What are Nativars and are They Better?
I have had very heated discussions over the use of nativars with my purest friends in the native plant community. They prefer to use only true from seed native plants in their gardens, but I think selected varieties can be combined with true natives. It is worth digging into. So, what are nativars? Nativar is […]
Top Annuals for Northeast Kansas Gardens
Over the last 8 years, I have been planting and evaluating annual flowers in public and private gardens in Northeast Kansas. While K-State has its Prairie Star flower list, I make my own conclusions based on weather, performance, durability, and pest tolerance. The following annual flowers are the best for Northeast Kansas gardens, in 8 […]
Best Pollinator Perennials for April-May
Its hard to plan your garden for season-long pollinator provisions, but we still try. Early spring months of April and May seem to be the hardest (after March of course), with more trees and shrubs than perennials blooming in the landscape. Perennial gardens are the highlight of most gardens through the summer months; it is […]
2019 Perennial Plant of the Year: Stachys ‘Hummelo’
Every year, the Perennial Plant Association promotes a perennial of the year. In the past it has been butterfly milkweed, allium ‘Millenium’, switchgrass ‘Northwind’ and others, since starting the list in 1990. This year, the PPA has selected stachys ‘Hummelo’ as the perennial plant of the year. That is good news for us here in […]
Tall Sedum – A Pollinator’s Dream Plant
Time to take an in-depth look at tall sedum. Many homeowners and professionals alike call it Autumn Joy Sedum after the popular variety. While this variety does tend to stand out, there are many more varieties of Sedum spectabile (Tall Sedum). While it is now classified at Hylotelephium spectabile, many nurseries and people will likely […]
Top 5 Plants for Pollinators – September
September is here and right around the bend is autumn. September is a month after my own heart, with my birthday and my siblings’ birthdays. We always had a huge party for the three of us, usually on Labor Day weekend. Summer was waning, but their was still a feel of excitement in the air […]
Top Plants for Bees/Butterflies: June-July Part II
Welcome back! The glorious Independence Day is over and summer is bearing down upon us. I am always so busy getting things done for the holidays, that I hardly have time to put posts together. The second half of the season has started and we need some flower power to steer us through. The second […]
The Ohio Buckeye
The Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) is not what most people think about when they think of spring in Kansas, or maybe anywhere. Most think of the bulbs of Holland, planted here or there in a landscape bed, or the redbuds of the oak-hickory woodlands of eastern Kansas. However, here in the northeast corner of the […]
Catalpas Blooming In Kansas
All across the state of Kansas, catalpa trees are in full bloom. These trees are a marvel of color in the wooded areas, along railroads, and in towns. When the railroads were first being laid across the state, they would plant groves of catalpa, which grow quickly, along the way to provide fuel when coal […]
