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...
This week: Talking Moss
Hello! Over the past few weeks, I’ve had two garden coaching clients who either had or wanted moss lawns. This is good news because removing moss from lawns...
This week: Identifying Emerging Perennials
Hello! Remember how you left your plant debris up all winter to provide seeds for birds, habitat for bees, and winter interest for your own enjoyment? Your...
This week: Short Native Shrubs for Foundation Plantings
Hello! We’ve all seen houses where the rhododendrons or arborvitaes planted along the foundation now reach the second story of the building. Or maybe you’ve...
This week: Native Seeds to Plant This Spring
Hello! On Thursday, I spotted a Spicebush shrub blooming in the park. That combined with the reddish haze of flowers clouding the Maple trees tells me spring...
This week: A Different Kind of Cabbage Patch
Hello! Let's discuss a native wildflower that is just coming into bloom, one that I find fascinating and mildly disturbing: Eastern Skunk Cabbage...
This week: A Sourwood Crush and Amsonia News
Hello! I have a crush on my neighbor's Sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum). Against all odds, it is thriving in a 15-foot space between the sidewalk and...
This week: Try Native Canadian Wild Ginger Instead of European Ginger
Hello! Welcome to the latest edition of “Plant This, Not That!” European Ginger European Ginger (Asarum europaeum) is a glossy-leaved ground cover that adds...
This week: My Favorite Magnolia Is Not Pink
Hello! Here in Pittsburgh, the big bell-shaped pink flowers of the Saucer Magnolia put on a show every spring for a few days. Then there's a cold snap, and...
This week: Northern Maidenhair Fern for Deep Shade
Hello, I'm on a fern kick this month! Let's take a look at the Northern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum). With its telltale dark stems, this fern is an...
This week: A Troubling Native Fern for Troublesome Spots
Hello! A problem in one context, a solution in another—that’s the life of the Eastern Hayscented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula). If you’ve ever been...
This Week: Tree Design with Easy Scale Drawings
Hello! Native trees are a major win for the habitat. Consider the difference one tree makes. First, the sheer volume of a tree’s canopy provides significant...