Welcome to Winding Pathways
Winding Pathways encourages you to create a wonderous yard, whether that yard is an expansive acreage, a suburban lot or a condominium balcony. Go outside and play!
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Links to Stories of Wondrous Yards
The Gazette in Cedar Rapids has had several interesting nature stories connected to creating wondrous yards. Living Section features "Birds do it, Bees do it", "Add a Little Luck to Your Landscape" and Purslane (by Winding Pathways). We loved reading about the birds...
Channeling Wisconsin’s Wildlife
Susan Hrobar guest blogger Fun Through the Window We are fortunate to live at the end of a channel on a small lake. Our north facing windows face our backyard and the channel. One of our friends, who knows very little about nature, does not understand that after...
Sunnylands Labyrinth, Rancho Mirage
A Guest Blog by Teri Petrzalek Background Information: Sunnylands is the 200-acre estate outside Palm Springs of Walter and Lenore Annenberg. In 2001 they created a trust fund to “address serious issues facing the nation and the world community.” A 25,000 square...
Attract Hummingbirds this Summer
This Nectar is TOOOO Hot! Ahh, Just Right! Lijun Chadima, Guest blogger Every year I always like to put the hummingbird feeder out as soon as the weather warms up. It's been difficult this spring because of the crazy temperature fluctuations. Earlier this spring I...
Marijuana!
As we drove along a rural road recently we spotted a healthy patch of wild marijuana. Most Iowans call it ditch weed. For an” illegal” plant it’s amazingly common across much of the United States and loves living in poor soil out in the hot summer sun. The plant is...
Poison Ivy’s Secret
This summer millions of Americans will have unhappy encounters with poison ivy. For most people, the result is a patch of itchy bumpy skin that goes away after a few days to a week or so. Unfortunate others will develop a serious reaction that includes severe itching...
Take Time for Sunrises and Sunsets
"Take Time. Make Time" Guest Blogger Connie Sjostrom After working 40 years of my life, I was fortunate to be able to retire early. Always a multi-tasker while I was a working mom, you can imagine that much of my spare time was, well, not really spare. I vowed early...
Walking the Sacred Path Daily
A reflective blog on walking the sacred path of the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth daily. And, when I am away, finding other labyrinths to walk. Read the blog at 1080labyrinth.com.
Best Birding In the World!
Birding in our Back Yard We’ve traveled throughout the United States seeking interesting birds, and we just discovered the very best place. It’s our backyard! Since we began actively diversifying the plants in our yard they’ve welcomed many new bird species to visit,...
Care for Your Rain Barrels This Summer
Problem with Hot Weather A friend emailed today with this dilemma: "I got a whiff of a horrible smell near my rain barrel. I looked inside, and there's a horrible, putrid layer of something floating on the top of the water. I think it might have come from all the...
Reflections on Heron Rookeries
Reflecting on Heron Rookeries Guest blog by Sigrid Reynolds Heron rookeries are one of the most peculiar sights you will see. Picture three large sycamore trees in the middle of a swamp in Ohio. Skunk cabbages, those harbingers of spring, poke up along the early...
Great American Campout!
Camping this summer
Creeping Charlie and Other Ground Covers
Years ago, a homeowner visited a garden store and bought plugs of a plant commercially called ground ivy, but most folks today call it Creeping Charlie. In many ways this exotic plant was an ideal ground cover. It’s tough, easy to transport and plant, adaptable to a...
Foiling Ticks!
Creepy Crawlers Even before Lyme disease created a serious tick-borne health hazard no one wanted ticks crawling on them. We sure don’t want them at Winding Pathways and because our yard has tall grass, shrubs, and a woodland we have tick habitat. A few years ago,...
Goats of Wonderland
A Visit to Cheshire Moon Farm Fans of Alice and Wonderland know the famous Cheshire Cat grin. That feline gave its name to a happy place called Cheshire Moon Farm in rural Atkins, Iowa. Winding Pathways visited in late April and left smiling. The farm is perched on...
Bird Feeder Adaptations
Bruce Frana, a Winding Pathways visitor, saw one of our blogs on our "squirrel proof" feeder and how we discourage squirrels from gobbling up sunflower seeds we put out for birds. He crafted a similar but much more attractive version that's in his yard. Our...