Blooms to Bees Weekly
Subscribe
RSS
Archive
This week: Uncommon Snowberry
October 14, 2024
Hello! Though I’ve been a student of native plants for years, I recently encountered a northeastern native shrub that was totally new to me: Common Snowberry...
This week: Grow Your Own Pawpaws
October 7, 2024
Hello, It’s Pawpaw season! This relatively unknown fruit has a big claim to fame: it is the largest fruit native to North America. September and October are...
This week: A Great Many Uses for Great Blue Lobelia
September 30, 2024
Hello! Hold onto your hat—we’re discussing a plant with many uses by wishful thinkers: Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica). Sprouting from the same...
This week: 3 Volunteer White-Flowered Asters
September 23, 2024
Hello! While walking my dog the other day, I passed three varieties of little white asters blooming along the street. All three were volunteer plants (or...
This week: A Turtle Lookalike in the Garden?
September 16, 2024
Hello! Do you have a shady spot in your garden that needs a late summer highlight? Or maybe you’re aiming for a classic cottage garden vibe. Chelone lyonii,...
This week: Goldenrod for the Garden
September 9, 2024
Hello! Sometimes, there are native plants I don’t like. For example, I rarely recommend Goldenrod—a well-regarded Keystone species—to clients. However,...
This week: Silver-Spotted Skippers Prefer Pink
September 2, 2024
Hello, First, thanks to everyone who visited the Swissvale Farmer’s Market. It was lovely meeting you and talking plants! Now, to the main event: a...
This week: Sweetgum Trees, My Favorite Nuisance
August 26, 2024
Hello! Read all the way to the end for a fun announcement if you live in the Pittsburgh area! Now, onto the regularly scheduled newsletter. Sweetgum...
This week: Jerusalem Artichoke, a Super-Spreader
August 19, 2024
Hello! This week, I discovered I’m growing Helianthus tuberosus, or Jerusalem Artichokes, in the “I’ve been given this seedling” section of my garden. While...
This week: A Round of Coralbells for the Garden
August 12, 2024
Hello! This week, we’re reaching back into the mailbag to answer a reader question: Why do some Coralbells look lackluster by mid-summer while others are...
This week: Keeping Track of Your Perennials + Digital Freebie
August 5, 2024
Hello! Do you lose track of what you planted in the garden? I do. So, whenever I bring a new plant home, I pull the tag off and chuck it into a gallon-sized...
This week: Nuts for American Hazelnut
July 29, 2024
Hello! Blame it on Nutella, but I imagined all edible hazelnuts came from Europe. Little did I know there was a species native to the eastern half of the...
This week: Garden Phlox, a Cottage Garden Star
July 22, 2024
Hello! Did you know that there is a whole flock of native phlox? Phlox subulata (Moss Phlox) and P. divaricata (Woodland Phlox) are spring bloomers, but P....
This week: Container Gardening with Native Plants
July 15, 2024
Hello! I’m working on a project for a client who wants to grow native plants in a large planter instead of a typical annual display. Her house is directly on...
This week: Spacecraft or Flower?
July 8, 2024
This week, I noticed that Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) had begun blooming. While unfortunately underused, this native shrub greatly benefits...
This week: A Different Purple Coneflower
July 1, 2024
Hello! If you thought the only purple coneflower game in town was the classic Echinacea purpurea, think again! Pale Purple Coneflower, or Echinacea pallida,...
This week: Purple Coneflowers, a Garden Workhorse
June 24, 2024
Hello! Upon creating a page on bloomstobees.com that lists all the plants profiled in the newsletter alphabetically, I realized I’ve never fully extolled the...
This week: Solve Landscape Problems with Ninebark
June 17, 2024
Hello! Do you need more privacy in your backyard? Do you have an unruly slope you'd like to tame? Or, maybe you want to add more multi-season interest to...
This week: Uncommonly Useful Common Elderberry
June 10, 2024
Hello! This week, Common Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) is in bloom. This native shrub is a wonderful addition to an edible garden and is recommended for...
This Week: 3 Native Perennials for Early June Blooms
June 3, 2024
Hello! Early June can be a tough time for perennial flowers in the garden. Eastern Bluestar, Wild Blue Indigo, and Golden Alexanders are fading, and summer-...
This week: Incorporating tall native perennials into your garden
May 27, 2024
Hello! Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of giant-sized native perennials? Joe-Pye Weed, Ironweed, Culver’s Root, and even New England Asters...
This week: Spiderworts and all
May 20, 2024
Hello! This week, Tradescantia virginiana, or Common Spiderwort, is blooming in my garden. Spiderwort is a throwback plant that your grandparents or great-...
This week: Add Drama with Blue False Indigo
May 13, 2024
Hello! It’s only the second week of May, yet Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo) is blooming in my garden—easily two weeks early. Welcome to an early...
This week: A Native Spring-Blooming Bulb? Try Wild Hyacinth.
May 6, 2024
Hello! I am especially fond of spring-blooming bulbs: crocus, snowdrops, tulips, and daffodils all make me excited for the end of winter. I always plant them...
This week: Mayapple, An Unusual-Looking Native Plant
April 29, 2024
Hello! There are a handful of native plants that I consider otherworldly because of their unconventional looks—Skunk Cabbage, Bear Corn (a topic for another...
