Southeast Bumble Bee Atlas Project
Did you know North America has over 4,000 native bees? They are a hugely diverse bunch, ranging from the large carpenter bee to the tiny fairy bee, and all are critical to pollination. Recently, I...
Author: Sue Watts
South Carolina Native Magnolias
At the beginning of the week, I noticed our native magnolias flowering profusely. First, the evergreen southern magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora), which line the entrance to the South Carolina...
Caterpillars for the Birds
Spring is here! All the signs are evident, including walking into caterpillars hanging from trees by slender threads (which happened to me last week). These danglers are often members of the...
Common Violets, a Beautiful Treasure
If your garden is anything like mine at this time of year, it is peppered with these beautiful little treasures: common violets (Viola sororia). These blue, purple, and sometimes almost white, small...
WANTED: Elaeagnus – Dead, Not Alive
While walking in the South Carolina Botanical Garden, I came across a substantial pile of Elaeagnus recently cut from our woods. My eye was caught by the silvery underside of the leaves flashing in...
New Classes at the South Carolina Botanical Garden
As a new year begins, educators at the South Carolina Botanical Garden at Clemson University are excited for a new season of classes and events for all ages. Our entire new calendar is here. We are...
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire ….”
As Christmas approaches, this refrain can be heard in grocery stores, on the radio, and even in the ether as our memories are triggered by the season. American chestnut (Castanea dentata) once...
“Carolina Gold” Rice Growing in the Hanover House Garden
This heirloom grain, together with the skilled knowledge and forced labor of West Africans and their descendants, made South Carolina very, very rich. From 1720 to the outbreak of the Civil War,...
Natural Enemies: Parasitic Wasp
I recently came across this caterpillar in the garden. The bright green body first attracted my attention, and then I saw the white additions to its body. This caterpillar is beautiful but doomed;...
South Carolina Botanical Garden Plant Sale – Fall 2022
As summer fades and fall’s cool temperatures and moist days arrive, this is a fantastic time for planting perennials, shrubs, and trees. Under these conditions, plants get time to establish roots...
Leaftier
While walking in the Jurassic Garden at the South Carolina Botanical Garden, I noticed the ends of many fern fronds clearly engineered to make globe-like structures. When I took a close-up of this...
You Can Help the Monarch Butterflies
In July 2022, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) drew attention to North America’s migrating monarchs by adding them to their ICUN Red List of Threatened Species. In the...