This week: Pearly Everlasting Outlasts the Fall
Hello! Now that fall is underway, Goldenrods and Asters are dotting the landscape. But, don’t overlook another fall bloomer that also happens to be in the...
This week: Advantages of Planting Plugs
Hello! This week, I planted 45 native plants in a little over an hour using only a garden knife. How was this incredible feat accomplished? I was planting...
This week: Leave Snags Standing for Birds
Hello! This newsletter is typically focused on living plants, but there is also ecological value in dead ones, often for habitat creation. We’re encouraged...
This week: American Pokeweed Is Pretty and Poisonous
Hello! I recently swiped past a social media post where someone had pruned an American Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) plant into a tree shape — a strange...
This week: Ragweed and Mistaken Identity
Hello, Welcome to Ragweed season! Sadly, Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is a native plant that can be a nuisance and is best removed. One male...
This week: Making Plans for Next Year’s Garden
Hello! As the summer winds down, it’s time to take stock of the garden. What changes, if any, should be made for next year? By evaluating it now, you can do...
This week: Cup Plant Surprises
Hello, Time for some fun facts about an interesting native plant with a dubious reputation! Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum) is native to the eastern and...
This week: Butterfly Season
Hello, If you planted a garden full of native plants, you’ve probably been getting some butterfly visitors. Consider this a quick who’s who of a few common...
This week: Wild Petunia, No Relation to Annual Petunias
Hello! This summer, I’ve been experimenting with Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis). Wild Petunia is native to the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest. In Pennsylvania,...
This week: Blazing Star Blooms!
Hello! Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) is easily one of my favorite plants. While Liatris are typically associated with the Midwestern and Plains prairies,...
This week: Pioneering Staghorn Sumac
Hello! Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) is a northeastern understory tree with some big benefits: it’s gorgeous, wildlife loves it, and it has more than a few...
This week: Emily Dickinson’s Favorite Flower
Hello! It’s time to open the mailbag! Recently, a reader sent me a photo of Ghost Pipes (Monotropa uniflora) that she spotted while hiking in the Smoky...
This week: Anise Hyssop, a Worthy Mint!
Hello! If you like the look of Lavenders and Catmints in the garden, but don’t love that they aren’t native, try Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) instead....
This week: Choosing Milkweed for Monarchs
Hello! Monarch butterflies are the unlucky poster child for the plight of our native beneficial insects. The number of Eastern monarchs has declined by more...
This week: Coreopsis for Every Garden
Hello! Coreopsis (also called Tickseed) is an unassuming garden workhorse. It blooms from June through August, and once the blooms slow down, you can...
This week: Raise a Glass to Hophornbeam
Hello! Let me introduce you to Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), a native understory tree that, to quote the eminent horticulturalist Michael A. Dirr, “has...
This week: Arrowwood Viburnum Brings the Blooms
Hello! It’s Viburnum season! Plenty of varieties are in bloom right now, and one such beauty is Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum). This shrub is covered...
This week: How to Do the Chelsea Crop
Hello! Have you seen the Joe Pye Weed lately? Mine is at least 4 feet high, and it is just barely June. Even though it is planted near the back of my garden,...
This week: The Lazybone's Guide to Seed Starting
Hello! There was a time when I started seeds indoors in March and April under grow lights in little handmade paper pots. Or when I would collect plastic...
This week: Bring on the Flowers with Fringe-Tree
Hello! Sometimes I encounter plants that I find hard to believe are native, mainly because their blooms are so ornamental that I imagine intrepid...