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Winged euonymus (Euonymus alatus), sometimes known as “burning bush” because of its brilliant fall foliage color, has long been recognized as an aggressive invader of northeastern woodlands, where it crowds out native vegetation, creating areas inhospitable to most native wildlife. Birds do …

NatureWatch columnist Thom Smith always seems to have the answers when readers pose questions. This week he answers queries about orioles, sapsukers and monarch butterlies.  

Trouble takes many forms. Right now, the trouble in Ron Kujawski's garden is largely with Japanese beetles, who love to taunt him by feeding on the leaves and ripened fruit of his raspberry plants.

It’s easy to have a glorious garden in late spring and early summer, when all the classics from peonies to iris are in bloom. As the heat settles in, though, these early bloomers fade, often leaving the garden dull through midsummer, in the interval before fall arrives with its colorful frui…

In this week's NatureWatch, columnist Thom Smith updates local Monarch sightings, answers reader questions about endangered species and talks about ticks.

I feel like I should simply repeat last week’s discussion regarding the impact frequent and often heavy rain is having on gardens, especially vegetable gardens. Since vegetable gardens typically involve more attention than do flower gardens, the disruption of routine tasks is more discouraging.

Q I I always read your column. I haven’t written with a question for some years, but I saw something I’ve never seen before. On June 29, I went for a hike on Mount Everett. I was walking up the road in the area of the lake. I started to see things hopping near my feet. I thought they were in…

There are a number of gardening tools I’ve come to treasure over the years. An unbreakable, hand-forged trowel from a Maine craftsman, long out of business, is definitely on the list, as is a Tina-brand German carbon-steel gardener’s knife that is easy to sharpen, yet holds an edge well. I’d…

“Be careful what you wish for!” I was recently reminded of that phrase by my friend, Carter White, of West Stockbridge. Well, about two weeks ago I was wishing for some rain since my rain barrels were empty.

Annual flowers were disdained by most expert gardeners back when I was learning the trade. There was some reason for this. The annuals available then were relatively few — petunias, marigolds, zonal geraniums, and a few others — and the colors of the blossoms tended to be glaringly bright an…

Rarely do I come across a volume with the aspects of both a coffee table book with both lavish illustrations, well-placed full-page photographs, and history of our planet's ocean that existed in one shape or another for four billion years.