Did you have an abnormally dry growing season this year—one where it felt like you just couldn’t keep up with the watering, maybe? Today’s guest, naturalist and artist Julie Zickefoose, and I both did in our otherwise different garden locations—places that usually have plenty of rain. Besides prompting frustration and some plant failures, the dry times also had us making observations about the impact of drought on various forms of wildlife. 

Julie Zickefoose lives and gardens in the Appalachian foothills of southeast Ohio. You probably know her from one of the books she’s written and illustrated like my favorite, “Saving Jemima: Life and Love With a Hard Luck Jay,” and besides being an author and artist, Julie is a wildlife rehabilitator and a keen gardener, too. I’m glad to welcome her back to the show to commiserate about a season that really threw us both—and what we learned from it and its impact on gardeners, plants, and birds and other wildlife. 

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