roadside pollinator garden — short, showy, drought-tolerant perennials blooming spring to fall.

Accredited Organic Land Care Professional. Based in Wethersfield. Serving residential clients across Connecticut.

More to come — the science, the plants, and the process behind it all.

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Hartford, CT

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