Alameda Point Community Garden

Mark Wise a Bay Area gardener, is selling starter plants from various heirloom tomato and pepper seeds - he says his seeds have mainly been purchased from the Baker Creek Seed Bank in Petaluma, and some resulting from trades with other organic grdeners. He will be at Alameda Nob Hill Shopping Center this Saturday. March 10 at about 9 am selling his wares.

Artwork: John William Waterhouse

Due to their bright colors and visits to flowers, butterflies are the most familiar of insects to humans. There are about 20,000 species of butterflies in the w...orld, and around 750 species in the United States. Many of these species are listed as threatened or endangered. Butterflies are commonly associated with plants, and the relationship is sometimes complex. Immature butterflies (caterpillars), with few exceptions, eat plants, and therefore may be considered harmful to the plants. However, butterflies are very important to many plants that are dependent upon flower-visiting insects for cross-pollination. Most butterfly caterpillars eat one, or sometimes several, related species of plants. Usually the choice is made by the adult female when depositing eggs. Adults usually feed on nectar from flowers of plants, although many butterflies feed instead on rotting fruit, dung, etc., especially in the tropics. If you want to attract butterflies to your yard and help increase their numbers, choose native plants. Host Plants for Butterflies and Moths http://nativeplantherald.prairienursery.com//host-plants-/ Red List of Butterflies and Moths https://xerces.org/red-list-of-butterflies-and-moths/ Illustration by Roger Hall https://rogerdhall.deviantart.com//Butterflies-of-North-Am #SaveTheButterflies #Pollinators #Lepidoptera

Yet another compelling reason to preserve healthy #soils and not sterilize it with #pesticides...