Garden Spider egg case (emptied out by hungry birds)
Spring cleaning, if done with wildlife in mind, is a slow process. On hands and knees each section is tackled slowly enough to spot garden treasures (overwintering chrysalises on stems, partially grown caterpillars in curled up leaves, microscopic eggs on plant material). This spring many treasures were found along the way: several spider egg sacks (one intact and one that had been discovered by hungry birds and emptied sometime over the winter), Carolina Mantid egg cases, and plant stems that were nibbled to the core (proof that the garden’s dormant insects aided wintering birds).
Learn more about how to clean up your wildlife garden without overdoing it by reading my latest column on the Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens website (where over 25 of us contribute educational and informative columns to guide and encourage wildlife gardeners, so they don’t make the same mistakes we did).
[...] as an egg, a partially grown caterpillar, or a chrysalis. Many spiders and preying mantises lay egg masses that over winter too; the adults die as late fall arrives. Red-spotted Purples prefer fruit to flower nectar, so I [...]