This week: A Round of Coralbells for the Garden
Hello! This week, we’re reaching back into the mailbag to answer a reader question: Why do some Coralbells look lackluster by mid-summer while others are...
This week: Keeping Track of Your Perennials + Digital Freebie
Hello! Do you lose track of what you planted in the garden? I do. So, whenever I bring a new plant home, I pull the tag off and chuck it into a gallon-sized...
This week: Nuts for American Hazelnut
Hello! Blame it on Nutella, but I imagined all edible hazelnuts came from Europe. Little did I know there was a species native to the eastern half of the...
This week: Garden Phlox, a Cottage Garden Star
Hello! Did you know that there is a whole flock of native phlox? Phlox subulata (Moss Phlox) and P. divaricata (Woodland Phlox) are spring bloomers, but P....
This week: Container Gardening with Native Plants
Hello! I’m working on a project for a client who wants to grow native plants in a large planter instead of a typical annual display. Her house is directly on...
This week: Spacecraft or Flower?
This week, I noticed that Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) had begun blooming. While unfortunately underused, this native shrub greatly benefits...
This week: A Different Purple Coneflower
Hello! If you thought the only purple coneflower game in town was the classic Echinacea purpurea, think again! Pale Purple Coneflower, or Echinacea pallida,...
This week: Purple Coneflowers, a Garden Workhorse
Hello! Upon creating a page on bloomstobees.com that lists all the plants profiled in the newsletter alphabetically, I realized I’ve never fully extolled the...
This week: Solve Landscape Problems with Ninebark
Hello! Do you need more privacy in your backyard? Do you have an unruly slope you'd like to tame? Or, maybe you want to add more multi-season interest to...
This week: Uncommonly Useful Common Elderberry
Hello! This week, Common Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) is in bloom. This native shrub is a wonderful addition to an edible garden and is recommended for...
This Week: 3 Native Perennials for Early June Blooms
Hello! Early June can be a tough time for perennial flowers in the garden. Eastern Bluestar, Wild Blue Indigo, and Golden Alexanders are fading, and summer-...
This week: Incorporating tall native perennials into your garden
Hello! Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of giant-sized native perennials? Joe-Pye Weed, Ironweed, Culver’s Root, and even New England Asters...
This week: Spiderworts and all
Hello! This week, Tradescantia virginiana, or Common Spiderwort, is blooming in my garden. Spiderwort is a throwback plant that your grandparents or great-...
This week: Add Drama with Blue False Indigo
Hello! It’s only the second week of May, yet Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo) is blooming in my garden—easily two weeks early. Welcome to an early...
This week: A Native Spring-Blooming Bulb? Try Wild Hyacinth.
Hello! I am especially fond of spring-blooming bulbs: crocus, snowdrops, tulips, and daffodils all make me excited for the end of winter. I always plant them...
This week: Mayapple, An Unusual-Looking Native Plant
Hello! There are a handful of native plants that I consider otherworldly because of their unconventional looks—Skunk Cabbage, Bear Corn (a topic for another...
This week: You have my permission to kill this plant.
Hello! A few weeks back, I mentioned that West Virginia White butterflies are mistaking Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) for Cutleaf Toothwort, which is...
This week: Amelanchier, a Tree with Many Names
Hello, Serviceberry is in bloom! While I call it Serviceberry, you may know it as Juneberry, Shadbush, or Shadblow. These are all common names for the...
This week: Twinleaf’s Fleeting April Blooms
Hello! Let’s add another flower to the list of early spring bloomers: Jeffersonia diphylla, commonly called Twinleaf. The common name gives a major...
This week: Cutleaf Tooth-what?
Hello! Finally, flowers! This week, I noticed Virginia Bluebells and Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) blooming in the park. Although Cutleaf...