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...
This week: Fothergilla’s fall foliage
Hello! I’m afraid for Pittsburgh’s fall foliage. It’s mid-October and most of the leaves are still green. Will it freeze before the leaves change? I’d hate...
This week: Aster and goldenrod, native plant volunteers
Hello! A couple weeks ago I lamented the end of summer with Swamp Sunflower’s bloom. Well, it’s still blooming profusely and two more plants unexpectedly had...
This week: What’s outside your window?
Hi there! This weekend I reconstructed my terrarium. Two months ago, I took a DIY terrarium class which was wonderful at the time, but unfortunately all the...
This week: Swamp sunflowers bloom
Hello! This week, Swamp sunflower had its first blooms. It is the latest flowering plant in my garden, marking the end of the season for my garden. It’s a...
This week: Time to order fall-planted bulbs
Hello! Forget fall cleanup (literally, it’s unnecessary) because I’m still planting! This weekend I planted some perennial native asters and helenium so that...
This week: Fall garden checkup
Hello! This weekend I intended to replant a patch of eco-grass that didn’t take (more on that later), but alas, I never got around to it. Maybe next weekend....
This week: Ironweed blooms
Hello! It’s the first week of September and it’s starting to feel a little like fall. But, plenty in my garden is still blooming. One of these late season...
This week: Natural hummingbird food
Hello! This weekend I made a return visit to Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. It’s really the worst heat of the summer and also the transition time between summer...
This week: Keep your plant tags
Hello! This week I cleaned up my garden after some recent storms. My taller perennials tipped in the wind and stayed flopped, so I staked what hadn’t bloomed...
This week: Obedient plant is here to compete
Greetings, The late summer bloomers are starting to show off! Sneezeweed, early sunflower, dahlias, and obedient plant all came to life in my garden this...
This week: Joe Pye Weed brings out the bees
Hello! This week I succumbed to local flower madness and signed up for a class that combines a 5-week local flower bouquet subscription with a virtual floral...
This week: Join the local flower movement
Hello! This week I attended Phipps Conservatory’s Virtual Short Course on homegrown flowers, which was focused on the local flower movement in the cut flower...