THE HUMMINGBIRD GARDEN

This was a barren lot of scraggly weeds and dry, cracked dirt. Now the garden is its own little world, a hidden, enclosed oasis that surges into flower in spring, spilling delicately over the edges of the path. There is plenty of forage for native songbirds, bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, and the garden thrums with life. We built up a small swale at the bottom of the garden to collect runoff from rainfall and planted lush pools of blooming alum root, beardtongues, ferns, and rushes.