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...
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...
This week: Edging for a finishing touch
Hi again, It’s plant clearance time! Now is a good time to check in on plant sellers because they are starting to make room for mums and pumpkins. This...
This week: Artful gardens
Hello! This weekend I visited the gardens at Hillwood Estate in Washington, D.C. where they have acres of traditional gardens, from a 17th century inspired...
This week: Pollinators love Liatris
Hi again! This weekend I went on the Highland Park Garden Tour. The highlight was Choderwood, a riverfront garden getaway with chickens and ducks and a lot...
This week: Understand sun or shade when buying plants
Happy Independence Day (Observed)! Perhaps you’re spending your day off in the garden—there’s a lot to do, whether it’s enjoying the setting or other equally...
This week: Plant butterfly milkweed, not butterfly bush
Hello again! This weekend I stumbled on some Belgian block cobblestones on Craigslist and happily purchased them to complete my garden edging. It’s a relief...
This week: Redbud trees and and their bees
Hello! I was focused on my garden decor this week. After making a Wave Hill chair a few years at ago at a workshop, I set about building a second one. The...
This week: Hydrangeas for everyone!
Hi there! Do you love hydrangeas, but feel torn because you want more natives in your landscape? Never fear, native hydrangeas are here! There are two North...
This week: Clematis blooms + ways to use it
Good day! I’m pleased to announce that my clematis is blooming. I planted it before I kept track of what I planted, so I have no idea what variety it is,...
This week: Sweetbay Magnolia blooms + planting in threes
Hi there! This week in “what’s happening in Julie’s garden,” the Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) is in bloom. This native beauty is a small shrubby...
This week: Baptisia and native cultivars
Hello! This week in the garden, my Baptisia australis is blooming. Commonly known as false indigo, this blueish purple native is a great pick for pollinators...
This week: saving oaks and planting sweet alyssum
Welcome to this week’s email! This afternoon I pulled a baby oak out of my garden. After watching Doug Tallamy’s talk about oaks (linked in last week’s...
This week: The easiest cut flower to grow
Hello there! The 10-day forecast for Pittsburgh looks nearly frost-free, so this weekend (or next) I’ll begin sowing seeds in my raised beds for a cut flower...
This week: Meet Amsonia, an early native bloomer
Welcome to May! We’re just a week or two from the last frost of the year. The tulips are in decline, but my allium are about to bloom and provide color all...
This week: coming to terms with ferns
Hi there! A lot happened in the garden this week. Not only did I finally get around to starting flower seeds for my cutting garden (teddy bear sunflowers and...
This week: properly prune trees and shrubs
Hi again! Trees and shrubs are budding and leafing out! While admiring their beauty, you may have noticed some dead branches here and there, and you may be...
This week: purple coneflowers from scratch
Hi there! The great weather continued this week despite a few spring showers. In my front yard, the redbud tree is blossoming and every day there are new...
This week: milk jug greenhouses revealed
Greetings! From having beautiful spring temperatures in the 60s to having snow on April 1, it has been quite a week in the garden. Earlier this winter, I...