Maintaining The Butterfly Garden
It feels strange to not do anything in the butterfly garden, but that is exactly the best thing to do. At least, as long as you have no invasive insects or plants. June is the month of flowers, bees, and butterflies, at least here in Northeast Kansas. It used to be “April showers bring May […]
Stachys – June Plant of the Month
Stachys is our June Plant of the Month for 2023. One of my favorite natives and nonnative perennials, ever since I read about them in Piet Oudolf’s book, Planting: A New Perspective. Also, while on a wildflower hike near our local lake, a friend of mine pointed out a native species, Stachys tenuifolia, which is […]
Native Perennials for New Gardeners
I have already gone over many of the plants which are best for new gardeners, but what about native perennials? Some of the plants listed in my other blog were natives, but this list is only natives. These native perennials are easy to grow, usually bloom in the first year or plantings, are host plants […]
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 […]
Exploring the Garden for Caterpillars
Caterpillars are one of my favorite things to find when exploring the garden. My son loves them too. In the summer of 2022, we started a daily notion on who would see the most caterpillars. I usually have time over my lunch break to hunt caterpillars, while he looks for them all day. But I […]
Dianthus – May Plant of the Month
Dianthus is our May Plant of the Month for 2023. Also known as cottage pinks, cheddar pinks, carnation, sweet William, and maiden pinks. Here in Northeast Kansas, just dianthus for most of them. True, carnations and Sweet William are different species than the pinks. The dianthus we want are the short, groundcover type of pinks. […]
Pollinator Pockets
What are pollinator pockets? Well, there is no official term for it, but pollinator pockets are small pieces of garden just for pollinators. It could be any size, but by my definition, it would be no larger than a 10 foot by 10 foot bed. However, the possibilities of a pollinator pocket are not small, […]
Hardworking Natives
Natives are becoming more and more popular. And with the uncertainty of fluctuating weather patterns, using natives has become more important for all gardeners. Nonnative plants can be great in the landscape, as long as they are not proven to become invasive, which a lot of them are. But using regionally selected native plants for […]
Easy to Grow Plants for New Gardeners
In the past few years, a lot of new gardeners have come on the scene. Some of it has happened through boredom during the years of the pandemic, while other have come into gardening through a desire to feed their families healthy food. Many new gardeners are finding that gardening is more fun than they […]
