Milkweed – July Plant of the Month
Milkweed is our July Plant of the Month. When you think butterfly conservation, butterfly gardening, or butterflies, you also think mostly about milkweeds. But why is that? The Monarch butterfly, often considered the most majestic of North American butterflies, can only raise its young on milkweeds, and a couple tropical milkweed cousins. Because of the […]
Flying Flowers and More
But what are flying flowers? When I was growing up, I used to love poring over the photos in Birds & Blooms Magazine, which I read at my Grandma’s house. In the magazine, they had a section called flying flowers, which were photos of butterflies. I learned a lot about butterflies and gardening that way. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Build a Butterfly Garden in 9 Steps
Building a butterfly garden should be on the list for every gardener. You can make your entire garden and landscape a butterfly garden or you can create a small, postage stamp garden specifically for butterflies. Anyone, even balcony gardeners can have a butterfly garden. You can have your own pollinator paradise in 9 easy steps. […]
5 Easy to Grow Perennials that are Underused
There are 5 easy to grow perennials that are vastly underused in our landscapes. As a landscape maintenance foreman, I travel across Northeast Kansas and Southeast Nebraska. While doing so, I observe multiple landscapes and their plantings. What I have found is that most landscapes use the same plant pallette, though different cultivars. It is […]
Cottage Style – Reimagining America’s First Gardens
Cottage style gardens were the first American gardens, before it was America. When we were still part of the original British Empire, our gardens (not those of the wealthy) were a mixture of edibles, medicinals, and flowers. Most of what early Americans ate came from this garden, and their medicines as well. Annual and perennial […]
Houseplants Easy to Grow – Top 10
If there is one thing that refuses to grow in my own house, it is houseplants. Because I live in a wooded landscape, with large roof eaves (4 foot), houseplants do not like me. And I will not change out the lighting in my home to grow them. But I have cared for them at […]
How To Attract Insect Pollinators to Your Garden
Welcome to the new year! Last season was one of the busiest gardening seasons for many across the country, with many new gardeners. With all those new gardeners, came a plethora of questions about a wide range of gardening topics. I am going to kick off the new year with one of the most important […]
