When gardeners are looking for native plants for dry shade, ferns are not often the first type of plant to come to mind. It is true that many species of ferns prefer consistent moisture, yet there are ferns that are well-adapted to drier conditions. Ferns are generally unpalatable to herbivores and are deer resistant, yet provide…
When gardeners realize the value of our native pollinators and the crucial relationship those pollinators have with native plants, a natural question arises. What are the best native plants for pollinators? There are many different ways to answer that question but, thanks to the Penn State Extension, we have better data than ever before. We always…
The diversity of insects in Maryland is sometimes astonishing. And in a healthy environment – full of native plants and free of pesticides – complex webs of life evolve. The webs often include what gardeners sometimes refer to as “beneficial insects“, which are species of insects that perform valued services like pollination and pest control….
[Note: Yuan Hao Wong, author of this guest post, is interning with Blue Water Baltimore this summer. Here is his story.] Hi everyone! I am Yuan Hao Wong an undergraduate majoring in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. I am elated to be interning at Blue Water Baltimore for the next two months with my…
Cleaner Water, Outstanding Volunteers, and a Successful 2014 Outfall Screening Blitz Season The 2015 monitoring season for Blue Water Baltimore’s Outfall Screening Blitz (OSB) program is almost here! Before we plunge into this year we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the many successes of the Outfall Screening Blitz Program in 2014. Over the…
Wondering why using native plants in your garden is so important to the environment? Curious about which plants, and planting strategies, are best for attracting birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife? To make it easier, we are offering six great talks in our Spring 2015 Native Plant Lecture Series. Each two-hour session costs just $10…
Are you anxious to get the New Year off to a good start? Ready to turn over a new leaf, see new things, and be more active in 2015? There may be no better way than with a First Day Hike. For the past several years, America’s state parks have been organizing hikes on New…
Trash in our streets and parks is a big problem in Baltimore. On Monday, January 19th 2015 join residents across the city and county to start doing something about litter. We’ll begin by tackling this problem, one piece of litter at a time. In honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Blue Water Baltimore…
Resist the urge to bag up the leaves from your yard, sidewalk, or roadway. Leaves from you trees provide natural fertility to your turf grass, offer crucial shelter for overwintering wildlife, and are a free source of mulch for your garden beds.
In many ways, Guanabara Bay in the State of Rio de Janeiro faces many of the same water quality challenges today that the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland started dealing with more than thirty years ago. Just as trash, toxic pollutants, sewage and stormwater runoff are a challenge to the health of Baltimore’s streams and harbor…