# @ahs_gardening on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcdj4SoHPVh
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69719710-ahs-gardening-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/8d3ed87868.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-25T11:45:41.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** American Horticultural Society | American Gardener Magazine (@ahs_gardening) — https://gondola.cc/ahs_gardening

## Caption

Want more fireflies next summer? What you do after they disappear matters more than you might think. 💫⁠
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The glowing adults that light up summer evenings are only the most visible chapter of a firefly’s life. Lightning bugs spend most of their lives hidden at ground level — in soil, leaf litter, moss and decaying wood.⁠
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Which means a tidy fall garden can be surprisingly inhospitable to next summer’s light show.⁠
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If you want to make your landscape more welcoming to fireflies, start with what happens after the glow fades.⁠
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🍂 Leave fallen leaves where you can.⁠
🪵 Let some logs and decaying wood remain.⁠
🌾 Grow layers of grasses, perennials and shrubs.⁠
🌙 Turn off unnecessary outdoor lights.⁠
🚫 Avoid broad-spectrum pesticides and excessive mowing.⁠
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Fireflies face growing pressure from habitat loss, pesticides and light pollution. But our own gardens can provide some of the dark, undisturbed habitat they need.⁠
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Next summer’s fireflies are already out there. How we garden now can help determine whether we see them.⁠
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Read “After the Glow” in the July/August issue of The American Gardener at ahsgardening.org.⁠
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Not a member yet? Join us at ahsgardening.org and get a copy of this magazine delivered straight to your door. ⁠
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Writer: Nancy Lawson (@humanegardener) ⁠
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📸 creds: Unsplash, Tony Phan; Unsplash, Kevin Wang ⁠
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#fireflies #lightningbugs #gardeningwithwildlife #wildlife #insectgarden #pollinatorgarden #habitatgardening #summernight #gardenforwildlife #conservation #gardeninspiration #sustainablegardening #americangardener #ahsgardening #americanhorticulturalgarden #summerinsect

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## Tags

americangardener, gardeninspiration, habitatgardening, gardenforwildlife, ahsgardening, pollinatorgarden, americanhorticulturalgarden, sustainablegardening, gardeningwithwildlife, conservation, summerinsect, wildlife, lightningbugs, fireflies, insectgarden, summernight

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