Biodiversity for Birds, Butterflies, and Bees (And More)
Adding biodiversity to your yard and garden means an increase in all types of life. But what do I mean by “adding biodiversity”?. And what is biodiversity? Biodiversity is defined as the variety of life in a habitat or ecosystem. And you add to it by adding what you life you can. For gardeners this […]
Hazelnut – March Plant of the Month
Hazelnut is our 2025 Plant of the Month for March. This native shrub is commonly found in wooded areas on on woodland edges, from the Great Plains eastward. It can be a large shrub, growing 4 to 15 feet tall and can be thicket forming. It is one of our earliest blooming shrubs, starting its […]
Keystone Plants for the Central Great Plains
Just what are keystone plants? Well, keystone plants are plants which a habitat or ecosystem is mostly dependent on to thrive. By removing these species, you may collapse an ecosystem or limit its ability to keep biodiversity in place. If add keystone plants back into the landscape, you can increase biodiversity within region. We gardeners […]
Soft Landings – Protecting Pollinators With Plants
What are soft landings? When I first came across this term at a native plant conference in winter of 2024, I had no idea what it was. And now, I see that I have been using soft landings most of my career, without even planning for it. Soft landings are plant filled places under key […]
Something Red
Red is one of the more looked for colors in the garden, and yet it can be difficult to find. Sure, in the tropics, there are lots of red flowers. When my wife and I went to Hawaii, there were red flowering plants all over the place. But back home, it can be a difficult […]
100 Sunny Cottage Garden Perennials
How many perennials do you need for the cottage garden? Well, that really depends on your layout, design, and the size of land you are working with. I have a small backyard garden area, roughly 15 feet by 30 feet, in which I have around 70 species of perennials, shrubs, and grasses. And this is […]
Native Wildflowers – June Bloomers
What native wildflowers bloom in June? Well, a lot of them. June is considered to be the best month for native wildflowers. It is also Native Plant Month in Kansas, of the governor remembers to sign the proclamation anyways. There are hundreds of species of natives which begin to bloom in June, and many of […]
Native Plants – May Bloomers
May is often referred to as the month of flowers, following April showers, but what about for native plants? Are there a lot blooming? Well, we still have some of our April bloomers still going, and of course, there are a lot of cultivars of natives which are just beginning to go crazy. I have […]
Native Plants – Early Spring Bloomers
Knowing which native plants are blooming when can help you choose the right ones for your garden. I love natives for a lot of reasons. Every since I was a child I have sought out the wild places for walking and hiking, seeking native plants and their associations with animals and insects. And I found […]