This week: You have my permission to kill this plant.
April 22, 2024
Hello! A few weeks back, I mentioned that West Virginia White butterflies are mistaking Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) for Cutleaf Toothwort, which is...
This week: Amelanchier, a Tree with Many Names
April 15, 2024
Hello, Serviceberry is in bloom! While I call it Serviceberry, you may know it as Juneberry, Shadbush, or Shadblow. These are all common names for the...
This week: Twinleaf’s Fleeting April Blooms
April 8, 2024
Hello! Let’s add another flower to the list of early spring bloomers: Jeffersonia diphylla, commonly called Twinleaf. The common name gives a major...
This week: Cutleaf Tooth-what?
April 1, 2024
Hello! Finally, flowers! This week, I noticed Virginia Bluebells and Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) blooming in the park. Although Cutleaf...
This week: Talking Moss
March 25, 2024
Hello! Over the past few weeks, I’ve had two garden coaching clients who either had or wanted moss lawns. This is good news because removing moss from lawns...
This week: Identifying Emerging Perennials
March 18, 2024
Hello! Remember how you left your plant debris up all winter to provide seeds for birds, habitat for bees, and winter interest for your own enjoyment? Your...
This week: Short Native Shrubs for Foundation Plantings
March 11, 2024
Hello! We’ve all seen houses where the rhododendrons or arborvitaes planted along the foundation now reach the second story of the building. Or maybe you’ve...
This week: Native Seeds to Plant This Spring
March 4, 2024
Hello! On Thursday, I spotted a Spicebush shrub blooming in the park. That combined with the reddish haze of flowers clouding the Maple trees tells me spring...
This week: A Different Kind of Cabbage Patch
February 26, 2024
Hello! Let's discuss a native wildflower that is just coming into bloom, one that I find fascinating and mildly disturbing: Eastern Skunk Cabbage...
This week: A Sourwood Crush and Amsonia News
February 19, 2024
Hello! I have a crush on my neighbor's Sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum). Against all odds, it is thriving in a 15-foot space between the sidewalk and...
This week: Try Native Canadian Wild Ginger Instead of European Ginger
February 12, 2024
Hello! Welcome to the latest edition of “Plant This, Not That!” European Ginger European Ginger (Asarum europaeum) is a glossy-leaved ground cover that adds...
This week: My Favorite Magnolia Is Not Pink
February 5, 2024
Hello! Here in Pittsburgh, the big bell-shaped pink flowers of the Saucer Magnolia put on a show every spring for a few days. Then there's a cold snap, and...
This week: Northern Maidenhair Fern for Deep Shade
January 29, 2024
Hello, I'm on a fern kick this month! Let's take a look at the Northern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum). With its telltale dark stems, this fern is an...
This week: A Troubling Native Fern for Troublesome Spots
January 22, 2024
Hello! A problem in one context, a solution in another—that’s the life of the Eastern Hayscented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula). If you’ve ever been...
This Week: Tree Design with Easy Scale Drawings
January 15, 2024
Hello! Native trees are a major win for the habitat. Consider the difference one tree makes. First, the sheer volume of a tree’s canopy provides significant...
This week: 3 Trees with Bark Appeal
January 8, 2024
Hello! Winter is when trees truly shine—with their leaves gone, you can appreciate their structure and the textures of their bark. And regarding bark, one...
This week: Is a native lawn possible?
January 1, 2024
Happy New Year! This week, we're reaching into the mailbag and answering a reader question. She writes: Are there any native plants that can be used as a...
This week: The Gift of Pin Oaks 🎁
December 25, 2023
Hello! It’s the holiday season—Christmas Day, to be exact, and I’d like to thank you for subscribing, sending notes with questions and topic suggestions, and...
This week: Tulip Poplar, a Popular Magnolia
December 18, 2023
Hello, Good news! Another week, another tree featured in this newsletter. Liriodendron tulipifera, commonly known as Tulip Poplar, Tuliptree, or Yellow...
This week: Shagbark Hickory, a Standout Winter Tree
December 11, 2023
Hello! I’m not sure why, but this fall it seemed like Shagbark Hickory nuts were everywhere. Perhaps it was a mast year, but more likely, I was just in the...
This week: A Great Grass for Mass Planting
December 4, 2023
Hello! Even though it’s suddenly December, I’m still hanging on to fall. One perennial grass whose best season is fall and continues to stand tall all winter...
This week: It’s not dead, it’s bald!
November 27, 2023
Hello! One of my favorite native trees, the Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) has a funny habit of looking like it’s dying this time of year. Through the...
This week: Winter King Hawthorn’s showiest season is just beginning
November 20, 2023
Hello! If you’re a bird lover who wants to feed their flock all winter long, Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’ is the tree for you. This native Green Hawthorn...
This week: Replace Burning Bush with Better Native Shrubs
November 13, 2023
Hello, Earlier this year Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) was placed on Pennsylvania’s noxious weed list. It will no longer be sold in the Commonwealth after...
This week: Threadleaf Bluestar Shines in the Fall
November 6, 2023
Hello! A confession: I have favorite plants. If you’ve ever been a Blooms to Bees client, you can probably guess what one of them is: Amsonia, and especially...
Older archives