Everyone grab some gloves and a shovel, it's time to plant a flower! But before you pick a flower, know that some plants and flowers are harder to plant than other. One example is Arrow-leaved balsamroot which is notoriously hard to plant. Trying to plant this flower from seed or pot is near impossible. They prefer to be planted on slopes and to be ignored, but even if you plant this flower it might take years before you see any signs of growth. This is because the plant is g

We can't go through Invasive Species week without talking about one of the biggest threats in terms of invasives, Zebra, Quagga and other invasive mussels. These mussels are know for attaching themselves to every hard surface they can. Because of this they can damage infrastructure like irrigation pipes and municipal water systems which could cost millions to fix. These mussels also alter the food web, by outcompeting native species like salmon and Rocky Mountain Ridged musse

Cattails are an iconic part of many wetlands, and like anything, they are good in moderation. Cattails provide great habitat for many species, like red-wing blackbirds, Chorus frogs and Yellow-headed blackbirds. However, in certain ponds, cattails have taken over to the point that they are causing problems. They are prolific spreaders, reproducing via seeds and self-cloning. Because of this they can limit the diversity in the area and the amount of open water. The reason that

Unless you're a farmer, a gardener, or maybe a worm, you might not be thinking of soil on the regular. But maybe that should change, as soil is EVERYTHING. Soil is a mix of minerals, organic matter, water, gases and living organisms. It provides us with most of the food we eat, filters the water we drink, stores carbon and helps to regulate the atmosphere. Healthy soils protect us from flooding, help to mitigate drought, and increase biodiversity. Healthy soil contains billio

Female Western Screech-owl and her babies in a nesting box Western Screech-owl When you first think of owls, it is normal to picture the big ones, like Great Horned owls or Snowy owls, but in reality most owls in the Okanagan are small to medium sized. One such owl is our local Western Screech-owls, which is one of the smaller owls in the region, only being about the size of a medium to-go coffee cup. Their name is quite misleading since they don't actually screech. Instead t

#funfactfriday Did you know that Hummingbirds have some of the highest metabolic rates in the animal kingdom? They need to eat as much as...