Showy Sedum – October Plant of the Month
Showy sedum is our September Plant of the Month for 2023. Also known as live forever, orpine, tall sedum, and butterfly stonecrop; it is one of the best late summer and fall perennials for pollinators. If you have not planted this perennial then you cannot imagine the amount of insects it attracts. Easy to grow […]
Bonesets – September Plant of the Month
Bonesets are the September plants of the month. Members of the Aster Family, and closely related to blazingstars, bonesets are found primarily from the Rocky Mountains eastward. The name boneset comes from break-bone fever, an influenza-like fever, which causes severe bone pain. Native Americans used Eupatorium perfoliatum (Common boneset) to treat the fever. Native to […]
Planting for Pollinators – June and July
What to plant, what to plant? If you are preparing for a succession crop of flowers for pollinators, then June and July might be your biggest months. There are a plethora of plants to pick from. As we have discussed before, pollinators can include bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, bugs, ant, wasps. hummingbirds, and even […]
Penstemon – June Plant of the Month
Penstemon is the June Plant of the Month. Also known as beardtongue, penstemon is one of the most diverse genus of plants in North America. With 240 species alone in North America, there is a lot of potential for hybridization as well as nativar selection. Here in the Central Great Plains region, we have only […]
Favorite Natives (And Nativars) of the Author’s Garden
How many favorite natives can you have? I have been gardening for more than 30 years, and adding natives into my gardens from the very beginning. At my parent’s home in North Central Kansas, I recognized several natives which made their way into my container gardens, and eventually into the landscaping I did for my […]
Perennial Salvia – May Plant of the Month
Perennial salvia is our May Plant of the Month. I have to admit, this was not one of my favorite perennials for a long time. Mainly because of overuse of 1 cultivar in the landscape. I do not like plants that get too much attention; we need more diversity in our gardens. But now, after […]
Allium ‘Millenium’ the 2018 Perennial Plant of the Year
Each year the Perennial Plant Association chooses a perennial of the year, based on its landscape value, popularity, floral characteristics, and pollinator friendliness. The 2018 Perennial Plant of the Year was chosen to be Allium ‘Millenium’. There are beginning to be a plethora of new alliums on the market, and some are closely related to […]
Spring Pollinator Plants
Finding plants for pollinators in springtime can be a bit frustrating. While there are lots of trees and shrubs, not to mention natives, blooming around you, it can be difficult to discover exactly which plant is best suited for your own pollinator paradise. And spring blooming flowers for the garden can be difficult to come […]
