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 fl

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 ‘Hum

One of the most common questions we get in the spring is do you have small trees? They do not mean trees that will get big, but rather trees that stay small. These kinds of trees can be difficult to find and even locate in a landscape. Small trees are often just shrubs that have been

Welcome to my garden! Once again I bring from the comfort of your living room or office directly to my garden. This year, I am dividing my tour into 2 parts-flowers & gardens. First on the agenda is my flowers. Despite the weather in much of the area, my gardens received adequate

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 Hylot

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

As summer winds down in late August and September, we see a rush in the number of pollinators visiting our gardens. The butterflies and bees and everything else have all come out of the woodwork so it seems. Every Sunday afternoon I take a stroll through some shady woodland or sunny m

Summer is far upon us now, and yet the gardens at Grimm’s are at their peak performance. Jeryl Grimm has a walk through her kitchen garden lined with annuals and some perennials for the enjoyment of her family and those who visit her. Around their house, Doug and Jeryl have plan

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.

Seems everywhere I go these days I hear about pollinator gardens, bee-friendly plants, and bee gardens. Everyone is finally getting into planting for bees and butterflies and not just to make their home look nice. Although it is easy to do both, have a nice looking landscape and have

Wasps are one of the most under-appreciated insects in the garden. There is likely to be more species of wasps in the home landscape than that of beetles or other insects. What most people see are the paper wasps, which make large colonies in papery nests under eaves, in shrubs, or ha

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 pr

It is very interesting how insects, birds, and plants can coexist naturally and amazingly, without killing each other off the planet entirely. Insects are around us, literally everywhere. While I can generally identify some 50 species of insects or more, there are another 200 lurking

After joining the Northeast Kansas Beekeeper’s Association last spring and taking their quick course on beekeeping, I was rewarded with new knowledge and interest in both honeybees and pollination. I have since joined Bee Chat in Hiawatha, KS, a group dedicated to studying honeybees a

by Nadine Champlin, Landscape Designer, Owner of Prairie Place Designs, Sabetha, KS Design Consultant for Grimm’s Gardens,  Hiawatha, KS A Native American legend tells us:  “If you have a secret wish, find a butterfly and whisper your wish to it.  When you release the butterfly