The ARK: My hillside ecosystem

ARK = Acts of Restorative Kindness.

I am relatively certain many might look at this photograph and wonder “Why did she post a picture of a bunch of weeds?”  Truth be told, as a child of relatively pragmatic folks growing up in the ecosystems of northwest central Texas, we never watered, nor planted flowers.  What you had in your yard was what you had when you got there.  Generally, that was Indian paintbrushes, mesquite trees, cacti, Johnson grass, and the occasional wild plum tree when we were further west.  In later years, we were in a relatively-speaking “wet” area, and had bluebonnets, rain lillies, sunflowers, and the ever present prairie sage and tall grass.  I am pretty sure I never heard about invasive species, but I heard a lot about water conservation in an area where wasting water was the 8th deadly sin that should have been moved to #1.

As I posted not long ago, things have changed drastically on the hillside with not mowing and allowing the land to revert to its wild state on the outer perimeters.  I have always tried to have a bird, bee, butterfly friendly yard, but this year, in addition to seeing more of the birds, bees, and butterflies, I am seeing species of plants that were not readily visible previously.

And, did you know that due to Mississippi being directly above the geographic center of the Golfo de Mexico, it is the main flyway for transgulf bird migration?  Me neither, until today.  I have been getting ready to participate in e-bird tomorrow, to document the birds in my yard, and started looking at the Mississippi ecosystems.

The primary challenge to ecosystems in Mississippi is not unlike other locations: urban and suburban development that causes habitat destruction, along with the introduction of invasive species and overabundance of use of chemicals in pest/weed control (LandScope America).

It’s time for us to wake up and smell the roses…or there might not be anything left to pollinate the plants and flowers that belong in our areas, and feed those birds, bees, and butterflies.  I am preaching to myself here: my ARK is behind schedule.