Rebecca McMackin
speaker
328 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard May 2025
last heard 2d ago
Rebecca McMackin’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.
Appearances
So I looked at their host plants and found that their favorite was a tiny white flower called Pearly Everlasting.
So I ordered a few, hoping that the butterflies would eventually find them.
However, when I opened the box, it was like butterflies just materialized out of thin air and went straight for the Pearly Everlasting.
We had to brush the butterflies off the plants just to get them in the ground.
Now, I know that it might be a shock for some of you to hear that people like me want insects eating our garden plants, but even bugs we refer to as pests can be important for biodiversity.
Long ago, at Brooklyn Bridge Park, our catalpa trees got covered in aphids.
They're a common garden pest that suck the sugary liquid out of leaves.
People encouraged me to spray them with pesticides, but I didn't.
And the following year, we found the two-spotted lady beetle on our catalpas.
This was the first sighting of this ladybug in New York City in 30 years.
And the thing about them is that they eat those tiny aphids that are on our catalpas.
So if we had sprayed the trees, we would have harmed the ladybugs as well.
Gardening is a long game.
With patience, we can return balance to these systems.
When we allow pests to live in our gardens, predators like ladybugs will soon move in.
By building up biodiversity, pests are kept at bay.
Most gardeners try to maintain these clean, sterile environments that are the exact opposite of what wildlife want.
The more we can stop being tidy, the more wildness we can bring into our gardens and landscapes, the better habitat we provide.
Wherever possible, we should stop mowing.
Why not get rid of your lawn?
Showing 281–300 of 328 · page 15 of 17
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