Editor’s Note: Spring 2026
Spring calls first for patience then for rolling up our sleeves and getting to work
- By Jennifer Wehunt
- NWF News
- Mar 26, 2026
A two-spotted bumble bee queen feeds on a Virginia bluebell, an early spring ephemeral, in Madison, Wisconsin.
SOMEHOW I MANAGE TO FORGET EACH YEAR that spring takes patience. It doesn’t happen all at once, from snow snow snow snow to immediate explosion of color overwhelming the senses. There’s an interim period, hints of chartreuse, signs of buds. Oh, right, I find myself thinking. Winter doesn’t last forever. And then I roll up my sleeves and hit the garden.
I bet the visionaries whose handiwork we cover in these pages don’t need reminders. They know spring means hard work—and reward—ahead. As we do every year, we’re proud to present our annual issue focused on gardening for wildlife, beginning with the native pollinators that show up to do their jobs, propagating the native plants they’ve evolved alongside for eons, and the humans who steward precious habitats for them.
Those include photographer Steven David Johnson and his family, who created the haven on our cover and again in "Building a Backyard Pond." There are Wisconsinites supporting all stages of the queen bee life cycle and Baltimore farmers planting sustenance for insects alongside produce for people. There are sisters who developed a native plant app, those passing policies for growing native, and experts advising how to prepare your soil and score rebates. There’s guidance on assisting monarchs and, in a palette nearly as glorious as nature’s, an artist who seeded her work to sustain the butterfly’s migration.
Come to think of it, there’s no time to waste. Welcome, spring! Let’s get to work.
Jennifer Wehunt is the editorial director of National Wildlife magazine. Share your thoughts on the magazine by emailing nwfeditor@nwf.org.
