This week: Snacking on Wild Strawberries
Hello! If you were a kid growing up in a home with an untreated lawn, you likely spent some time picking tiny wild strawberries and eating them in the...
This week: Red Columbine Wins Hearts
Hello! When you picture a Columbine flower, you probably envision a blue-colored Rocky Mountain Columbine (Aquilegia coerulea). Eastern North American has...
This week: A Better Than Marginal Wood Fern
Hello! People love a free native plant, and for me, Marginal Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis) was just that—I found it popping up here and there in the...
This Week: Shopping for Native Plants
Hello! This is a long one today, so scroll down for a link to a page that will track native plants found at my local Lowe’s and Home Depot this summer, and a...
This week: Native Shrubs You Can Eat
Hello! So often, we’re planting native shrubs for insects and birds to eat. But many can be eaten by humans, too. Here are a few native shrubs that are tasty...
This week: Ostrich (Ferns) for Dinner
Hello! You can do a lot with ferns. They are problem-solvers for shady spots like the north side of a building, an understory picked clean by hungry deer, or...
This Week: Bear Corn, Vampire of the Woods
Hello! If you’re intrigued by the weirdness of Skunk Cabbage, you might also be interested in Bear Corn, another oddball native wildflower that pops up this...
This week: Get Ready for Spring Ephemerals!
Hello! It’s the start of spring ephemeral season—the time of year when early woodland wildflowers catch the sun before the tree canopy fills in. Their timing...
This week: Creepy Crawly Giant Leopard Moths
Hello, Signs of spring are everywhere! My front garden has one daffodil already in bloom with more on the way, and the maple trees are flowering. I also got...
This week: Sun-Loving Native Hydrangeas
Hello! Do you love hydrangeas but feel torn because you want more natives in your landscape? It's a good thing there are a few native hydrangeas you can try!...
This week: In Love/Hate with Common Evening Primrose
Hello! It pains me to admit that I dislike certain native plants, but with a little research, many redeem themselves. This was the case for the unruly...
This week: 3 Underused Native Understory Trees
Hello! Walk through any neighborhood, and you’ll notice houses with Flowering Dogwoods, Redbuds, and Birches planted in their front yards (wander past mine,...
This week: Feeling Blue (Flowers)
Hello, By February, winter feels impossibly long, and it’s easy to get the blues. Instead, let’s celebrate the color by welcoming a few “blue” native...
This week: Downy Scullcap, Overlooked No More
Hello! I’m embarrassed to admit I overlooked a certain native plant for years: Downy Skullcap (Scutellaria incana). I’d never seen it outside of a seed...
This week: Weeding 101
Hello! Weeds: the bane of every gardener’s existence. While pulling weeds can be a zen-like activity with a great sense of accomplishment when completed, it...
This week: Shrubby Cinquefoil for Small Spaces
Hello! If you’re on a quest for a small shrub that thrives in sunny spots, look no further than Shrubby Cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa). This North American...
This week: What Are Those Funny-Looking Acorns?
Hello! Sometimes, you see things on trees that don’t seem right. Take, for example, little round growths on oak twigs. For a second, you might think they are...
This week: Pennsylvania Sedge, a Grassy Groundcover
Hello! Native sedges have been getting good press lately as groundcovers and possible turf grass replacements. One of the more widely available is...
This week: Two Native Black-Eyed Susans Worth Growing
Hello! Long-time readers may notice a recurring theme: common names are confusing. And here’s one of the all-time greats: Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)...
This week: Winter Is for Birches
Hello! Imagine a winter landscape. Maybe you pictured a stand of evergreens punctuated by the bright white bark of birch trees. While they are lovely year-...