Our Favorite Informative Websites

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
  1809-1894

The internet offers answers to virtually every question imaginable, but finding a reliable source of correct and current information is often difficult and frustrating. Hopefully the lists below will make it a bit easier for you to find the gardening or nature related information you are looking for. Happy surfing!

• All About Birds - Excellent! Cornell University Lab of Ornithology
• Bug Guide  - A useful website to help identify any bug you may find
• Butterflies and Moths
• Dragonflies & Damselflies
• Insects Explained
• Ornithological Resources - Excellent interactive-site! with lots of interesting bird info, with filters for children or adults, and for eight different resource types like facts, teaching materials, or projects for birds like building nesting boxes or bird feeders.

• Connecticut Botanical Society
• GoBotany.org - Native Plant Trust’s simple plant ID tool
• New Hampshire Wildflowers
• Ontario Wildflowers
• Plant Native
• Scientific American on Plants  - Interesting scientific articles on plants
• UConn Plant Database
• USDA Plant Database
• USDA Wildflowers by State

• Mushroom Observer - A great site to help with fungi identification
• Learn Your Land  - MORE THAN EXCELLENT, WITH OVER 100 EXCEPTIONALLY WELL DONE AD-FREE VIDEOS! If you are interested in plant and mushroom identification, wild food harvesting, nutritional and medicinal components of wild foods, and the benefits of a nature/human connection, look no further. 

• Arbor Day Tree Planting Guide
• A Way To Garden - An excellent 'When to Start Seeds' calculator
• Cornell Flower Guide
• Cornell Vegetable Guide
• Growing Fragrant Herbs This excellent article on growing herbs was shared with us by 10-year old Amelia who found it while researching horticulture related websites. The article includes info on the benefits of having an herb garden, what plants you can grow, different uses for cooking, aromatherapy, and more. Thanks for sharing, Amelia!
• I Love Gardens - A great list of Public and Private Gardens by State
• North Carolina Cooperative Extension Gardening Page
• Perennial Resource
• Plant Finder - Excellent site! Info and photos for over 6,800 plants by scientific name, common name, and/or selected plant characteristics. Also, audio pronunciation of the scientific names of most of the plants. 
• Watering New Plants - Seattle Water Partnership
• Indoor and Outdoor Gardening for Your Home - Thanks to Sam, a Boy Scout working on his Gardening Merit Badge, for sharing this excellent article for beginning gardeners.

The best way to raise children who care about nature is to give them lots of time to play in nature. Below you'll find links to some excellent websites on the subject.

• Stop Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD).org - Excellent Website!  Developed by a coalition of retired teachers whose mission it is to end Nature-Deficit Disorder (NDD). Their goal is to encourage people of all ages to engage with the beauty of nature as often as possible. Lot of ideas on how to get kids out in nature, and how to integrate education and nature once you get them there.
• National Wildlife Federation - Lots of Great Resources! For decades the National Wildlife Federation has worked to connect children and youth with nature, inspiring children through Ranger Rick® magazine, working with educators to get kids learning outdoors, and helping parents find new ways to engage their children outside. 

Thanks to the Girl Scout Troop from California who inspired me to add this 'Gardening With Children' section and other links above to this page.

• Kids Gardening .org - Excellent! Since 1982 kidsgardening.org has been a leader in the school gardening movement. The website has an 'Educator's Resource' section with free lesson plans, activity ideas, gardening tips for kids, and much more! 
• My First Garden - University of Illinois
• Gardening at Home with Kids - Home Advisor
• Gardening With Children at OakPlaceCourt.com - No ads here, just an excellent list of links to a dozen or so websites that help kids develop a love of horticulture. As Connie Miller, the creator of OakPlaceCourt.com states, the website is a “product of love”... and it shows. Keep up the good work, Connie! 
• Planting a Seed: A Guide to Gardening With Kids - Excellent blog about gardening with kids from an unexpected source - Raleigh Realty, a real estate company from Raleigh-Durham, NC! If you are interested in gardening with kids it is worth checking out.
• How to Grow Your Child’s Cognitive Skills through Gardening  - A blog page from 'Therapy Works', a pediatric therapy services company with a simple 4 step process to help improve your child's cognitive skills through gardening. 

"Plant a garden with your child and watch their test scores, behavior,

and language skills bloom."  Therapy Works

   Thanks to Grant C. from Six Brothers Pest Control for contacting us with a link to this webpage. We rarely share links to commercial websites, but with the lack of popups and ads, and the high quality of the natural pest control info on this page, we made an exception.

• Tackling Garden Pests Naturally  - Highly Recommended! If you want to learn how to identify the insects that are eating your plants, and how control them naturally, this webpage is for you!

Thanks to Dakota for sending me a page of gardening resource links.

I included a few of her links in the above sections, and the first link below

in our new Dakota-inspired 'Composting' section.

• Composting Basics - Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
• Composting for Kids This Excellent Website was sent to me by Barry E. who volunteers at local schools, somewhere in the UK, to help children learn about composting and gardening. Thanks Barry!
• A Homeowner's Guide to Composting - A Composting 101 guide including over thirty links to composting website on topics such as 'How Composting Works', the 'Benefits of Composting', 'What and What Not to use for Composting', how to 'Build and Maintain a Compost Pile', and more! Shared with us by Annie P. for her son Sean who recently joined his local 4H program. 

Note: If you know of a website that you think is worth listing here,

please Contact Us. We would love to share it on our website.

BE ADVISED!

We usually will not share links to websites with commercial advertising.