Native plants are so important to all our pollinators, but the most important are the early spring ones-plants that flower in late winter into spring- that will keep the pollinators fed when there is a dearth of nectar. I keep honeybees and observe that when I have a warm sunny day over 45 degrees Fahrenheit, …
Continue reading "Top 10 Early Spring Native Plant Choices"
Tasting like a blend of bananas and mango, Pawpaws have a tropical taste, totally unexpected where it is indigenous - the Mid-Atlantic, the South, and the Mid-West of the United States. Growing in a temperate deciduous forest, this native tropical-like fruit is unique to the US and is the largest edible fruit native to …
Continue reading "PawPaws: America’s Best Kept Secret"
Spring perennial bloomers are easy. There are so many great spring performers that you always have something blooming all spring long with little effort. Fall can be a little trickier to have a constant parade of colorful bloomers, and I always am looking for new candidates and old favorites. Mums and asters are the usual …
Continue reading "Top 10 Seasonal Stars of the Fall Garden"
Native container gardens are much easier to put together than full sized gardens. If you are new to gardening or have limited space, natives in pots are a gateway to sustainable gardening on a larger scale. Placed alone or in groups, containers are versatile little packages that can be moved around at will and easy …
Continue reading "Native All Star Containers"
Turf grass lawns are an American tradition. Everyone who has any kind of yard or property aspires to having a perfect green manicured carpet. But as we now know, grass can be a dead zone for native insects and birds, devoid of any nutrition or habitat for native species. Mowing, watering, fertilizing, and pest controls …
Continue reading "No Mow May-Planting a Pollinator Friendly Lawn"
Accolades from people in the know – mostly horticulturalists and native plant people – extolling the perennial Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica, are everywhere online and in print. Flying under the radar for many people, Indian Pink is coming into its own - finally. A long-lived perennial that brings stunning colors to the summer garden, hummingbirds …
Continue reading "Indian Pink- A Native Hummingbird Delight"
Native container gardens are much easier to put together than full sized gardens. If you are new to gardening or have limited space, natives in pots are a gateway to sustainable gardening on a larger scale. Placed alone or in groups, containers are versatile little packages that can be moved around at will and easy …
Continue reading "Native Plants in Containers"
As a landscape designer, I am presented with lots of problems - planting on hillsides, dry shade under trees, screen and hedge choices, ground covers, deer browsed areas, replacing old landscaping with natives, and lawn makeovers - and I thought a post about what I have done will help you make better choices. More and …
Continue reading "Native Plants as Problem Solvers"
What's blooming in my garden? Elderflowers!! The sweet umbels of creamy colored flowers that can reach 12" across are so fragrant and have a unique smell, kind of like floral, creamy, and summery all in one package! All cultivars look very similar with their shrub-like plant structure, compound leaves, and big, beautiful clusters of white …
Continue reading "Elderflowers: Growing, Picking & Harvesting"
American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, is aptly named as the latin name means beauty +Â fruit. The purple jewel-like berries are arranged artfully on cascading branches of this wonderful deciduous and deer resistant shrub. Native to the central and southeastern United States, it is found naturally growing in open meadows and woodlands. A nutritional powerhouse, with …
Continue reading "Callicarpa – Beauty + Fruit Combine for a Great Native Plant"
