The Kansas Gardener

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Andrew Mitchell, also known professionally as the Kansas Gardener, is a Horticulturalist, Nursery Crops Specialist, and Landscape Maintenance Supervisor for Grimm's. He has a B.S. Degree in Horticulture from Kansas State University and a A.S. Degree in Agronomy from Cloud County Community College. Andrew is a Lifetime Member of the National Home Gardening Club and a member of the American Horticultural Society. He is a regular writer and on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Native Plant Society and the Eternal Hope Worship Center. Andrew lives on an oak-hickory remnant forest edge with his wife and 3 children. He is an avid collector of plant species, and has an interest in heirloom vegetables. Andrew spends his free time in photography, hiking, spending time with his family and church, and working in the garden.

Posts by The Kansas Gardener:

  • Dragonflies and Damselflies as Mosquito Control

    Attracting beneficials like dragonflies and damselflies to the garden is not as hard as you might think. But there are many factors that we need to look at. What is the difference between dragonflies and damselflies? What is the life cycle of mosquitoes? Should I just spray for mosquitoes? Do I need to put in [...]

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  • Meet the Pollinators : Skipper Butterflies

    What are skipper butterflies and why are they separate from other butterflies? Skippers are often termed as an intermediate group between butterflies and moths. What does that mean? It mean that they have characteristics of both groups within Lepidoptera. Skipper butterflies have furry bodies similar to moths, but fly during the day and sit at [...]

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  • Viburnums – The Gardener’s Must-Have Plant

    If you want to truly feel you have a place in the gardening world, you need to have viburnums. I feel like the landscape is not complete without at least 1 viburnum, either native or nonnative. Viburnums come in all shapes and sizes, with varying fruiting abilities and sun tolerances. Similar in variety to hydrangeas, [...]

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  • Nepeta – June Plant of the Month

    Nepeta, also know as catmint, is our June Plant of the Month. Catmint has become one of the most popular perennials over the last 20 years, for many reasons. When I first started as a draftsman in Manhattan, KS, I found that this plant was one of the most used perennials for xeriscaping, or drought-tolerant [...]

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  • Top 4 Annual Flowers for Pollinators

    The top 4 annual flowers for pollinators list actually took awhile to compile. Each spring, summer, and autumn, I spend countless hours observing and photographing insects. These photos are transferred to external drives where I can spend time identifying and separating them into categories. Once I have everything identified and categorized, then I can go [...]

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  • Plant This! Not That – Replacing Invasives

    Invasives are in our gardens. For some of us, this might be a favorite plant or a stylish plant. And many gardeners never see those plants becoming invasive. But if you hike local woodlands, parks, and prairies, you will see a variety of invasives growing and pushing out native plants. When invasive plants take over [...]

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  • Weedy Plants for Pollinators

    Weedy plants in our gardens? In our neat and tidy garden spaces, we do not like the word “weeds”. But weedy plants may not be all that they are made out to be. Many native and naturalized plant species are great plants for pollinators and other insects. We need to determine which to keep and [...]

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  • Purple Flowers of the Mint Family

    Purple flowers are very popular among insect pollinators. Especially those of the mint family. The 5 plants from the mint family that are landscape and garden favorites are as follows: hummingbird mint (agastache species), Catmint (Nepeta species), Perennial Salvia (Salvia species), Russian Sage (Salvia yangii), and Lavender (Lavendula species). Looking closely at the flowers and [...]

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  • Baptisia – May Plant of the Month

    Baptisia is our May Plant of the Month. May is a month of beautiful flowers, of trees, shrubs, and perennials in the central Great Plains and Midwest. Our gardens are loaded with many wonderful blooming plants. So why choose baptisia over all the others? Also known as blue false indigo or wild indigo, this native [...]

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