Leonardtown Butterfly Trail

08/26/2026

07/23/2026

Do you want more fireflies in your yard? Would you like to quit mulching around trees? Create "soft landings" under trees to add beauty and habitat and to boost the health of trees and the ecosystem.

Richard Bennett started with two soft landings under trees in his yard. Then came five. Then eight. Here's his process, what worked, and what he'd do differently.

06/29/2026

Free webinar!

Picture this: You walk into a garden center determined to buy native plants... then you're met with confusing labels, marketing claims, and plant tags that leave you wondering what's ACTUALLY native. You want to make the right choice, but the information can often be overwhelming and unclear.

Join Lyn Chimera of Lessons from Nature on Tuesday, June 30, from 6:30–7:30 p.m. for a free virtual webinar packed with practical tips on shopping for native plants. Learn how to navigate a nursery, what questions to ask growers and staff, and how to confidently choose the best plants for your garden.

We'll wrap up with a live Q&A featuring Lyn and other native plant experts.

The webinar is free, but registration is required! Register here: https://westernnewyork.wildones.org/events/?wo_event_id=12733

06/25/2026

The pollinator gardens around town are bursting with blooms!

05/27/2026

What you did right this month — and what the yard did with it.

You left the leaf litter under the shrubs.
→ Firefly larvae completed the pupal stage underneath it.

You left the dead branch on the oak.
→ A chickadee nested in the cavity and fed her chicks from it all month.

You didn't spray the caterpillar web.
→ Dozens of bird species fed from it. The tree releafed on its own.

You left a bare patch of soil near the fence.
→ Ground-nesting bees moved in.

You left a dish of wet mud near the wall.
→ The barn swallow rebuilt.

You didn't mow the back edge.
→ The tall grass gave fireflies a place to flash and fledglings a place to hide.

🌿 None of this cost anything. No purchase, no project, no permit.

The things you didn't do mattered more than the things you did. The leaf litter you didn't rake. The branch you didn't cut. The edge you didn't mow.

The yard noticed 🐾