Tag: Native Plants
Is Gardening a Hobby or a Crusade?
Is gardening a crusade or a hobby? This question occurred to me after reading a New York Times article about a symposium featuring Douglas Tallamy, Chair of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. Tallamy is also the author of “Bringing Nature Home”, in which he argues for the environmental importance of using native …
Are All Milkweeds Good For Monarchs?
There was an interesting article in the New York Times on Monday about Monarch butterflies and milkweed. The takeaway is that planting Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias currasavica) may do more harm than good, according to several researchers. Milkweeds, of course, are the only plants that are eaten by the caterpillars of Monarch butterflies.Changes in farming practices …
Are ‘Nativars’ The Enemy?
The most recent issue of the Wild Ones bi-monthly journal arrived the other day, featuring a big page one article on ‘Nativars’, or cultivars of native species. I’m a member of Wild Ones, which seeks to promote the use of native plants. The article lays out the organization’s recently adopted stance regarding these plants, which …
Wildflower Wednesday: Virginia Bluebells
As we all have spring on our minds, I’d like to write about a lovely spring wildflower, Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica). The flower buds of Virginia Bluebells tend to start out pink, and the flowers are tinged with pink before they turn blue. Virginia Bluebells are native throughout much of eastern and midwestern North America. …
The Front Island Bed: A Wildlife-Friendly Spot Full of Bold Plants
The Front Island Bed lies between the Sidewalk Border and the low retaining wall of the expanded Foundation Bed. It is filled mostly with taller plants that enjoy lots of moisture, since the soil is a moist clay loam. It gets almost full sun, even though it is on the north side of the house. …
Interview with Neil Diboll, Native Plant Pioneer
Neil Diboll is President of Prairie Nursery, one of the Midwest’s best known growers of native plants. He is an internationally recognized expert on topics related to native plants and sustainable garden and landscape design. Neil was nice enough to answer some questions I sent him, thus making possible Gardeninacity’s first interview. Question: Do you …
The Day of the Giant Brown Stalky Things
It was late October just about ten years ago, when my younger son looked at me with considerable exasperation and asked, “Dad, why do we have the only house with giant brown stalky things in the front yard?” This is as good as any introduction to the issue of autumn garden clean-up. More specifically, is …
An October Stroll Through the Garden
Let’s start in the backyard. Rosa ‘Sally Holmes’ still has a few blooms, and even some buds straining to open before the frost. Most of the asters have gone to seed … But the dwarf New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Purple Dome’, is a very late bloomer – it’s just hitting its stride. Rosa ‘Darlow’s …
As Ye Self-Sow, So Shall Ye Reap
As winter closes in, I find myself turning more and more to that emotional survival trick of gardeners everywhere: obsessing over what I’m going to plant next spring. As I peruse my books and catalogs, I keep running into an ominous phrase: “self-sows freely”. Experienced gardeners know what this means. It means that you are …
Drought, Deadly Nightshade, and a Happy Birthday
Yesterday we drove up to St. Paul, Minnesota, to celebrate my birthday with my younger son, my brother Richard, and his wife Diane. When we get to St. Paul, we like to take a little hike at Minnehaha Park, site of the waterfalls made famous, though never actually visited, by the poet Longfellow (“By the …
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