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 […]
Beneficial Insects – An Introduction
Beneficial insects are garden friends who help us out when we are not aware of them. Most of the time, insects are out in the garden, eating pests before we see anything bad happening. Having a guide to look at when you are trying to identify insects in the garden is important. Knowing which insect […]
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. […]
Coneflowers for the Garden
Coneflowers have long been one of the most widely planted flowers in our gardens. I have seen an explosion of cultivars in the last 15 years, making it very difficult to choose which to grow. It seems as if you get a favorite, then its pulled for a new color and size. But, with so […]
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 […]
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 […]
Creating A Fruit Tree Guild to Improve Biodiversity
When I was first approached to write on this subject, earlier in 2020, I admit, I really had no idea what a fruit tree guild was. However, once I looked into it, I discovered that I was aware of the concept, if not the actual idea. I have been planting my gardens for maximum biodiversity […]
