Ten Little Celebrations – August 2025
/August was hot…so some of the celebrations were indoors (with air-conditioning) this month!
Naked lady lilies. It was a pleasant surprise that I have three of these plants in my yard – blooming for the first time this August. But I celebrated them because they are a remnant of my mother’s garden from 2023 just before the house/garden was sold.
Spicebush caterpillars. Earlier this summer my young spicebush didn’t have caterpillars…but is does now. I celebrated that the swallowtails have found my plant to lay their eggs.
Beautyberry. While I was pulling grass and weeds in my yard, I discovered that the beautyberry I planted last fall has survived…and is blooming. Time to celebrate!
Dispelling Myths of Native Gardening webinar (from Grow Native!). I celebrated the timing of a panel discussion about native gardening (webinar)…and gleaned some ideas I will apply in the next few weeks as I create a new area of by front yard…with native plants.
Field trip at the Lake Springfield Boathouse gardens. Another well timed opportunity for learning how to better create my new native plant garden. It was hot…but I learned enough to make it all worthwhile.
Roston Native Butterfly House. Celebrating my favorite volunteer gig of the summer…every time I work a shift there.
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. The big cats are the draw, but I celebrated seeing a juvenile racoon and butterflies!
Two caves in one day – Cosmic Caverns and Onyx Cave. Celebrating caves…cooler than the outside temperature.
Dr. Megan Wolff’s webinar “Plastics and Public Health: the unsettling latest in medical research.” A different kind of celebration…it’s more like FINALLY someone had done a reasonable job to at articulating the rationale in one place about why our plastic creation must change dramatically. Here’s the link to the video. The bottom line is that we can’t “recycle” or “reuse” our way out of the mess.
Lawn mowing – getting it done. It’s been hot this month and I celebrate every time I finish mowing the yard…so glad that it is done for another week.
