This week: Tulip poplar, a very tall native tree
Hello, I read unfortunate tree news this week. A tulip poplar that was over 100 feet tall was illegally cut down to make way for a new house in Washington,...
This week: Ready-made native garden kits
Hello! With March mere hours away, it’s time to start making garden daydreams a reality. Every plant matters, so the more native perennials you can plant,...
This week: Are fungus gnats living in your houseplants?
Hello! I have to ask you a personal question. Do your houseplants have fungus gnats? If you’re a chronic over-waterer, you probably do. They look like fruit...
This week: Seed starting supplies
Hello! While it’s not yet time to start seeds indoors to sow outside after the last frost, it’s certainly time to start planning! Starting vegetables or...
This week: How to tell an American Sycamore from a London Planetree
Hello! If you can’t tell the difference between an American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) and a London Planetree (Platanus x acerfolia), you are not...
This week: Better houseplant lighting
Hello! A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that over-watering and poor lighting are two of the top reasons why houseplants fail to thrive. This week, we’ll...
This week: Identifying trees in winter
Hello! This weekend I took a class through Phipps Conservatory on winter native tree identification. It was my first in-person class there since Covid began,...
This week: Are you over-watering your houseplants?
Hello! This week I attempted to kill my Cyclamen houseplant. I only bought it a month ago, and then and all its leaves turned yellow and died. Good thing I...
This week: Baptisia’s remarkable winter foliage
Hello! Winter is finally setting in. Pittsburgh had its first substantial snow this week, and some of perennials that had been holding onto their leaves...
This week: starting native perennials from seed
Hello! Last year, I collected a lot of milk jugs to try winter sewing native perennial seeds. Winter sewing is necessary because many native seeds require a...
This week: Sedum brings autumn joy to butterflies
Hello! This week we have another entry into the dead plant gallery of winter beauty: Hylotelephium ‘Herbstfreude,’ better known as Autumn Joy stonecrop...
This week: Allium ‘Millenium’ (that’s not a typo)
Hello again! It’s late December and there is still more to enjoy in my dead plant garden! This week, I noticed the particular beauty of Allium ‘Millenium’...
This week: Combining low-growing ground covers
Hello! Let’s talk about ground covers. Ground cover plants work wonderfully for covering up areas of a garden that would otherwise be mulch or dirt. Ground...
This week: Christmas cactus blooms
Hello! This week, my Christmas cactus started to bloom which caused me to do a deep-dive on Google and learn some fun facts about the different types of...
This week: Japanese barberry, a bad-news plant
Hello! Excellent news! Pennsylvania is the latest state to phase out the sale of Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), a noxious invasive plant. By 2023,...
This week: Wasps are beneficial insects too
Hello! This week, a rainstorm knocked down and shredded a wasp nest that was hanging from a maple tree in my front yard. It was a basketball-sized beauty...
This week: Brown as a garden color
Hello there! A few years ago, one of my friends from garden class attended a late fall garden tour. She jokingly called it “an afternoon of dead plants.” In...
This week: Save fall cleanup for spring
Hello! Frost finally arrived in Pittsburgh this week, and more and more leaves are falling. Tempted to rake the leaves into bags and put it on the curb and...
This week: In defense of black walnut trees
Hello! It’s come to my attention that some people do not like black walnut trees. Let me convince you otherwise! Juglans nigra, the official name for the...
This week: More fun with fall foliage
Hello! Earlier this summer, I featured amsonia, liatris, and oakleaf hydrangea for their flowers and pollinator power. These natives deliver more than just a...