Tag: Native Plants
The Unknown Coneflower
OK, it’s not really unknown. But generally when people talk about Coneflowers, they’re talking about the genus Echinacea, or less frequently, Rudbeckia. Seldom are they referring to the Yellow Coneflower, Ratibida pinnata.
Wild Blue Indigo and Bumblebees
June is a blue month in our garden. And perhaps my favorite blue flower for June is the Wild Blue Indigo (Baptisia australis). This is such a great plant: it’s beautiful, tough, and low-maintenance. Give it time and it will create a substantial presence, around four feet tall and wide.
Currant Events in the Garden
The Wild Currant (Ribes americanum) begins to bloom just as Clove Currant (Ribes odoratum) is finishing up. Right now the Wild Currants are just loaded with dangling yellow flowers – more of a soft greenish yellow, as opposed to the bright yellow of Clove Currant. As with the Clove Currant, our Wild Currant plants seem …
A New Tool for Wildlife Gardeners
Native Plant Finder is an online resource for people who want to attract more wildlife to their gardens. The website is sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, with support from the University of Delaware and the US Forest Service. It draws on the work of Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home and Professor of …
Zigzag Goldenrod, the Lovable Thug
Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) may be a thug, but it’s a thug with good qualities, kind of like Tony Soprano from The Sopranos. (Though I know people with deeply opposing views on Tony’s character.)
Goldenrod Days
What would autumn be without goldenrods? In my garden, certainly, it would be a lot less colorful. Even in a shady corner, Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) adds luminosity to the scene. A good plant for spots that are difficult or on the wild side – aggressive but useful in the right place and beautiful in …
A Visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden
Last Sunday Judy and I made our first visit of the year to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Usually we go about once a month starting in May, and try to make certain highlights like when the crabapples are in bloom – but this year there’s been too much going on. CBG is one of the …
Interview with Bill Carter, President of Prairie Moon Nursery
Based in southeast Minnesota, Prairie Moon Nursery is certainly one of the best known growers of native Midwestern plants and seeds, selling to both the retail and commercial markets. (Full disclosure: I am a frequent and unrestrained customer.) Bill Carter, the current President of Prairie Moon, was nice enough to respond to written interview questions. …
Chicago Gardeners: Mark Your Calendars!
Wild Ones is an organization that advocates for inclusion of native plants in American landscapes. It is not to be confused with the 1953 movie, The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando. Though few people know that Brando was an avid native plant gardener. UPDATE: Just kidding about that, I need to be more obvious when …
You Need a Lot of Caterpillars to Raise a Chickadee
There was a column by Douglas Tallamy in the New York Times about a week ago. Tallamy, you probably know, is the entomologist and author of Bringing Nature Home, which makes the case for native plants as a foundation of a healthy garden ecology. All right, I know I write about this stuff a lot, …
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